Assuring the quality of education is a concern of learning institutions. To do so, it is necessary to have assertive learning management, with consistent data on students' outcomes. This research provides associate deans and researchers, a roadmap with which to gather evidence to improve the quality of open-ended assessments. Based on statistical…

A novel approach is described using primary literature manuscripts for the final examination of an upper level undergraduate course in virology. This innovative technique was applied as an alternative to a core comprehensive final examination. A recent primary literature paper in virology was assigned several weeks before the end of the semester.…

As testing programs transition from paper to online testing, they must study mode comparability to support the exchangeability of scores from different testing modes. To that end, a series of three mode comparability studies was conducted during the 2019-2020 academic year with examinees randomly assigned to take the ACT college admissions exam on…

The past [approximately]15 years have seen increasing interest in defining disciplinary core concepts. Within the field of physiology, Michael, McFarland, Modell, and colleagues have published studies that defined physiology core concepts and have elaborated many of these as detailed conceptual frameworks. With such helpful definitions now in…

The use of digital environments for both learning and assessment is becoming prevalent. This often leads to incongruent situations, in which the study medium (eg, printed textbook) is different from the testing medium (eg, online multiple-choice exams). Despite some evidence that incongruent study-test situations are associated with inferior…

ACT requested assistance from the National Center for the Improvement of Educational Assessment (Center for Assessment) to investigate declines of scores for states administering the ACT to its 11th grade students in 2018. This request emerged from conversations among state leaders, the Center for Assessment, and ACT in trying to understand the…

The history and evolution of science assessment remains poorly known, especially in the context of the exam question contents. Here we analyze the Finnish matriculation examination in biology from the 1920s to 1960s to understand how the exam has evolved in both its knowledge content and educational form. Each question was classified according to…

Integrated testlets are a new assessment tool that encompass the procedural benefits of multiple-choice testing, the pedagogical advantages of free-response-based tests, and the collaborative aspects of a viva voce or defence examination format. The result is a robust assessment tool that provides a significant formative aspect for students.…

This paper reports on the proposed transfer of a paper-based English proficiency exam to an online platform. We discuss both the potential predetermined advantages, which were the impetus for the project, and also some emergent benefits, which prompted an in-depth analysis and reconceptualisation of the exam's role, which in turn we hope will…

This article presents the analysis of evaluation methods used in a well-designed and comprehensive evaluation effort of a significant Extension program. The evaluation data collection methods were analyzed by questionnaire mode and timing of follow-up surveys. Response rates from the short- and long-term follow-ups and different questionnaire…

There have been calls in the literature for changes to assessment practices in higher education, to increase flexibility and give learners more control over the assessment process. This article explores the possibilities of allowing student choice in the format used to present their work, as a starting point for changing assessment, based on…

In this paper, we examine student success on three variants of a test item given in different representational formats (verbal, pictorial, and graphical), with an isomorphic problem statement. We confirm results from recent papers where it is mentioned that physics students' problem-solving competence can vary with representational format and that…

Most colleges and universities in the United States require students to take the SAT or ACT as part of the college application process. These tests are high stakes in at least three ways. First, most universities factor scores on these tests into admissions decisions. Second, higher scores can increase a student's chances of being admitted to…

Language testing means taking decisions: about the test taker's results, but also about the test construct and the measures taken in order to ensure quality. This article takes the German test "telc Deutsch C1 Hochschule" as an example to illustrate this decision-making process in an academic context. The test is used for university…

This article considers the effects on universities of Gutenberg's invention of printing. It considers four major effects: the gradual displacement of Latin as the language of scholarship with vernacular languages, the expansion and eventual opening of libraries, major changes to curriculum, and major changes to pedagogy including lectures.…