A considerable literature in economics and psychology observes substantial gender differences in risk aversion, confidence, and responses to high pressure. In the educational measurement literature, it has been argued that these differences could disadvantage female students when taking multiple-choice tests, especially if there is a penalty for…

The Australian Geography Competition (AGC) was established in 1995 by the Royal Geographical Society of Queensland (RGSQ) and the Australian Geography Teachers' Association to promote the study of geography in Australian secondary schools and to reward student excellence in geographical studies. Initially focusing on students at the lower…

This study examines the use of subpopulation invariance indices to evaluate the appropriateness of using a multiple-choice (MC) item anchor in mixed-format tests, which include both MC and constructed-response (CR) items. Linking functions were derived in the nonequivalent groups with anchor test (NEAT) design using an MC-only anchor set for 4…

Background/Context: In 2010, I was invited to give the annual lecture that honors Lawrence Cremin, the historian of American education who became the seventh president of Teachers College, Columbia University. To pay tribute to the way in which Cremin used an academic discipline to bring rigor and depth to educational research, I described my own…

A quantitative observational study exploring the relationship of gender to mathematics self-efficacy and the frequency of back substitution in multiple-choice assessment sampled undergraduates at a western United States parochial university. Research questions addressed: to what extent are there gender differences in mathematics self-efficacy, as…

This study uses PISA cycle 3 field trial data to investigate the relationships between gender differential item functioning (DIF) across countries and test languages for science items and their formats and the four other dimensions defined in PISA framework: focus, context, competency, and scientific knowledge. The data used were collected from 60…

An interactive classroom communication system (ICCS) involves the use of remote devices that permit all students in a class to respond to multiple choice questions displayed on a LCD projector. After responses are clicked in, the results are instantly aggregated and displayed in chart form. The purpose of this study was to examine gender…

This proposal presents the results of a case study involving five 8th grade Taiwanese classes, two mathematics and three science classes. These classes used a new method of testing called confidence wagering. This paper advocates the position that confidence wagering can predict the accuracy of a student's test answer selection during…

The choice of assignment types in a course is shown to have differential effect on performance of specific types of students. Using data from six semesters of college Economics classes, the study demonstrates that male and non-traditional students are more likely to have higher performance on multiple choice questions. Students whose major field…

The extent and benefit of answer switching when completing multiple-choice exams was investigated in an undergraduate course (n = 1,152) and a postgraduate course (n = 1,624). Answer switching was identified in 1.7% and 2.4% of cases, respectively. In both samples, more than half the participants changed at least one answer and, of these,…

This study addresses concerns about boys' underperformance on literacy tasks compared to girls, by investigating male and females students' responses to narrative texts. Participants were 142 Grade 9 and 10 students. Achievement orientations, including goals, self-efficacy, and self-handicapping, were measured and approach and avoidance factors…

In this experimental study, 44 undergraduates completed five computer-based instructional lessons and either two multiplechoice tests or two fill-in-the-blank tests. Color-coded borders were displayed during the lesson, adjacent to the screen text and illustrations. In the experimental condition, corresponding border colors were shown at posttest.…

In this paper we draw on data from a large mathematics competition, for the years 1987 to 2000 and use two different but closely related measures to investigate possible gender differences in performance. Our analyses revealed that small gender differences in favour of males persisted but had decreased over time. Consistent with reports from…