In recent years, e-learning system has become more and more popular and many adaptive learning environments have been proposed to offer learners customized courses in accordance with their aptitudes and learning results. For achieving the adaptive learning, a predefined concept map of a course is often used to provide adaptive learning guidance…

The Board of Registry (BOR) certifies medical technologists and other laboratory personnel. The BOR has studied adaptive testing for over 6 years and now administers all 17 BOR certification examinations using computerized adaptive testing (CAT). This paper presents an overview of the major research efforts from 1989 to the present related to test…

The degree to which item review on a computerized adaptive test (CAT) could be used by examinees to inflate their scores artificially was studied. G. G. Kingsbury (1996) described a strategy in which examinees could use the changes in item difficulty during a CAT to determine which items' answers are incorrect and should be changed during item…

This paper examines the history of approaches to diagnosis in education and in medicine--a profession with concentrated attention to the conceptual and mathematical underpinnings of diagnosis. Presented is a comprehensive model of diagnostic testing in education and a summary of the results of four studies, one from each of four separate…

The relatively new shadow test approach (STA) to computerized adaptive testing (CAT) proposed by Wim van der Linden is a potentially attractive alternative to the weighted deviation algorithm (WDA) implemented at ETS. However, it has not been evaluated under testing conditions representative of current ETS testing programs. Of interest was whether…

The utility of computer analysis in the assessment of written products was studied using the WordMAP software package. Data were collected for 92 college freshmen, using: (1) the Test of Standard Written English (TSWE); (2) the English Composition Test of the College Board; (3) verbal and mathematical Scholastic Aptitude Tests; (4) two narrative…

Using simulated item response data, the performance of several "robust" and conventional schemes for ability estimation was evaluated in conjunction with logistic item response theory models (one, two, and three parameter models). The simulated item response data were generated using a model that is more complex than are the usual…

The design and architecture of two user-controlled, computer-based problem analysis environments in classical mechanics are discussed. In the expert-like environment, the user analyzes problems according to a hierarchical concept schema consistent with how experts analyze novel problems in physics. In the second environment, the user searches a…

Seventy-five subjects (Naval F-14 and E-2C crew members) were administered computer-based and paper-based tests of threat-parameter knowledge represented as a semantic network in order to determine the relative reliabilities and validities of these two assessment modes. Estimates of internal consistencies, equivalences, and discriminant validities…

Expert systems can be used to aid decision making. A computerized adaptive test (CAT) is one kind of expert system, although it is not commonly recognized as such. A new approach, termed EXSPRT, was devised that combines expert systems reasoning and sequential probability ratio test stopping rules. EXSPRT-R uses random selection of test items,…

The Computerized Adaptive Screening Test (CAST) was developed to provide an estimate at recruiting stations of prospects' Armed Forces Qualification Test (AFQT) scores. The CAST was designed to replace the paper-and-pencil Enlistment Screening Test (EST). The initial validation study of CAST indicated that CAST predicts AFQT at least as accurately…

Conventional Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery-7 (ASVAB) Arithmetic Reasoning and Word Knowledge tests, were compared with computer-administered adaptive tests as predictors of performance in an Air Force Jet Engine Mechanic training course (n=495). Results supported earlier research in showing somewhat longer examinee response times for…

The plan described was developed to evaluate the training and cost-effectiveness of the Automated Instructional Management System (AIMS), a computer-based training and resource development system being developed by the Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) for possible installation in its schools and training centers. The Functional Description…

Criterion-referenced testing is an important area in the theory and practice of educational measurement. This study demonstrated that even these tests must be closely examined for construct validity. The dimensionality of a dataset will be affected by the examinee's cognitive processes as well as by the nature of the content domain. The methods of…

For performance tests to be truly standardized, they must be administered in a way that will minimize variation due to operator intervention and errors. Through such technological developments as low-cost digital computers and digital logic modules, automatic test administration without restriction of test content has become possible. A…