The transition from paper-based to computer-based assessment raises a number of important issues about how mode might affect children's performance and question answering strategies. In this project 104 eleven-year-olds were given two sets of matched mathematics questions, one set on-line and the other on paper. Facility values were analyzed to…

This paper studies whether examinee characteristics are systematically related to mode effect across paper and computer versions of the same instrument, using data from the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) of the Educational Testing Service in its Computer-Based Testing Pilot Study of 1991. The following characteristics of 1,114 examinees were…

The partial credit model of G. N. Masters (1982), a one-parameter unidimensional polychotomous Rasch model, was used to reduce the error of measurement, particularly for students near the cut score, and to permit measurement to reflect the actual ability of a student more accurately by reducing the degree of misfit for students near the cut…

This study examined scores from 133,906 operationally scored Test of English as a Foreign Language™ (TOEFL®) essays to determine whether the choice of composition medium has any impact on score quality for subgroups of test-takers. Results of analyses demonstrate that (a) scores assigned to word-processed essays are slightly more reliable than…

As a measure of musical aptitude, a new 90-item Pitch Discrimination Test was developed, and its internal structure was examined. Each of the three sections of the test measures an individual's aptitude for pitch discrimination in a different frequency range using square-wave tones generated by a personal computer. A total of 1,303 examinees,…

Three questions concerning the Binary Search Method (BSM) of computerized adaptive testing were studied: (1) whether it provided a reliable and valid estimation of examinee ability; (2) its effect on examinee attitudes toward computerized adaptive testing and conventional paper-and-pencil testing; and (3) the relationship between item response…

Students' macroprocessing of instruction was studied in a learning situation which used adjunct questions. The subjects were offered various macroprocessing options while reading a passage on data processing and computer programming. Each sentence appeared on a computer CRT screen one at a time. The options included: (1) review any sentence or…

The study examines the rule space model, a probabilistic model capable of measuring cognitive skill acquisition and of diagnosing erroneous rules of operation in a procedural domain. The model involves two important components: (1) determination of a set of bug distributions (bug density functions representing clusters around the rules); and (2)…

Information provided by typical and improved conventional classroom achievement tests was compared with information provided by an adaptive test covering the same subject matter. Both tests were administered to over 700 college students in a general biology course. Using the same scoring method, adaptive testing was found to yield substantially…

To what degree testing can become adaptive is considered in three ways: from a formal methodological perspective; from a human process, stability, perspective; and from a sub-system or component view within an adaptive instructional system (AIS). With the advent of large computer-based training systems, the opportunity to broadly implement…

The purpose of this article is to describe the development, validation and use of the "Constructivist Multimedia Learning Environment Survey" (CMLES). This questionnaire assesses teachers' and students' perceptions of the learning environment when students use online multimedia programs while teachers use constructivism as a referent for…

The Delaware Department of Education (DDOE) was interested in evaluating components of a statewide pilot program to support instruction in World Languages (particularly Spanish and French). The first component was an online student assessment, the Standards-based Measurement of Proficiency (STAMP) to measure the learning outcomes. The DDOE also…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to propose and demonstrate an evidence-based scenario design framework for assessment-based computer games. Design/methodology/approach: The evidence-based scenario design framework is presented and demonstrated by using BELLA, a new assessment-based gaming environment aimed at supporting student learning of…

Although many people in education are intimidated by the use of computer-based instruction (CBI), others are committed to exploiting the opportunities it provides. Three areas comprise CBI: instruction about computers, instruction by computers, and instruction using computers; the first two areas have received the most attention. (1) Attention to…

Probabilistic models with more than one latent variable are designed to report profiles of skills or cognitive attributes. Testing programs want to offer additional information beyond what a single test score can provide using these skill profiles. Many recent approaches to skill profile models are limited to dichotomous data and have made use of…