This article summarizes prior research findings on self-adapted testing (SAT) and examines the hypothesis that positive effects from SAT are the result of examinees perceiving greater control over the testing situation, which may lead to reduced test anxiety and improved performance. Prior research on perceived control is also discussed. (SLD)

Time limits on some computer-adaptive tests (CATs) are such that many examinees have difficulty finishing, and some examinees may be administered tests with more time-consuming items than others. Results from over 100,000 examinees suggested that about half of the examinees must guess on the final six questions of the analytical section of the…

Computerized adaptive testing (CAT) is described and compared with conventional tests, and its advantages summarized. Some item response theory concepts used in CAT are summarized and illustrated. The author describes the potential usefulness of CAT in counseling and education and reviews some current issues in the implementation of CAT.

This study applied the maximum expected information (MEI) and the maximum posterior-weighted information (MPI) approaches of computer adaptive testing item selection to the case of a test using polytomous items following the partial credit model. The MEI and MPI approaches are described. A simulation study compared the efficiency of ability…

Computerized multistage testing (MST) designs require sets of test questions (testlets) to be assembled to meet strict, often competing criteria. Rules that govern testlet assembly may dictate the number of questions on a particular subject or may describe desirable statistical properties for the test, such as measurement precision. In an MST…

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…

This paper describes a study, now in progress, of new methods for representing the sampling variability of Mantel-Haenszel differential item functioning (DIF) results, based on the system for categorizing the severity of DIF that is now in place at the Educational Testing Service. The methods, which involve a Bayesian elaboration of procedures…

Issues concerning the cost and feasibility of using Formulating Hypotheses (FH) test item types for the Graduate Record Examinations have slowed research into their use. This project focused on two major issues that need to be addressed in considering FH items for operational use: the costs of scoring and the assignment of scores along a range of…

This study extended item parameter recovery studies in item response theory to the nominal response model (NRM). The NRM may be used with computerized adaptive testing, testlets, demographic items, and items whose alternatives provide educational diagnostic information. Moreover, with the increasing popularity of performance-based assessment, the…

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…

A series of computer simulations was run to measure the relationship between testlet validity and the factors of item pool size and testlet length for both adaptive and linearly constructed testlets. Results confirmed the generality of earlier empirical findings of H. Wainer and others (1991) that making a testlet adaptive yields only marginal…

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…

A method is proposed that increases the accuracies of estimation of the operating characteristics of discrete item responses, especially when the true operating characteristic is represented by a steep curve, and also at the lower and upper ends of the ability distribution where the estimation tends to be inaccurate because of the smaller number…

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…