We investigated the use of quizzes administered prior to lecture (i.e., prelecture quizzes) and compared them to no-quiz control groups. In previous research, the success of administering quizzes after covering a topic (i.e., postlecture quizzes) was contingent on the quizzes and the subsequent exams being of similar level and content. However,…

On 4 of 7 days in each unit of an undergraduate human development course, students responded in writing to specific questions related to instructor notes previously made available to them. The study compared the effects of three writing contingencies on the quality of student writing and performance on major multiple-choice exams in the course. …

Despite the prevalence of multiple choice items in educational testing, there is a dearth of empirical evidence for multiple choice item writing rules. The purpose of this study was to expand the base of empirical evidence by examining the use of the "all-of-the-above" option in a multiple choice examination in order to assess how…

Item bias, when present in a multiple-choice test, can be detected by appropriate analyses of the persons x items scoring matrix. Five related schemes for the statistical analysis of bias were applied to a widely used, primary skills multiple-choice test which was administered in either its English- or Spanish-language version at each of the two…

The suggestion that multiple-choice items can be converted to true-false items without essentially changing what the item measures and with possible improvement in efficiency is investigated. Each of the 90 four-choice items in a natural science test was rewritten into a pair of true-false items, one true, one false. The resulting 180 items were…

The present study was concerned with several currently unanswered questions, two of which are: what is an empirically determined ratio of multiple choice to equivalent true-false items which can be answered in a given amount of time?; and for achievement test items administered within a classroom situation, which of the two formats under…

Compares and contrasts the abilities of normal and learning disabled students to abstract spelling patterns in the course of their acquisition of spelling skills. The performance of the learning disabled was significantly below that of the normal students. In addition, error analysis indicates that the responses of the learning disabled spellers…

This study, one of a series designed to answer practical questions about performance based assessment, examined the comparability of school scores on short, nonparallel test forms. The data were obtained from mathematics tests with both multiple choice (MC) and performance assessment (PA) items. The tests were administered in a statewide testing…

This paper compares modified Guttman and item response theory (IRT) based procedures for classifying examinees in ordered levels when each level is represented by several multiple choice test items. In the modified Guttman procedure, within-level number correct scores are mapped to binary level mastery scores. Examinees are then assigned to levels…

Achievement test reliability and validity as a function of ability were determined for multiple sections of a large undergraduate French class. Results did not support previous arguments that decreasing the number of options results in a more efficient test for high-level examinees, but less efficient for low-level examinees. (Author/GK)

Research on true-false (TF), multiple-choice, and alternate-choice (AC) tests is reviewed, discussing strengths, weaknesses, and the usefulness in classroom and large-scale testing of each. Recommendations are made for improving use of AC items to overcome some of the problems associated with TF items. (SLD)

This study was aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of CAI vs. classroom lecture for computer science at ICS level. The objectives were to compare the learning effects of two groups with classroom lecture and computer-assisted instruction studying the same curriculum and the effects of CAI and CRL in terms of cognitive development. Hypotheses of…

Two new racial attitude indices, one using a multiple alternative method and the other an open-ended interview were compared to a traditional, forced-choice method of attitude assessment in a study of 82 kindergarten children. The different structural representations of racial attitudes revealed by the three techniques are discussed. (GO)

Procedures for correcting for guessing and for assessing partial knowledge (correction-for-guessing, three-decision scoring, elimination/inclusion scoring, and confidence or probabilistic scoring) are discussed. Mean scores and internal consistency reliability estimates were compared across three administration and scoring procedures for…