A situation in which computer-assisted instruction was combined with teacher-taught classes and computerized diagnostic adaptive testing was examined. The computerized diagnostic adaptive test for pre-algebra signed-number lessons was programmed along with a computer-managed routing system by which examinees were sent to the instructional unit…

Computer-based testing (CBT) is typically implemented using one of three general test delivery models: (1) multiple fixed testing (MFT); (2) computer-adaptive testing (CAT); or (3) multistage testing (MSTs). This article reviews some of the real cost drivers associated with CBT implementation--focusing on item production costs, the costs…

This paper examines the educational impacts of the Berkshire Wireless Learning Initiative (BWLI), a pilot program that provided 1:1 technology access to all students and teachers across five public and private middle schools in western Massachusetts. Using a pre/post comparative study design, the current study explores a wide range of program…

Emerging areas and critical problems related to computer-based testing are identified. Topics covered include adaptive testing; calibration; item selection; multidimensional items; uses of information processing theory; relation to cognitive psychology; and tests of short-term and spatial memory, perceptual speed and accuracy, and movement…

Describes a tool for building software systems which replace the role of the examiner during a typical Italian academic exam in technical/scientific subjects. Such systems are designed to exploit the advantages of self-adapted testing for reducing effects of anxiety, and of computerized adaptive testing for increasing assessment efficiency.…

Student evaluation of instruction in college and university courses has been a routine and mandatory part of undergraduate and graduate education for some time. A major shortcoming of the process is that it often relies exclusively on the opinions or qualitative judgments of students rather than the learning or transfer of knowledge that takes…

Two local methods for observed-score equating are applied to the problem of equating an adaptive test to a linear test. In an empirical study, the methods were evaluated against a method based on the test characteristic function (TCF) of the linear test and traditional equipercentile equating applied to the ability estimates on the adaptive test…

This study explores the potential for using a computer-based scoring procedure for the formulating-hypotheses (F-H) item. This item type presents a situation and asks the examinee to generate explanations for it. Each explanation is judged right or wrong, and the number of creditable explanations is summed to produce an item score. Scores were…

The relationship of several individual differences variables to Computer Adaptive Testing (CAT) as compared with traditional written tests are explored. Seven hundred sixty-five examinees took a Computer Adaptive Test and two fixed-length written tests. Each examinee also answered a computer literacy inventory, a satisfaction questionnaire, and a…

The average Kullback-Keibler (K-L) information index (H. Chang and Z. Ying, in press) is a newly proposed statistic in Computerized Adaptive Testing (CAT) item selection based on the global information function. The objectives of this study were to improve understanding of the K-L index with various parameters and to compare the performance of the…

This study focused on the robustness of unidimensional item response theory (UIRT) models in computerized classification testing against violation of the unidimensionality assumption. The study addressed whether UIRT models remain acceptable under various testing conditions and dimensionality strengths. Monte Carlo simulation techniques were used…

In adaptive testing, item selection is sequentially optimized during the test. Since the optimization takes place over a pool of items calibrated with estimation error, capitalization on these errors is likely to occur. How serious the consequences of this phenomenon are depends not only on the distribution of the estimation errors in the pool or…

Chang and Zhang (2002, 2003) proposed several baseline criteria for assessing the severity of possible test security violations for computerized tests with high-stakes outcomes. However, these criteria were obtained from theoretical derivations that assumed uniformly randomized item selection. The current study investigated potential damage caused…

This paper highlights the need for a systematic, content aware, and theoretically-based approach to test design. The cognitive components approach is endorsed, and is applied to the development of a computerized perceptual speed test. Psychometric literature is reviewed and shows that: every major multi-factor theory includes a clerical/perceptual…

Computer-adaptive testing (CAT) allows improved security, greater scoring accuracy, shorter testing periods, quicker availability of results, and reduced guessing and other undesirable test behavior. Simple approaches can be applied by the classroom teacher, or other content specialist, who possesses simple computer equipment and elementary…