Investigates the joint effects of locus of control and test format on test anxiety with college students (N=86). Examines the relationship between students' attitudes toward test format and test anxiety. Results show no differential effect of locus of control on test anxiety across test format; students were more anxious about essay tests than…

Studied the cross-mode equivalence of paper-and-pencil and computer-based clerical tests with 141 undergraduates. Found no differences across modes for the two types of tests. Differences can be minimized when speeded computerized tests follow the same administration and response procedures as the paper format. (SLD)

Accounting students (n=202) had different preferences for learning discrete facts, quick and easy problems, and new and ambiguous situations. On a multiple-choice test and unstructured task completed by 73 students, preference for quick and easy problems distinguished poor and good performers on the task but not on the test. (SK)

This article describes the 2-5-8 Assessment Plan, an assessment process based on Bloom's taxonomy that allows students to choose test items to complete. Test items are given 2, 5, or 8 points depending on difficulty and students must choose any assignments that total ten points. Grading the assessments is discussed. (Contains one reference.) (CR)

Compared original intrinsic and extrinsic subscales of the Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnnaire short form to revised subscales using data from samples of 99 employees and 250 graduate and undergraduate students. Analyses from both samples indicate that revising the intrinsic and extrinsic subscales made little difference to the results obtained.…

The validity of a four-subtest short form of the third edition of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC-III) and the Kaufman Brief Intelligence Test (K-BIT) was evaluated with 42 adolescent offenders. Findings support the clinical use of the short form as a good estimate of WISC-III full-scale IQ. (SLD)

Surveyed statistics students on: preferred methods of assessment; methods that induce the least anxiety; and methods that induce higher-order thinking, characteristics of students with the most negative overall attitudes toward assessments, and performance versus authentic assessments. Found that students preferred untimed assessments allowing use…

Investigated how well the generalized and Rasch models described item and test performance across a broad range of mixed-item-format test configurations (six tests from two state proficiency testing programs). Evaluating the impact of model assumptions on the predictions of item and test information permitted a delineation of the implications of…

Discusses the comparison of groups of individuals who were administered different forms of a test. Focuses on the situation in which there is little overlap in content between the test forms. Reviews equating problems in national tests in Canada and Israel. (SLD)

Analysis of literature on oral assessment in college instruction identified six dimensions: primary content type; interaction between examiner and learner; authenticity of assessment task; structure of assessment task; examiner; and orality (extent to which knowledge is tested orally). These help in understanding the nature of oral assessment and…

Used two different coherent cut kinetics taxonomic procedures to examine the latent structure of responses to a survey of library service quality using an unnumbered slider-bar user interface and a radio-button user interface. Results for 354 college students show that both interfaces yield similar latent structures of survey item responses. (SLD)

This article presents a methodology for examining the content and nature of item parcels as indicators of a conceptually defined latent construct. An essential component of this methodology is the 2-facet measurement model, which includes items and parcels as facets of construct indicators. The 2-facet model tests assumptions required for…

Makes a case for the assessment of investigations against the Concept of Evidence in written tests as a potentially more reliable and valid way of assessing the ideas used in all types of biology investigations, thus reducing the distorting effect of assessment on the curriculum. (Author/SOE)

This study aimed to provide evidence to guide decisions on the type and timing of assessments in a graduate medical programme, by identifying whether students from particular degree backgrounds face greater difficulty in satisfying the current assessment requirements. We examined the performance rank of students in three types of assessments and…

In the last 15 years or so, language testing practitioners have increasingly favored assessing vocabulary in context. The discrete-point vocabulary measure used in the old version of the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) has long been criticized for encouraging test candidates to memorize wordlists out of context although test items…