Testing strategies can either have a very positive or negative effect on the learning process. The aim of this study was to examine the degree of consistency in evaluating the practicality and logic of questions from a medical school pathophysiology test, between students and family medicine doctors. The study engaged 77 family medicine doctors…

Free-response research-based assessments, like the Colorado Upper-division Electrostatics Diagnostic (CUE), provide rich, fine-grained information about students' reasoning. However, because of the difficulties inherent in scoring these assessments, the majority of the large-scale conceptual assessments in physics are multiple choice. To increase…

The authors assessed the effects of using "none of the above" as an option in a 40-item, general-knowledge multiple-choice test administered to undergraduate students. Examinees who selected "none of the above" were given an incentive to write the correct answer to the question posed. Using "none of the above" as the…

In this paper, we introduce a mathematical model for collaborative learning and the answering process for multiple-choice questions. The collaborative learning model is inspired by the Ising spin model and the model for answering multiple-choice questions is based on their difficulty level. An intensive simulation study predicts the possibility of…

Linear factor analysis models used to examine constructs underlying the responses are not very suitable for dichotomous or polytomous response formats. The associated problems cannot be eliminated by polychoric or tetrachoric correlations in place of the Pearson correlation. Therefore, we considered parameters obtained from the NOHARM and FACTOR…

The current study is a quasi-experimental examination of the effects of traditional and accelerated course formats on learning retention. The study analyzed data on an end-of-course exam collected from 132 students enrolled in introductory psychology courses across 3 course formats: a traditional 16-week format, a 5-week accelerated format, and an…

This paper describes the results achieved by high school seniors on an item which involves translation of the equation P = kT into a corresponding pictorial external representation. The majority of students (the classes of 2011, 2012 and 2013) did not give the correct answer to the multiple choice part of the translation item. They chose pictorial…

Three college faculty taught large general biology classes using case studies and personal response systems (clickers). Each instructor taught the same eight cases in two different sections, except the questions within the cases differed. In one section the questions were lower order (LO) factual inquiries, and in the other they were largely…

Using a primarily experimental design, this study investigated whether discussion boards in online community college philosophy classes can be designed in the Blackboard course management system to lead to higher order thinking. Discussions were designed using one of two teaching techniques: the activation of prior knowledge or the use of peer…

The purpose of this pilot study with a within-subject design was to gain a deeper understanding about the promise and restrictions of a virtual tutoring system designed to teach science to first grade students in Finland. Participants were 61 students who received six tutoring science sessions of approximately 20 min each. Sessions consisted of a…

Although educational games have become prevalent in recent research, only a limited number of studies have considered learners' learning behaviors while playing a science problem-solving game. Introducing a competitive element to game-based learning is promising; however, research has produced ambiguous results, indicating that more studies should…

The purpose of this pilot study with a within-subject design was to gain a deeper understanding about the promise and restrictions of a virtual tutoring system designed to teach science to first grade students in Finland. Participants were 61 students who received six tutoring science sessions of approximately 20 min each. Sessions consisted of a…

Peer instruction has been recognized as an instructional method having a positive impact on learning compared to traditional lectures in science. This method has been widely supported by the socio-constructivist approach to learning giving a positive role to interaction between peers in the construction of knowledge. As far as we know, no study…

Secret shopping is a form of unobtrusive evaluation that can be accomplished with minimal effort, but still produce rich results. With as few as 11 shoppers, the author was able to identify trends in user satisfaction with services provided across two entry-level desks at Illinois Wesleyan University's The Ames Library. The focus of this secret…

In August 2010, the Smithsonian Science Education Center (SSEC) received a grant of more than $25 million from the U.S. Department of Education's Investing in Innovation (i3) program for a five-year study to validate its Leadership Assistance for Science Education Reform (LASER) model in three very diverse regions of the United States: rural North…