Over the past decade, listening comprehension tests have been converting to computer-based tests that include visual input. However, little research is available to suggest how test takers engage with different types of visuals on such tests. The present study compared a series of still images to video in academic computer-based tests to determine…

The objective of the present investigation was to examine the comparability of writing prompts for different gender groups in the context of the computer-based Test of English as a Foreign Language[TM] (TOEFL[R]-CBT). A total of 87 prompts administered from July 1998 through March 2000 were analyzed. An extended version of logistic regression for…

Two quasi-experimental field studies were conducted to evaluate the psychometric equivalence of computerized and paper-and-pencil job satisfaction measures. The present research extends previous work in the area by providing better control of common threats to validity in quasi-experimental research on test mode effects and by evaluating a more…

Purpose: The benefits of an educational shift to graduate attribute development have been foregrounded in the educational literature since the early 1990s. Attribute mapping in documentation with no change to assessment constitutes a surface approach. This paper aims to use as an example a deep approach that uses software to facilitate staff and…

Within large scale educational assessment agencies in the UK, there has been a shift towards assessors marking digitally scanned copies rather than the original paper scripts that were traditionally used. This project uses extended essay examination scripts to consider whether the mode in which an essay is read potentially influences the…

To explore whether different balances of fiction/non-fiction reading and challenge might help explain differences in reading achievement between genders, data on 45,670 pupils who independently read over 3 million books were analysed. Moderate (rather than high or low) levels of challenge were positively associated with achievement gain, but…

The equivalence of pencil and paper Rasch item calibrations when used in a computer adaptive test administration was explored in this study. Items (n=726) were precalibarted with the pencil and paper test administrations. A computer adaptive test was administered to 321 medical technology students using the pencil and paper precalibrations in the…

When examinees are allowed to review responses on an adaptive test, can they "cheat" the adaptive algorithm in order to take an easier test and improve their performance? Theoretically, deliberately answering items incorrectly will lower the examinee ability estimate and easy test items will be administered. If review is then allowed,…

This paper explains the multifacet technology for analyzing performance examinations and the fair average method of setting criterion standards. The multidimensional nature of performance examinations requires that multiple and often different facets elements of a candidate's examination form be accounted for in the analysis. After this is…

Recent advances in psychometrics and computer technology encourage the development of model-based methods of individualized testing on a microcomputer, where each examinee receives short tests and where the number of pretest items that can be administered is severely restricted. On-line (i.e., data is collected on operational equipment) methods…

In the periodic testing environment associated with conventional paper-and-pencil tests, the frequency with which items are seen by test-takers is tightly controlled in advance of testing by policies that regulate both the reuse of test forms and the frequency with which candidates may take the test. In the continuous testing environment…

This digest discusses the advantages and disadvantages of using item banks, and it provides useful information for those who are considering implementing an item banking project in their school districts. The primary advantage of item banking is in test development. Using an item response theory method, such as the Rasch model, items from multiple…

Although computerized adaptive tests acquire their efficiency by successively selecting items that provide optimal measurement at each examinee's estimated level of ability, operational testing programs will typically consider additional factors in item selection. In practice, items are generally selected with regard to at least three, often…

This study developed a model to simulate nonmodel-fitting responses in a computerized adaptive testing (CAT) environment, and to examine the effectiveness of the model. The underlying idea was to simulate examinees' test behaviors realistically. This study simulated a situation in which examinees are exposed to or are coached on test items before…

An expert/novice paradigm is applied to the development of a computer-assisted test of spatial aptitude. The qualitative differences in encoding and solution strategies between high and low "spatials" were demonstrated. Initial efforts focused on the ubiquitous figural analogy test ("A:B::C:D"). Converging evidence from a…