Difficulty and discrimination ability were compared between multiple choice and short answer items in midterm and final examinations for the internal medicine course at Louisiana State University School of Dentistry. The examinations were administered to 67 sophomore dental students in that course. Additionally, the impact of the source of the…

This manual is designed to provide teachers with technically sound, easy-to-follow procedures for developing diagnostic tests to be used with their own students. The definition of diagnostic testing is broadened to include any tests systematically designed to provide information about skills that students have or have not mastered. A five-step…

A 1978 study (Torgesen, Bowen and Ivey) of the structure and modality variables of the Visual-Aural Digit Span (VADS) test was replicated to determine: (1) if the effects generalized across age; (2) if differences between simultaneous and sequential visually presented items were due to mode of presentation or the amount of study time; (3) the…

As it becomes socially less acceptable to appear prejudiced, the difficulty in obtaining unbiased measures of attitudes toward women increases. The Situational Attitude Scale-Women (SASW) was developed to overcome this methodological difficulty. The SASW consists of two parallel forms, one containing neutral situations involving "a…

A review of the literature on the influence of testing on learning and retention reveals the need for more comprehensive research findings in this regard. This study was designed to investigate further the direct effects of tests in contrast with no tests on learning and retention in ongoing college-level classes with both the instructor and the…

In light of the widespread use of competency testing, the authors consider that it is important to determine ways of developing and using competency testing to insure that it achieves its full potential. The paper, in three parts, introduces a model for the development and validation of competency tests, reviews several methods for setting…

This report describes the general plan for a study to clarify the interpretation of group performance measures of student achievement. Group tests are the most efficient procedure for collecting achievement information from a large number of students, but they also require item formats that may be different from the form in which students normally…

The effectiveness of a strategy for improving performance on multiple-choice items for examinees was assessed using an aptitude-treatment interaction model. Results showed that for low-anxious examinees, generation of an answer before selecting a response led to higher performance, but not for highly anxious examinees. (Author/JAZ)

Contains two articles relating to chemistry examination questions. One provides examples of how to sequence multiple choice questions so that partial credit may be given for some responses. The second includes a question and solution dealing with stereoisomerism as a result of free radical chlorination of a nonstereoisometic substance. (TW)

Describes study of 315 secondary school students that investigated their reactions to computerized testing and assessed the practicability of this testing method in the classroom. Two versions of a standardized aptitude test battery used are described, one computerized and one printed, and a survey assessing students' reactions is discussed. (9…

Claims that in the conventional administration of the Informal Reading Inventory (IRI) comprehension diagnosis is inordinately influenced by the reader's ability to recall information. Suggests that allowing reinspection by the reader restores recall to its proper function and may result in other advantages. (NH)

Describes a conversation measure for evaluation communicative competence of deaf adolescents and adults in light of: 1) the rationale behind its development; 2) its independence of the subjects' language variety; and 3)its use in a study of 40 deaf adolescents. The interview protocal is give in the Appendix. (Author/LMO)

Reviews seven commercially produced test generator programs appropriate for use by classroom teachers or individual instructors and identifies item construction and test formatting features that facilitate test design and delivery. Test generator programs and their manufacturers are listed. (MBR)

The research literature on the effects of factual and higher order adjunct questions is reviewed. The influence of 13 design variables on the direction and size of adjunct-questions effects is investigated. It is indicated that higher order adjunct questions may have a more general facilitative effect. (Author/JAZ)

Three rating scales--with all positive or all negative wording, or a mixture of both--were administered to 522 children in grades four through six. The results indicated that it was difficult for students to indicate agreement by disagreeing with a negative statement. This affected test validity. Author/GDC)