A study compared response strategies and error patterns of 272 college freshmen on chemistry test items in multiple choice and constructed response formats. Analysis of test data indicated no significant difference in solution strategies used or types of errors committed across test formats. However, interviews with 21 participants revealed…

Describes a novel approach to comprehensive questions in world history examinations. Recommends using current events as illustrative reference points for complex subjects such as nationalism, liberalism, and international trade. Students receive information packets on the events for several weeks and must relate the subjects to these events. (MJP)

Explores what some deem the best way to objectively determine what a student knows. Adaptive Testing has been around since the early 1900's, but only with the advent of computers has it been effectively applied to day to day educational management. Cites a pilot study in Portland, Oregon, public schools. (MVL)

Confirmatory factor analysis techniques assessed several structural models that have been reported regarding the construct validity of the Piers-Harris Children's Self-Concept Scale. Responses of 885 Black, White, and Hispanic students in grades three-six suggest that the scale's construct validity is a function of content and manner of phrasing.…

Investigates the effects on multiple choice test performance of altering the order and placement of questions and responses. Shows that changing the response pattern appears to alter significantly the apparent degree of difficulty. Response patterns become more dissimilar under certain types of response alterations. (LS)

A study investigated performance of 51 second-year internal medicine residents on an objective structured clinical examination and analyzed the test's role in evaluating clinical competence. The examination included nine physical diagnoses and several test-interpretation stations. Performance was analyzed statistically and correlated with…

Prochievement tests, hybrids of proficiency and achievement tests, assess students' linguistic and communicative competence and provide a means for formative evaluation of student progress. Assessing Spanish listening comprehension/speaking proficiency, creating listening/oral proficiency test formats, and scoring are described. Guidelines for…

New developments in the use of automatically scorable constructed response item types for large-scale assessment are reviewed for five domains: (1) mathematical reasoning; (2) algebra problem solving; (3) computer science; (4) architecture; and (5) natural language. Ways in which these technologies are likely to shape testing are considered. (SLD)

Discusses examinations as the major determinant of student behavior and suggests that no improvement in the effectiveness of biochemistry courses will occur until examinations are so integrated into the educational process that they reinforce educational objectives. Includes discussions on self-education, cooperation between students, and problem…

The process used in Ohio to reform the state dental licensing examination and incorporate a nonpatient (simulated) clinical procedure is described and the results summarized. Findings focus on the degree to which results of the new testing procedures differentiate dental students by class rank. (MSE)

A study involving 102 high school students (49 males and 53 females) from Taiwan revealed that the order of response scale labels had a primacy effect on subjects' choices of the alternatives in Likert-type attitude scales. Practical implications of the response-order effects for measurement are discussed. (SLD)

This article describes the second edition of the Attention Deficit Disorders Evaluation Scale (ADDES II), an individually administered behavior rating scale developed to assist in the identification and service of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorders. Its purpose, administration, interpretation of scores, standardization,…

Examines the problems with standardized tests as they apply to language minority students, and offers an alternative assessment process called an authentic assessment. Some classroom uses for authentic assessments are briefly noted. (GR)

Despite the multiple potential benefits of asking students working on programming tasks to consider human factors, most programming assignments narrowly focus on technical details and requirements. Female students in particular may be attracted to assignments that emphasize human as well as technical factors. To assess how students respond to…

The aim of this study was to appraise whether different forms of the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) used since the mid 1970s varied in their correlations with academic performance criteria in the same cohort of examinees. A 1975 form and a 1985 form were administered to equivalent samples of high school juniors, and self-reported grade-point…