Successful exam composition can be a difficult task. Exams should not only assess student comprehension, but be learning tools in and of themselves. In a biotechnology course delivered to nonmajors at a business college, objective multiple-choice test questions often require students to choose the exception or "not true" choice. Anecdotal student…

This study followed the comparative research mode of description, interpretation, juxtaposition and comparison. Based on the literatures and data collected on the topic, the paper compared and analyzed the past, present and future of APTHS (academic proficiency test for high schools) in the two countries. Some contemplations on the common issues…

In this study we examined variations of the nonequivalent groups equating design for tests containing both multiple-choice (MC) and constructed-response (CR) items to determine which design was most effective in producing equivalent scores across the two tests to be equated. Using data from a large-scale exam, this study investigated the use of…

This article examines the influence of keyboarding versus handwriting in a high-stakes writing assessment. Conclusions are based on data collected from a pilot project to move Old Dominion University's Exit Exam of Writing Proficiency from a handwritten format into a dual-option format (i.e., the students may choose to handwrite or keyboard the…

Students in an introductory biology course who were given open-book exams during the semester earned significantly higher grades on these exams, but significantly lower grades on the closed-book final exam, than students who took in-class, closed-book exams throughout the semester. Exam format was also associated with changes in academic behavior;…

Purpose: In conjunction with curricular changes, a process to develop integrated examinations was implemented. Pre-established guidelines were provided favoring vignettes, clinically relevant material, and application of knowledge rather than simple recall. Questions were read aloud in a committee including all course directors, and a reviewer…

Many testing programs include a section of optional questions in addition to mandatory parts of a test. These optional parts of a test are not often truly parallel to one another, and groups of examinees selecting each optional test section are not equivalent to one another. This paper provides a general method based on missing-data methods for…

Effects of numbers of experts (NOEs) and common items (CIs) on the scaling of cutting scores from expert judgments were studied for 11,917 physicians taking 2 forms of a medical specialty examination. Increasing NOEs and CIs reduced error; beyond 5 experts and 25 CIs, error differences were small. (SLD)

Two local methods for observed-score equating are applied to the problem of equating an adaptive test to a linear test. In an empirical study, the methods were evaluated against a method based on the test characteristic function (TCF) of the linear test and traditional equipercentile equating applied to the ability estimates on the adaptive test…

In his pioneer investigations of deductive logical reasoning competence, R. H. Ennis (R. H. Ennis and D. H. Paulus, 1965) used a multiple-choice format in which the premises are given, and it is asked whether the conclusion would then be true. In the adaptation of his work for use in Jamaica, the three possible answers were stated as…

Three examinations administered to medical students were analyzed to determine differences among severities of judges' assessments and among grading periods. The examinations included essay, clinical, and oral forms of the tests. Twelve judges graded the three essays for 32 examinees during a 4-day grading session, which was divided into eight…

Studies with 220 college students found that multiple-choice test items with 3 items are more difficult than those with 4 items, and items with the none-of-these option are more difficult than those without this option. Neither format manipulation affected item discrimination. Implications for test construction are discussed. (SLD)

A part-form methodology was used to study the effect of varying degrees of multidimensionality on the consistency of pass/fail classification decisions obtained from simulated unidimensional item response theory (IRT) based licensure examinations. A control on the degree of form multidimensionality permitted an assessment throughout the range of…

The level of confidence in pass/fail decisions obtained with computerized adaptive tests and paper-and-pencil tests was greater for 645 medical technology students when the computer adaptive test implemented a 90 percent confidence stopping rule than for paper-and-pencil tests of comparable length. (SLD)

Several multiple-choice item formats are examined in the current climate of test reform. The reform movement is discussed as it affects use of the following formats: (1) complex multiple-choice; (2) alternate choice; (3) true-false; (4) multiple true-false; and (5) the context dependent item set. (SLD)