By tailoring test forms to the test-taker's proficiency, Computerized Adaptive Testing (CAT) enables substantial increases in testing efficiency over fixed forms testing. When used for formative assessment, the alignment of task difficulty with proficiency increases the chance that teachers can derive useful feedback from assessment data. The…

Collaborative problem solving (CPS) is a critical competency in a variety of contexts, including the workplace, school, and home. However, only recently have assessment and curriculum reformers begun to focus to a greater extent on the acquisition and development of CPS skill. One of the major challenges in psychometric modeling of CPS is…

This study records findings of a study carried out in a group of 100 students at a South African university. This study examines the group's assignments as a way of gathering evidence about pre-service teachers' achievements in the process of education and training. The empirical study was based on comparative analysis of scores obtained by…

The present study examined the relationship between second-year medical students' group performance and individual performance in a collaborative-learning environment. In recent decades, university professors in the scientific and humanistic disciplines have successfully put into practice different modalities of collaborative approaches to…

In 2011, I used group level assessment, a qualitative and participatory large group research method, in collaboration with a disability education and research center situated within a large medical academic center. The center was concerned that their work lacked the input and involvement from the very people that they were attempting to serve…

At Aalborg University, engineering students spend half the time each semester in groups working on projects in a problem-based learning (PBL) curriculum. The projects are assessed through group exams, except for between 2007 and 2013 when the law forbade group-based project exams. Prior to 2007, a survey showed that students preferred the…

Teacher-candidate course assessment is one topic that has not been adequately explored in teacher education literature where pre-service teachers' voices are rarely heard. This mixed-methods study explored a group of female pre-service teachers (n = 83) enrolled in a Diploma of Education program to identify their preferred method of assessment for…

This article proposes that sampling design effects have potentially huge unrecognized impacts on the results reported by large-scale district and state assessments in the United States. When design effects are unrecognized and unaccounted for they lead to underestimating the sampling error in item and test statistics. Underestimating the sampling…

The quality of evaluation of essay type answer books involving multiple evaluators for courses with large number of enrollments is likely to be affected due to heterogeneity in experience, expertise and maturity of evaluators. In this paper, we present a strategy to detect anomalies in evaluation of essay type answers by multiple evaluators based…

Group projects are an established but debated pedagogical technique in higher education. The purpose of this study was to assess the appropriateness of combining individual and group marks in assessment. A mixed method design involving correlational and comparative elements was used. The sample included one cohort of students who completed a group…

In four articles adapted from the Educational Testing Service (ETS) Research Report Series, Issue 2 of ETS Research Spotlight provides a small taste of the range of assessment-related research capabilities of the ETS Research and Development Division. Those articles cover assessment-related research aimed at developing models of student learning,…

The assessment of oral language is now quite commonly done in pairs or groups, and there is a growing body of research which investigates the related issues (e.g. May, 2007). Writing generally tends to be thought of as an individual activity, although a small number of studies have documented the advantages of collaboration in writing in the…

The purpose of this study was to examine teachers' accommodation recommendations for students during large-scale tests using two different methods to assist teachers with the decision-making process. Then we present descriptive data on teacher recommended accommodations for two case students who had presenting data to warrant changes in the manner…

Controlled Drawing Observation (CDO) was developed by Tove Krogh and it has been used in Denmark, Finland and Estonia for assessing a child's readiness for school. CDO is a group test, it gives information about a child's functioning in an educational setting and it serves as a starting point for later individual assessment. The goal of the study…

Alternatives to a solitary testing format can involve students working in teams to arrive at the correct answer. We compared two group assessment methods, cooperative and competitive, to a solitary testing approach. In most comparisons examining the undergraduate respondents' (N = 77) performance, the two group-testing methods were equivalent.…