Purpose: This paper aims to examine whether multiple choice questions (MCQs) can be answered correctly without knowing the answer and whether constructed response questions (CRQs) offer more reliable assessment. Design/methodology/approach: The paper presents a critical review of existing research on MCQs, then reports on an experimental study…

Concept inventories (CIs) are assessment instruments designed to measure students' conceptual understanding of fundamental concepts in particular fields. CIs utilise multiple-choice questions (MCQs), and specifically designed response selections, to help identify misconceptions. One shortcoming of this assessment instrument is that it fails to…

In 2014 Central Queensland University (CQU) in Australia banned the use of multiple choice questions (MCQs) as an assessment tool. One of the reasons given for this decision was that MCQs provide an opportunity for students to "pass" by merely guessing their answers. The mathematical likelihood of a student passing by guessing alone can…

Recent research has shown how the statistical bias in Rasch model difficulty estimates induced by guessing in multiple-choice items can be eliminated. Using vertical scaling of a high-profile national reading test, it is shown that the dominant effect of removing such bias is a nonlinear change in the unit of scale across the continuum. The…

A response model that is able to detect guessing behaviors and produce unbiased estimates in low-stake conditions using timing information is proposed. The model is a special case of the grade of membership model in which responses are modeled as partial members of a class that is affected by motivation and a class that responds only according to…

Examining the testing processes, as well as the scores, is needed for a complete understanding of validity and fairness of computer-based assessments. Examinees' rapid-guessing and insufficient familiarity with computers have been found to be major issues that weaken the validity arguments of scores. This study has three goals: (a) improving…

Research to date has focused mostly on children's representation of their physical self as a prelude to the development of a theory of mind (ToM) and on their understanding of the self as distinct from others over time. Whether children approaching the well-known age of ToM mastery are also accurately appraising their own "body's"…

This study developed a two-parameter linear probabilistic model of criterion referenced measurement, which relates an examinee's observed ability to his true ability through a guessing parameter and a carelessness parameter, both of which are probabilities. This model was applied to a survey of 10- and 14-year-old Australian students to estimate…