Discusses the basic concepts of testing and item development and the application of alternative assessments to information literacy content for library instruction. Topics include reliability; validity; statistical analysis; selected response, including checklists, rank order, or simple match; constructed response; essays; and complex assessments.…

Statistical analysis tools in language testing are described, chiefly classical test theory and item response theory. Computer software for statistical analysis is briefly reviewed and divided into three tiers: commonly available; statistical packages; and specialty software. (Author/VWL)

For two random variables, X and Y, let D = X - Y, and let theta[subscript x], theta[subscript y], and theta[subscript d] be the corresponding medians. It is known that the Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney test and its modern extensions do not test H[subscript o] : theta[subscript x] = theta[subscript y], but rather, they test H[subscript o] : theta[subscript…

Analysis of the mean performance of 58 groups of normal adults and children on the free-recall trials of the Rey Auditory-Verbal Learning Test shows that the mean auditory-verbal learning of each group is described by the function R1+Sln(t), where R1 is a measure of the mean immediate memory span, S is the slope of the mean logarithmic learning…

Analysis of continuous variables sometimes proceeds by selecting individuals on the basis of extreme scores of a sample distribution and submitting only those extreme scores to further analysis. This sampling method is known as the extreme groups approach (EGA). EGA is often used to achieve greater statistical power in subsequent hypothesis tests.…

The basolateral amygdala's involvement in fear acquisition and expression to visual and auditory stimuli is well known. The involvement of the basolateral and other amygdala areas in fear acquisition and expression to stimuli of other modalities is less certain. We evaluated the contribution of the basolateral and medial amygdala to olfactory and…

The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of using concept mapping to promote reflective instructional decision-making among junior level education preservice teachers when planning lessons for elementary and secondary students. The researchers were interested in determining if there was a connection between the use of concept mapping…

Online assessments afford many advantages for teachers and students. Okolo (2006) stated, "As the power, sophistication, and availability of technology have increased in the classroom, online assessments have become a viable tool for providing the type of frequent and dynamic assessment information that educators need to guide instructional…

This collection of 10 selected conference papers report the results of language testing research. Titles and authors are: "Computerized Adaptive Language Testing: A Spanish Placement Exam" (Jerry W. Larson); "Utilizing Rasch Analysis to Detect Cheating on Language Examinations" (Harold S. Madsen); "Scalar Analysis of…

This partially annotated bibliography of journal articles, dissertations, convention papers, research reports, and a few books and unpublished manuscripts provides a comprehensive coverage of work on latent trait theory and practice. Documents are arranged alphabetically by author. The period covered ranges from the early 1950's to the present.…

Despite the prevalence of multiple choice items in educational testing, there is a dearth of empirical evidence for multiple choice item writing rules. The purpose of this study was to expand the base of empirical evidence by examining the use of the "all-of-the-above" option in a multiple choice examination in order to assess how…

Using multiple choice tests and a statistical method designed to identify flagrant cheaters, the authors undertook to determine (1) the magnitude of cheating on take-home and open-book exams; (2) whether the amount of cheating varied according to three types of examinations (closed-book, open-book or take-home); and (3) if cheating was affected by…

In this study Bandura's (1986) self-efficacy concept was extended to the leadership studies domain. The literature was reviewed to support the proposition that high leadership self-efficacy was a necessary, though not sufficient, factor contributing to leadership performance. Also, antecedents of leadership self-efficacy were identified based upon…

This study developed and investigated an empirical sampling distribution of the congruence coefficient. The effects of sample size, number of variables, and population value of the congruence coefficient on the sampling distribution of the congruence coefficient were examined. Sample data were generated on the basis of the common factor model and…