We aim to graphically analyze the depth of conceptual understanding behind the Force Concept Inventory (FCI) responses of students, focusing on three questions (questions 1, 15, and 28). In our study, we created and implemented subquestions to clarify and quantify the students' reasoning steps in reaching their responses to the original FCI…

In physics education research, instructors and researchers often use research-based assessments (RBAs) to assess students' skills and knowledge. In this paper, we support the development of a mechanics cognitive diagnostic to test and implement effective and equitable pedagogies for physics instruction. Adaptive assessments using cognitive…

The multiple-choice section of the final examination for the first-year Advanced Physics I course at the University of Newcastle, Australia between 2010 and 2018 was investigated for gender bias. A Mantel-Haenszel analysis revealed that approximately 20% of the multiple-choice questions exhibited statistically significant gender bias. A schema for…

Dual-process theories of reasoning suggest that humans reason using two processes often referred to as process 1 (heuristic) and process 2 (analytic). When presented with a situation requiring any sort of reasoning or decision making, process 1 automatically engages and generates an initial mental model to address the situation. Process 2 may or…

Item banks are generally considered the basis of a new generation of educational measurement. In combination with specialized software, they can facilitate the computerized assembling of multiple pre-equated test forms. However, for advantages of item banks to become fully realized it is important that the item banks store a relatively large…

The notion of scientific visual literacy has been advocated in recent science curriculum reform documents and related learning outcomes are expected from students. However, few studies have been conducted to determine how it is tested in high-stakes examinations. This study utilized the Visualization Blooming Tool to examine the level of visual…

This work is the fourth of a series of papers applying multidimensional item response theory (MIRT) to widely used physics conceptual assessments. This study applies MIRT analysis using both exploratory and confirmatory methods to the Brief Electricity and Magnetism Assessment (BEMA) to explore the assessment's structure and to determine a…

We developed the Physics Inventory of Quantitative Literacy (PIQL) to assess students' quantitative reasoning in introductory physics contexts. The PIQL includes several "multiple-choice-multipleresponse" (MCMR) items (i.e., multiple-choice questions for which more than one response may be selected) as well as traditional single-response…

Previous studies have shown the important role of different representations in the teaching and learning of physics. In this study, we used eye tracking to investigate the effect of different representations on the process of answering conceptual questions. We compared students' scores and eye-tracking measures on isomorphic questions which…

Items that are chained, or blocked, together appear on many of the conceptual assessments utilized for physics education research. However, when items are chained together there is the potential to introduce local dependence between those items, which would violate the assumption of item independence required by classical test theory,…

This paper presents improvements made to a computerized adaptive testing (CAT)-based version of the FCI (FCI-CAT) in regards to test security and test efficiency. First, we will discuss measures to enhance test security by controlling for item overexposure, decreasing the risk that respondents may (i) memorize the content of a pretest for use on…

Several recent studies have employed item response theory (IRT) to rank incorrect responses to commonly used research-based multiple-choice assessments. These studies use Bock's nominal response model (NRM) for applying IRT to categorical (nondichotomous) data, but the response rankings only utilize half of the parameters estimated by the model.…

We discuss the development and validation of a conceptual multiple-choice survey instrument called the survey of thermodynamic processes and first and second laws (STPFaSL) suitable for introductory physics courses. The survey instrument uses common student difficulties with these concepts as resources in that the incorrect answers to the…

While numerous studies have analyzed the conceptions probed by the Force Concept Inventory (FCI), assessments dedicated to electricity and magnetism lack similar analyses. This paper investigated the conceptions explored by the Brief Electricity and Magnetism Assessment (BEMA) and the Conceptual Survey of Electricity and Magnetism (CSEM) using…

The test of understanding graphs in kinematics (TUG-K) has widely been used to assess students' understanding of this subject. The TUG-K poses different objectives to the test takers such as (1) the selection of a graph from a textual description, (2) the selection of corresponding graphs, and (3) the selection of a textual description from a…