This study examined students' competencies in engineering education at the university level. First, we developed a competency model in one specific field of engineering: process dynamics and control. Then, the theoretical model was used as a frame to construct test items to measure students' competencies comprehensively. In the empirical…

Rajaratnam, Cronbach and Gleser's generalizability formula for stratified-parallel tests and Raju's coefficient beta are generalized to estimate the reliability of a composite of criterion-referenced tests, where the parts have different cutting scores. (Author/GK)

Test scores that are not perfectly reliable cannot be strictly equated unless they are strictly parallel. This fact implies that tau equivalence can be lost if an equipercentile equating is applied to observed scores that are not strictly parallel. Thirty-six simulated data sets are produced to simulate equating tests with different difficulties…

Two criteria are discussed for determining cutting scores on a predictor variable for identifying cases of likely child abuse--utility maximizing and error minimizing. Utility maximizing is the preferable criterion, as it optimizes the balance between the costs of incorrect decisions and the benefits of correct decisions. (Author/JDD)

A potentially valuable measure of overconfidence on probabilistic multiple-choice tests was evaluated. The measure of overconfidence was based on probabilistic responses to nonsense items embedded in a vocabulary test. The test was administered under both confidence response and conventional choice response directions to 208 undergraduate…

These studies in test adequacy focus on two problems: procedures for estimating reliability, and techniques for identifying ineffective distractors. Fourteen papers are presented on recent advances in measuring achievement (a response to Molenaar); "an extension of the Dirichlet-multinomial model that allows true score and guessing to be…

A novel scoring procedure was investigated in order to obtain scores from a conventional multiple-choice test that would be free of the guessing component or contain a known guessing component even though examinees were permitted to guess at will. Scores computed with the experimental procedure are based not only on the number of items answered…

A closed sequential procedure for estimating true score is proposed for use with answer-until-correct tests. The accuracy of determining true score is the same as in conventional sequential solutions, but the possibility of using an unnecessarily large number of items is eliminated. (Author/CM)

A 15-stage pyramidal test and a 40-item two-stage test were constructed and administered by computer to 111 college undergraduates. The two-stage test was found to utilize a smaller proportion of its potential score range than the pyramidal test. Score distributions for both tests were positively skewed but not significantly different from the…

Confidence testing has been used in varying forms over the past 40 years as a method for increasing the amount of information available from objective test items. This paper traces the development of the procedure from Hevner's beginning method up to the various methods in use today and describes both the testing procedures and scoring methods…

In some testing programs an early item analysis is performed before final scoring in order to validate the intended keys. As a result, some items which are flawed and do not discriminate well may be keyed so as to give credit to examinees no matter which answer was chosen. This is referred to as allkeying. This research examined how varying the…

This brief review explains some alternate scoring procedures to the classical method of summing correct responses. The novel procedures attempt in some way to retrieve and use even the information in the wrong responses. (Author)

This study reexamines results reported by Angoff and Schrader regarding formula directions and rights directions for standardized tests. In that study, it was concluded that the two scoring directions were essentially equivalent. In this study, methodological concerns are discussed and additional data analyses undertaken. Among various…

A pilot study on the development and administration of a test using a spatial reasoning problem, the 15-puzzle, is described. The test utilizes on-line capabilities of a real-time computer to record an examinee's progress on each problem through a sequence of problem-solving "moves", and to collect additional on-line data that might be…

This study discusses the National Assessment of Educational Progress's national survey of educational achievement in art and demonstrates that it is feasible to evaluate children's drawings obtained with free response assessment techniques. Four art production exercises, each calling for pencil drawing responses, were administered during 1974-1975…