This article introduces the Measurement Skills Assessment (MeSA), which was designed to evaluate the mastery of measurement in elementary school students. The primary objectives for the MeSA include covering a broad range of measurement concepts, distinguishing between major subtypes of measurement, and constructing a continuum of items varying in…

As Rupp and Templin (2008) stated directly, diagnostic classification methods "are confirmatory in nature." Methods, though, are neither inherently confirmatory nor exploratory. Diagnostic classification modeling, with its analytical and computational obstacles eventually yielding as a comprehensive and potent discipline emerges, will…

Handheld calculators have been used on the job for more than 30 years, yet the degree to which these devices can affect performance on employment tests of mathematical ability has not been thoroughly examined. This study used a within-subjects research design (N = 167) to investigate the effects of calculator use on test score reliability, test…

We used collaborative testing in a veterinary physiology course (65 students) to answer the following questions: 1) do students with individual correct responses or students with individual incorrect responses change their answers during group testing? and 2) do high-performing students make the decisions, that is, are low-performing students…

There has been little data collected on how much testing actually goes on in America's schools and how the results are used. So in the Spring of 2014, the Council staff developed and launched a survey of assessment practices. This report presents the findings from that survey and subsequent Council analysis and review of the data. It also offers…

This article investigates several questions regarding the impact of different item formats on measurement characteristics. Constructed response (CR) items and multiple choice (MC) items obviously differ in their formats and in the resources needed to score them. As such, they have been the subject of considerable discussion regarding the impact of…

There is much debate on the merits and pitfalls of standardized tests for college admission, with questions regarding the format (multiple-choice versus constructed response), cognitive complexity, and content of these assessments (achievement versus aptitude) at the forefront of the discussion. This study addressed these questions by…

Previously, a small scale, interview-based, 3-year longitudinal study (ages 11-14) in one school had suggested a learning progression related to the concept of a substance. This article presents the results of a large-scale, cross-sectional study which used Rasch modeling to test the hypothesis of the learning progression. Data were collected from…

Due to the wide application of advanced technology in education, many attitude scales have been developed to evaluate learners' attitudes toward educational tools. However, with the rapid development of emerging technologies, using blogs as one of the Web 2.0 tools is still in its infancy and few blog attitude scales have been developed yet.…

A taxonomy of learning objectives generally refers to a schema to classify the levels of learning. In 1956, Benjamin Bloom, with a group of educational psychologists, created a taxonomy for classifying educational objectives using six major categories of thinking skills: (a) knowledge (recalling information), (b) comprehension, (understanding the…

Developed for the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) Career Exploration Program, the Find Your Interests (FYI) inventory was designed to help students learn about their career-related interests. The FYI is a 90-item interest inventory based on Holland's (1973, 1985, 1997) widely accepted theory and taxonomy of career choice. The…

Much has been written about student preparation for standardized tests such as: get enough sleep, do not eat sugary food or drinks, eat a well-balanced meal, wear comfortable clothing, bring appropriate supplies especially extra #2 pencils, answer every question, write neatly and legibly, deduce wrong answers immediately and use all of the time…

Standards-based reform, as codified by the No Child Left Behind Act, relies on the ability of assessments to accurately reflect the learning that takes place in U.S. classrooms. However, this property of assessments--their instructional sensitivity--is rarely, if ever, investigated by test developers, states, or researchers. In this paper, the…

The popularity of intelligent tutoring systems (ITSs) is increasing rapidly. In order to make learning environments more efficient, researchers have been exploring the possibility of an automatic adaptation of the learning environment to the learner or the context. One of the possible adaptation techniques is adaptive item sequencing by matching…

Procedural and conceptual learning are two types of learning, related to two types of knowledge, which are often referred to in mathematics education. Procedural learning involves only memorizing operations with no understanding of underlying meanings. Conceptual learning involves understanding and interpreting concepts and the relations between…