Describes a test item bank developed by the Association for Medical School Departments of Biochemistry (Texas). Programs (written in Pascal) allow self-evaluation by interactive student access to questions randomly selected from a chosen category. Potential users of the system (having student, manager, and instructor modes) are invited to contact…

Presents a model for testing in individualized adult programs which includes aptitude, placement, achievement, and proficiency measurements. The model calls for measurement of discrete-point knowledge as well as the communicative ability and cultural insights of students. The kind and detail of record-keeping are discussed. (Author/AMH)

Describes a computer-assisted testing system which produces multiple-choice examinations for a college course in business administration. The system uses SPIRES (Stanford Public Information REtrieval System) to manage a database of questions and related data, mark-sense cards for machine grading tests, and ACL (6) (Audit Command Language) to…

A broad-range tailored test of verbal ability, appropriate at any level from fifth grade upwards, is briefly described. The test score places persons at all levels directly on the same score scale. (Author/RC)

Issues that must be addressed in the large-scale application of computerized adaptive testing are explored, including considerations of test design, scoring, test administration, item and item bank development, and other aspects of test construction. Possible solutions and areas in which additional work is needed are identified. (SLD)

Some software packages currently available for item writing and item banking are reviewed. Eleven test-generation and three item-banking packages are listed. Users trained in item response theory can find a great deal of power in a desk-top system. (SLD)

Effects of the following variables on performance of computerized adaptive testing (CAT) procedures for the partial credit model (PCM) were studied: (1) stopping rule for terminating CAT; (2) item pool size; and (3) distribution of item difficulties. Implications of findings for CAT systems based on the PCM are discussed. (SLD)

Test-item writing efforts typically results in item pools with an undesirable correlational structure between the content attributes of the items and their statistical information. If such pools are used in computerized adaptive testing (CAT), the algorithm may be forced to select items with less than optimal information, that violate the content…

Most use of multimedia technology in teaching and learning to date has emphasized the teaching aspect only. An application of multimedia in examinations has been neglected. This paper addresses how multimedia technology can be applied to the automatization of assessment, by proposing a prototype of a multimedia question bank, which is able to…

One important and promising application of item response theory (IRT) is computerized adaptive testing (CAT). The implementation of a nominal response model-based CAT (NRCAT) was studied. Item pool characteristics for the NRCAT as well as the comparative performance of the NRCAT and a CAT based on the three-parameter logistic (3PL) model were…

When an examination consists in whole or part of constructed response test items, it is common practice to allow the examinee to choose a subset of the constructed response questions from a larger pool. It is sometimes argued that, if choice were not allowed, the limitations on domain coverage forced by the small number of items might unfairly…

The advent of computers in educational and psychological measurement has lead to the need for algorithms for optimal assembly of tests from item banks. This paper reviews the literature on optimal test assembly and introduces the contributions to this report on the topic. Four different approaches to computerized test assembly are discussed:…

A project to assist with improving test efficiency in local school districts and state agencies is described. The report describes and defines the term "item banking." Considerations in selecting, developing, or managing an item bank are discussed. Testing purposes considered suitable for item banking include student selection for special…

Under the impetus of a mandate by the Arkansas legislature to utilize survey data in program planning, a microcomputer system was developed to facilitate the convenient collection and analysis of questionnaire responses. The Questionnaire Generator/Analyzer is divided into four sections to: (1) provide a bank of questionnaire items in ten topic…

Part I discusses the many benefits of having an item bank of four-option multiple-choice questions for test construction in English language instructional programs. The advantages of the item bank include: increased effectiveness, efficiency, and professionalism among teachers and administrators in test development, design, writing, review, and…