A statistical test for detecting answer copying on multiple-choice tests based on Cohen's kappa is proposed. The test is free of any assumptions on the response processes of the examinees suspected of copying and having served as the source, except for the usual assumption that these processes are probabilistic. Because the asymptotic null and…

The standard error of measurement usefully provides confidence limits for scores in a given test, but is it possible to quantify the reliability of a test with just a single number that allows comparison of tests of different format? Reliability coefficients do not do this, being dependent on the spread of examinee attainment. Better in this…

Multiple-choice testing (MCT) has several advantages which are becoming more relevant in the current financial climate. In particular, they can be machine marked. As an objective testing method it is particularly relevant to engineering and other factual courses, but MCTs are not widely used in engineering because students can benefit from…

As testing moves from paper-and-pencil administration toward computerized administration, how to present tests on a computer screen becomes an important concern. Of particular concern are tests that contain necessary information that cannot be displayed on screen all at once for an item. Ideally, the method of presentation should not interfere…

Much has been written concerning the potential group differences in responding to multiple-choice achievement test items. This discussion has included references to possible disparities in tendency to omit such test items. When test scores are used for high-stakes decision making, even small differences in scores and rankings that arise from male…

What are colleges for? What are they supposed to do? Are educators teaching their students how to grub for grades or how to learn in deep lasting ways? These are just some of the questions that the author attempts to explore in this article. An unbiased observer, looking at any organization, would look to its core processes, what its members do,…

The purpose of this study was to examine the potential effect of false assumptions regarding the motivation of examinees on item calibration and test construction. A simulation study was conducted using data generated by means of several models of examinee item response behaviors (the three-parameter logistic model alone and in combination with…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of multiple intelligences (MI) teaching approach on 8th Grade students' achievement in and attitudes toward science. This study used a pretest-posttest control group experimental design. While the experimental group (n=30) was taught a unit on acids and bases using MI teaching approach, the…

This study extends earlier research on headings use in undergraduate testing, and examined whether headings within multiple-choice tests positively impact test performance. Participants were employees (n=143) of a large manufacturing plant in the western United States. The experimental group received a multiple-choice recertification test with…

An item analysis study was conducted for two multiple-choice tests of introductory psychology created from a publisher's test bank. A 47-item multiple-choice test was administered to 247 students, and 433 students took a different 42-item multiple-choice test. Participants were from a large northeastern suburban community college. The difficulty…

The relationship between multiple-choice and constructed-response science tests was investigated using confirmatory factor analysis. The tests were given to 872 students in grades 9 through 12. Each test was divided into several parcels of items. The fit of a one-factor model (parcels of both tests loading on the same factor) was compared with the…

Study skills books sometimes give conflicting advice concerning whether or not students should change their initial responses to multiple-choice questions about which they are unsure. In contrast, answer-changing research consistently shows that the majority of answer changes are from wrong to right. Responses of 244 community college students to…

In his pioneer investigations of deductive logical reasoning competence, R. H. Ennis (R. H. Ennis and D. H. Paulus, 1965) used a multiple-choice format in which the premises are given, and it is asked whether the conclusion would then be true. In the adaptation of his work for use in Jamaica, the three possible answers were stated as…

The purpose of this study was to compare two different testing styles to see how they relate to retention of information. The study was conducted during the first semester of the 1996-97 school year at Greenbriar East High School in Lewisburg, West Virginia. The students in the study were in two Biology II classes, one with an enrollment of 26…

This paper analyzes the results of a pilot study at Glendale Community College (Arizona) to assess the effectiveness of a comprehensive multiple choice final exam in the macroeconomic principles course. The "pilot project" involved the administration of a 50-question multiple choice exam to 71 students in three macroeconomics sections.…