A project was conducted to develop and validate criterion-referenced test items for the following vocational education programs: child care worker, machine shop, electronics, drafting, and automobile mechanics. For each of the programs, the following activities took place: a project coordinator was assigned, subject-area instructors and a test…

This learning module for a high school architectural drafting course introduces students to the use of Claris CAD (Computer Aided Drafting) to develop a floor plan. The six sections of the module are the following: module objectives, content outline, teaching methods, student activities, resource list, and evaluation (pretest, posttest). Student…

This teaching guide was developed to help technical education teachers present courses on computer-assisted drafting (CAD). The guide is aimed at helping students learn to use computers and work with disk operating systems and files at a faster pace. The eight units of instruction include some or all of the following basic components of a unit of…

This instructor's manual contains 18 units of instruction for a course on surgical technology designed to include the entry-level competencies students need as a surgical technologist. Each unit includes some or all of the following basic components of a unit of instruction: objective sheet, suggested activities for the teacher, assignment sheets…

The performance of 2,000 academically talented seventh-grade students on the American College Testing Program (ACT) Assessment was investigated in comparison with 2,000 college-bound 12th-grade examinees. Data from the February 1988 and February 1989 administrations of the ACT were used. Differential test performance and item performance were…

A multimedia, self-paced, individualized instructional program was designed to meet the needs of students in air conditioning, refrigeration, and heating programs at Oil Belt Vocational Technical School (Arkansas). The multimedia approach provided for video-based presentations to meet the needs for visual contact with the classroom and for…

Probabilistic models with more than one latent variable are designed to report profiles of skills or cognitive attributes. Testing programs want to offer additional information beyond what a single test score can provide using these skill profiles. Many recent approaches to skill profile models are limited to dichotomous data and have made use of…

This curriculum guide contains a course in hydraulics to train entry-level workers for automotive mechanics and other fields that utilize hydraulics. The module contains 14 instructional units that cover the following topics: (1) introduction to hydraulics; (2) fundamentals of hydraulics; (3) reservoirs; (4) lines, fittings, and couplers; (5)…

Classical measurement theory was used to investigate measurement characteristics of both parts of the Finding Embedded Figures Test (FEFT) when the test was: administered in either a "no guessing" supply format or a multiple-choice selection format; administered to either undergraduate college students or middle school students; and…

Reliability and validity of multiple-choice examinations as a function of the number of options per item and of student ability were computed for 435 junior class parochial high school students in the tri-county area of Portland (Oregon). The verbal section of the Washington Pre-College Test Battery was used. The least discriminating options were…

This module contains instructional materials on instrumentation to help teachers train students in the job skills they will need as beginning instrumentation technicians. The module addresses the nature of accessing, measuring, and controlling phenomena such as level, flow, pressure, and temperature. Students are introduced to the devices and…

The latent structure, reliability, and item discrimination of 33 items on a Centers for Disease Control (CDC) instrument representing knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs about the acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) were assessed. The study sample included 311 adolescents ranging from ages 12 to 19 years. Demographic characteristics of the…

In 1985, for the first time, Pennsylvania's student assessment program included measures of a higher order thinking skills goal termed Analytical Thinking. These tests utilize a decision-making model to assess such skills as drawing inferences, identifying appropriate information to gather before making a decision, analogical reasoning,…

This study used multiple discriminant analysis (MDA) to assess differences among subgroups defined in terms of sex and undergraduate major area, and ethnic group and undergraduate major area, with respect to patterns of performance on Graduate Record Examination (GRE) item-type part scores. Special subscores based on item types included in the…

A proficiency examination developed for placing non-native English-speakers in appropriate expository writing courses is described. The instrument is a multiple-choice examination containing items that test specific expository writing skills through reading skills. The rationale for including such items for placement in expository writing courses,…