Arguing that discourse coherence can provide a window on the writing processes that produce it, this paper describes developmental differences observed in children's writing and proposes a procedural model to account for those differences. The first section of the paper points out that a developmental model of the writing process should specify…

SCORIGHT is a very general computer program for scoring tests. It models tests that are made up of dichotomously or polytomously rated items or any kind of combination of the two through the use of a generalized item response theory (IRT) formulation. The items can be presented independently or grouped into clumps of allied items (testlets) or in…

The Learning Style Profile (LSP), developed in four phases from the fall of 1983 to early 1986, identifies perceptual responses, cognitive skills, study preferences, and instructional preferences. This study assesses the LSP Simultaneous Processing Skill subscale, which is modeled after the work of the Russian neuropsychologist, A. R. Luria.…

Two modification formulas are presented for the test information function in order to provide better measures of local accuracies of the estimation of "theta" when maximum likelihood estimation is used to provide the estimate of ability "theta." A minimum bound of any estimator, biased or unbiased, is considered; and Formula 1…

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…

A brief description of computer managed instruction (CMI), including its applications and capabilities, introduces case studies of schools in the United States that are using three different CMI systems. The first system discussed is the Comprehensive Achievement Monitoring (CAM) Program, which was developed by a small school district (Hopkins,…

A computerized testing system was implemented in conjunction with the Radar Technician Training Course at the Naval Training Center, Great Lakes, Illinois. The feasibility of the system and students' attitudes toward it were examined. The system, a multilevel, microprocessor-based computer network, administered tests in a sequential, fixed length…

This paper explores the feasibility of developing a single-user microcomputer-based testing system. Testing literature was surveyed to discover types of test items that might be used in the system and to compile a list of strategies that such a system might use. Potential users were surveyed. Several were interviewed, and a questionnaire was…

The Testing Center at Central Piedmont Community College (CPCC) in North Carolina, Educational Testing Service, and the College Board are participating jointly in pilot and field testing Computerized Placement Tests (CPTs). CPTs, which assess communications, reading, and mathematics skills, have the following benefits: (1) students may take the…

The document presents the executive summary of the final report of Project STEEL (Special Teacher Education and Evaluation Laboratory), a 3-year study at Indiana University. Project STEEL achieved four major goals: (1) development, implementation, and evaluation of a microcomputer-based observation system for codification, storage, and…

This paper considers the feasibility of incorporating research results from cognitive science into the modeling of performance on psychometric tests and the construction of test items. The paper focuses on the feasibility of modeling performance on a three-dimensional rotation task within the context of Item Response Theory (IRT). To test the…

A study was conducted to examine the effects of prescribing the use of some specific reading strategies on comprehension. The effects of such prescription on the interactions among instructional method and a number of individual difference variables were also investigated. Subjects were 140 high school students randomly assigned to read a text…

The premise that using language is a thinking process is central to the computerized diagnostic test being developed by Educational Testing Service (ETS). The test developers are making a significant educational contribution by describing the reciprocal and dynamic relationship between language and thinking. Reading comprehension has been…

The difficulty of computer programming and other design tasks is a function of the multiple abstractions that combine to form a program's meaning. Thus, comprehension of the final form of a program design, the program text, involves retrieving multiple sets of relationships between parts. The research presented here addresses which, if any,…

This supplement updates the original catalog of available PLATO system instructional materials which was published in April 1980. The lessons described have been used in actual instructional situations, or have had adequate testing to guarantee that the files are in working order. Printed directly from the CERL online catalog, "unicat,"…