Print masters for 87 exercises in diagnostic and formative testing of science comprehension skills are provided for reproduction and test construction. Passages from science periodicals and general science texts are presented with questions testing vocabulary, conceptual, and content comprehension. Research questions are included in the program…

For over 50 years, the overwhelming weight of evidence has been that subjects are able to make use of partial information when responding to multiple-choice items. The subject chooses the alternative which has given rise to the lowest mismatch, except that if this minimum mismatch is larger than some threshold, the question is left unanswered.…

THIS STUDY PROVIDES A PORTFOLIO OF SEVERAL THOUSAND FIELD-TESTED MULTIPLE CHOICE TEST ITEMS COORDINATED WITH THE CHAPTERS OF THE BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES CURRICULUM STUDY (BSCS) YELLOW VERSION TEXTBOOK. THE ITEMS WERE DEVELOPED BY A TEAM OF HIGH SCHOOL BIOLOGY TEACHERS AND WERE EVALUATED UNDER CLASSROOM CONDITIONS WITH GRADE 10 STUDENTS. A…

These three questionnaires were developed to assess the attitudes of British secondary students toward scientific subjects as taught in their schools. Each questionnaire contains 33 Likert scale items with five choices ranging from "strongly agree" to "strongly disagree." The subjects of the inventories are: (1) physics, (2)…

Reported is a study designed to (1) describe the variations which occur in the attainment of cognitive objectives in high school chemistry, (2) identify patterns of achievement in terms of these cognitive objectives, and (3) investigate the relationship of achievement of these objectives and their patterns to certain personal, attitudinal, and…

Reported is a study designed (1) to investigate the relationship between teacher-assigned chemistry grades and the scores obtained on a multiple-choice chemistry test built on taxonomic principles, and (2) to compare the contributions of various predictor variables to the explainable variance of the grades and the total test scores. The sample…

This publication, written for citizens and professional educators, releases about 40 percent of the data describing what groups of Americans know and can do in the area of science. Nine-year old elementary (28,000), thirteen-year old junior high (28,000), and senior high students were tested. In addition 10,000 adults, ages 26-35, were involved.…

The study was designed to answer two questions: (1) What cognitive skills are emphasized by written test items constructed by eighth grade science teachers in the public schools of Louisiana? and (2) Are there differences of emphasis on the cognitive skills when comparisons are made among test questions from those teachers based on the following…

This paper describes the Inventory of Piaget's Developmental Tasks, summarizes the data on its reliability and validity, comments on its usefulness as a quick, paper-pencil test which introductory chemistry instructors might use for assessing cognitive development, and presents data showing how introductory chemistry students scored on it.…

Presented is an electricity problem on simple series circuit. Provided are the problem diagram and answers with explanation. (YP)

For the 1980 sophomore cohort from High School and Beyond, a strong relation was found between senior-year mathematics achievement test scores and the number of mathematics courses taken at the level of Algebra I and above. The relationship between science test scores and science courses taken was weaker. (Author/LMO)

Latent image processing is a method which reveals hidden ink when marked with a special pen. Using multiple-choice items with commercially available latent image transfers can provide immediate feedback on take-home quizzes. Students benefitted from formative evaluation and were challenged to search for alternative solutions and explain unexpected…

Context-dependent items are traditionally analyzed independently, creating a situation in which the potential local item dependence effects among these items may cause a biased estimation of examinees' abilities. This study investigated the local item dependence effects on testlets in the tryout version of a statewide science assessment by a Rasch…

The Illinois Science Assessment Framework for grade 11 is designed to assist educators, test developers, policy makers and the public by clearly defining those elements of the Illinois Learning Standards that are suitable for state testing. This document employs a general organizational structure designed for ease of use. Each state goal for…

Reviews different types of tests that a science teacher may use. Selection of a particular test depends on various predetermined achievement criteria. Some useful hints are given for teachers for constructing their own tests. (PS)