Describes the workings of computerized adaptive testing (CAT). Focuses on the key concept of information and then discusses two important components of a CAT system: the calibrated item bank and the testing algorithm. Describes a CAT that was designed for making placement decisions on the basis of two typical test administrations and notes the…

Over four weeks, 81 secondary students with learning disabilities were tested on four parallel mathematics performance assessments, each under a different condition: standard administration, teacher-read, computer-read, and computer-read with video. Results indicated that providing a reader, either human or computer, increased scores on…

This article describes a technology tool integrated into course content at Iowa State University that enhances instruction for the group as well as the individual student in teacher preparation classes. "Discourse" is a group response program that links a teacher-station computer to individual student terminals via infrared networking. (Contains…

Gateway tests provide a means of assuring that students in reformed precalculus and calculus courses acquire the algebraic and computational skills needed in courses following these, while allowing the focus of the course to be on the conceptual understanding intrinsic to the reformed courses. However, logistical difficulties plague the…

Over the last 20 years, writing about technology (and more recently about its use in assessment systems) has been a joyful experience, in part because the author was usually right about how fast and how unexpected technology progress would be made. In this article, the author suggests to rethink assessment systems from design perspectives and the…

This article describes the translation goals, challenges, strategies, and solutions employed in the development of a computer-based, self administered, psychiatric diagnostic instrument, the Diagnostic Interview Schedule for the Deaf (D-DIS-IV) in American Sign Language (ASL) with English captions. The article analyzes the impact of the…

In keeping with the outcome-based assessment outlined by ABET's Education Criteria 2000, the School of Engineering at the University of Bridgeport has defined fifteen general student outcomes for its computer engineering program. These outcomes form the basis of its instructional program and assessment activities. In assessing and monitoring the…

This investigation seeks to confirm a computer-based approach that can be used to score concept maps (Poindexter & Clariana, 2004) and then describes the concurrent criterion-related validity of these scores. Participants enrolled in two graduate courses (n=24) were asked to read about and research online the structure and function of the heart…

This study compared retrospective reports of childhood sexual and physical abuse as assessed by two measures: the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ), which uses a Likert-type scaling approach, and the Computer Assisted Maltreatment Inventory (CAMI), which employs a behaviorally specific means of assessment. Participants included 1,195…

This paper describes the components of a successful, online, introductory statistics course and shares students' comments and evaluations of each component. Past studies have shown that quality interaction with the professor is lacking in many online courses. While students want a course that is well organized and easy to follow, they also want to…

E-rater[R] has been used by the Educational Testing Service for automated essay scoring since 1999. This paper describes a new version of e-rater (V.2) that is different from other automated essay scoring systems in several important respects. The main innovations of e-rater V.2 are a small, intuitive, and meaningful set of features used for…

The present study investigated the influence of word processing on the writing of students of English as a second language (ESL) and on writing assessment as well. Twenty-one adult Mandarin-Chinese speakers with advanced English proficiency living in Toronto participated in the study. Each participant wrote two comparable writing tasks under…

Increased demands for colleges and universities to engage in outcomes assessment for accountability purposes have accelerated the need to bridge the gap between higher education practice and the fields of measurement, assessment, and evaluation. The "Handbook on Measurement, Assessment, and Evaluation in Higher Education" provides higher…

Formative computer-based assessments (CBAs) for self-instruction were introduced into a Year-2 field biology module. These CBAs were provided in "tutorial" mode where each question had context-related diagnostic feedback and tutorial pages, and a self-test mode where the same CBA returned only a score. The summative assessments remained…

This article evaluates the role of the Online Faculty Development and Assessment System (OFDAS), created at universities in the Canary Islands, Spain, in staff development. The evaluation indicates that the system helped staff in learning to teach curriculum and teaching capacities. The tasks, online resources and opportunities for discussions…