Describes applications of bar coding technology that will help teachers to organize and energize their classrooms. Explains how bar codes--the black-and-white lines used for identification--are read and produced. Educational applications include their use in testing, equipment inventory, specimen identification, time keeping in experiments,…

This tutorial paper examines the potential of otoacoustic emissions (OAEs) in diagnostic audiology. It discusses classification of OAEs, basic properties of various types of OAEs, and clinical applications. It concludes that both transiently evoked and distortion product OAEs have beneficial clinical application resulting from their objectivity,…

An adaptive testing algorithm is presented based on an alternative modeling framework, and its effectiveness is investigated in a simulation based on real data. The algorithm uses a latent class modeling framework in which assessed latent attributes are assumed to be categorical variables. (SLD)

Navy recruits (n=243) participated in an examination of the relationship between strategy use and intelligence through paper-and-pencil and computer-administered tests that considered reaction time. Overall, results weaken arguments that strategy use is related to general intelligence and that strategy use is a robust, traitlike construct. (SLD)

Examined validity of Microcomputer Evaluation Screening and Assessment (MESA) aptitude scores relative to General Aptitude Test Battery (GATB) using multitrait-multimethod correlational analyses. Findings from 54 rehabilitation clients and 29 displaced workers revealed no evidence to support the construct validity of the MESA. (Author/NB)

Conducted two experiments to determine whether scores on computerized test would differ significantly from scores on paper-and-pencil format. College students (Study 1, n=24; Study 2, n=400+) completed the Verbal Reasoning test of the Differential Aptitude Tests. Results showed reduced performance on computerized version of test. Reduced…

Presents two studies applying computerized adaptive testing (CAT) in schools. Compared paper-administered, computer-administered, and CAT modes for administering school achievement and assessment tests. Then compared computerized adaptive aptitude test results with individually administered Weschler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised. Found…

A method of automatically selecting items for inclusion in a test with constraints on item content and statistical properties was applied to real data. Tests constructed manually from the same data and constraints were compared to tests constructed automatically. Results show areas in which automated assembly can improve test construction. (SLD)

A new computerized mastery test is described that builds on the Lewis and Sheehan procedure (sequential testlets) (1990), but uses fuzzy set decision theory to determine stopping rules and the Rasch model to calibrate items and estimate abilities. Differences between fuzzy set and Bayesian methods are illustrated through an example. (SLD)

Explains computerized adaptive testing (CAT) and its basis in item response theory. Describes a CAT program in pharmacology. (SK)

Provides information and strategies for helping language teachers know how to prepare students for the new computerized version of the Test of English as a Foreign Language. Information focuses on changes in scoring and test format. (Author/VWL)

Explores the potential of a neural network in language assessment. Nonnative speakers of French were asked to produce a short text in response to a picture stimulus. A neural network was trained to grade the text on the basis of codings. Results suggest that it may be possible to teach a neural network to mimic the judgments made by human markers.…

Evaluated the effectiveness of vocabulary computerized adaptive tests (CATs) with restricted review in a live testing setting involving 242 college students in which special efforts were made to increase test efficiency and reduce the possibility of obtaining positively biased proficiency estimates. Results suggest the efficacy of allowing limited…

Compared results from computerized vocabulary tests under conditions in which item review was permitted or not permitted. Results from 177 college students reveal that performance gains after review were greater for examinees of high ability, and that review was desired more by examinees with higher test anxiety. The major drawback to review was…

Discriminant analysis was used to identify variables predictive of success in the computerized National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses with data from 289 nursing graduates. Using seven significant predictors, 94% of passes and 92% of failures were correctly identified. (Contains 23 references.) (SK)