Notes that essay responses allow students to display the broadest range of cognitive skills. Considers ways of improving essay exams and claims that evaluating essay questions necessitates maintaining the author's anonymity, predetermining the method of awarding points, and scoring papers in a random order. (MM)

Presents five problems on organic stereochemistry in the form of an open-book quiz meant for senior undergraduates and graduate students in chemistry. Provides some acceptable solutions to the problems. (TW)

Scores based on the number of correct answers were compared with scores based on dangerous responses to items in the same multiple choice test developed by American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery. Results showed construct validity for both sets of scores. However, both scores were redundant when evaluated by correlation coefficient. (Author/JAZ)

This experimental study was conducted to: (1) provide further information on the susceptibility to special preparation of three Graduate Record Examination analytical item types; (2) determine the efficacy of self-study test familiarization materials for these types; and (3) ascertain the effects of several different components of special…

During 1969 the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement began a series of cross-cultural studies to investigate the workings of multiple-choice achievement tests and student guessing behaviors. Empirical models to correct for guessing are discussed in terms of test item difficulty, number of response choices,…

Research on the potential effects of different item arrangement schemes on item statistics is reviewed for three separate periods. Earliest studies investigated the simple main effect of item order on test performance. The late 1960s emphasized interactions between item order and examinees' characteristics. Current concern focuses on item…

Discusses features of a microcomputer program, SCOREIT, used at New Orleans' Loyola University and several high schools to score and analyze test results. Benefits and dimensions of the program's automated test and item analysis are outlined, and several examples illustrating test and item analyses by SCOREIT are presented. (MBR)

Description of an objective method for assigning weights to questions on examinations includes discussions of classical test theory, knowledge organization, and how task analysis can be used to identify knowledge elements required to solve specific problems, rank them, and assign objective weights to exam questions using a Pareto distribution (7…

Discusses criticism leveled at intelligence tests, including cultural and ethnic bias, charges related to content validity, and the ongoing debate of the relative influence of heredity and environment. Many popular attacks are misguided. (RM)

Describes development of a test using slides and corresponding multiple-choice questions for second-year occupational therapy students in child studies course. Reasons for choosing the test format are discussed and an outline of test construction procedures is given. An evaluation of the test indicates problems encountered and benefits gained.…

PLANA is a training program for subject matter analysis and construction of instructional objectives. This investigation tries to find out whether education students in the PLANA program differ from other students on planning instruction processes. (BW)

The Regression Model, popular in selection bias research, is proposed for use in item bias detection, providing a common framework for both types of bias. An empirical test of this new method, now called the Regression Bias method, and a comparison with other commonly used item bias detection methods are presented. (Author/BS)

Examined the pattern of verbal subscale scores on the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale and Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised given to college students (N=129) and elementary students (N=383). Results showed a triangle pattern (Comprehension scores higher than both Vocabulary and Information) that begins to appear at the…

Research support for providing a read-aloud accommodation (i.e., having an individual read test items and directions aloud) to students with disabilities has been somewhat limited, particularly when merely examining effects of the accommodation on overall test scores for general groups of students with disabilities. The authors examined data on…

The sample assessment items in this volume are sorted according to the strands of number and operations, algebra, geometry, measurement, and data analysis and probability. Because one goal of assessment is to determine students' abilities to communicate mathematically, the writing team suggests ways to extend or modify multiple-choice and…