Describes a "gradebook program" capable of recording, editing, recoding, weighting, and scaling multiple choice test scores. (SK)

Describes the two-day library orientation offered to all incoming sophomore English classes at Quincy High and Vocational Technical Schools in Milton, Massachusetts. Computer-scored pretests allow librarians to tailor the basic orientation package to the needs of each class. (SJL)

Initially school personnel tended to select devices with technically adequate reliability and validity. As decision making continued, technically inadequate devices were selected more often. More emphasis on the importance of technically adequate assessment devices is needed in training school professionals. (Author)

Five major trends in the study of intellectual abilities are identified. These suggest that in the future several kinds of tests will be used to measure several kinds of basic processes of intelligence. There will be a corresponding decrease in concern to measure a single attribute of general intelligence. (Author/RD)

A study investigated a computer-based testing method in an anatomic pathology course within a new, modular, systems-oriented medical curriculum at the University of Otago (New Zealand). Students (n=193) completed five biweekly criterion-referenced, computer-based quizzes incorporating digitized photographs and varied question formats. Results…

A study involving 209 Spanish high school students compared computer-based English vocabulary tests: (1) a self-adapted test (SAT); (2) a computerized adaptive test (CAT); (3) a conventional test; and (4) a test combining SAT and CAT. No statistically significant differences were found among test types for estimated ability or posttest anxiety.…

Results of studies involving 478 junior high school students in two years using cognitive diagnoses done through computerized adaptive testing indicate that knowing students' knowledge states before remediation is effective, and that the rule-space method can diagnose these knowledge states effectively. (SLD)

A study using a widely used clinical assessment instrument examined whether eight children (ages 9-19) with Asperger syndrome had a greater number of attention deficit symptoms than controls. Evidence of an attention deficit, as measured by a computerized test of attention, was seen in a majority of the subjects. (Contains references.) (CR)

Describes the development of a task-based test, Taaltoets Instroom Beroepsopleiding (TIBO), designed to measure whether nonnative adult speakers of Dutch posses the level of Dutch required to enter vocational training in the industrial sector. Focuses on three tensions that had to be considered throughout the process of test development.…

The relationship of an expert-system-scored constrained free-response item type to multiple-choice and free-response items was studied using data for 614 students on the College Board's Advanced Placement Computer Science (APCS) Examination. Implications for testing and the APCS test are discussed. (SLD)

Findings of studies examining the effects of presentation media on item characteristics are reviewed. The effect of medium of presentation independent of adaptive methodology in computer-assisted testing was studied through tests of 763 Marine trainees. Conditions necessary for score equivalence between item presentation media are described. (SLD)

F. M. Lord's flexilevel, computerized adaptive testing (CAT) procedure was compared to an item-response theory-based CAT procedure that uses Bayesian ability estimation with various standard errors of estimates used for terminating the test. Ability estimates of flexilevel CATs were as accurate as were those of Bayesian CATs. (TJH)

Discusses factors that should be considered when designing multiple-choice diagnostic tests for use with microcomputer systems. Item content and characteristics are described, presentation of feedback and results are examined, database management functions are discussed, and benefits for students with learning problems and physically disabled…

Demonstrates how Bayesian reasoning can be used to adjust the length of computer-guided practice exercises and computer-based tests to help make mastery or nonmastery decisions. Individualization of instruction is discussed, and the results of an empirical study that used the sequential probability ratio test (SPRT) are presented. (25 references)…

Five physicians were tape recorded during their initial interviews with 52 adult patients to quantify behaviors in physicians' initial interviewing style. Patients were asked to complete the Medical Interview Satisfaction Scale. Silences or reaction time latencies, reciprocity, and reflective use of interruptions were significantly correlated with…