Prior computer expertise represents one of the most important predictors of performance when interacting with ICT (Information and Communication Technologies) and acquiring computer skills. Due to demographic changes, the older adult will become increasingly important as a potential user. However, there is a lack of instruments for the assessment…

Drawing on game-design principles and an underlying situated theoretical perspective, we developed and researched a 3D game-based curriculum designed to teach water quality concepts. We compared undergraduate student dyads assigned randomly to four different instructional design conditions where the content had increasingly level of…

One aspect of construct validity is the extent to which the measurement properties of a rating scale are invariant across the groups being compared. An increasingly used method for assessing between-group differences in the measurement properties of items of a scale is the framework of differential item functioning (DIF). In this paper we…

Although well-used and empirically supported, the Social Interaction Anxiety Scale (SIAS) has a questionable factor structure and includes reverse-scored items with questionable utility. Here, using samples of undergraduates and a sample of clients with social anxiety disorder, we extend previous work that opened the question of whether the…

Background: From upper elementary education on, children develop a tendency to over-use linearity. Particularly, it is found that many pupils assume that if a figure enlarges "k" times, the area enlarges "k" times too. However, most research was conducted with traditional, school-like word problems. Aims: This study examines…

We determined the recommendations for preparing and scoring constructed-response (CR) test items in 25 sources (textbooks and chapters) on educational and psychological measurement. The project was similar to Haladyna's (2004) analysis for multiple-choice items. We identified 12 recommendations for preparing CR items given by multiple sources,…

This article investigates several methods of identifying individual guessers from their response data. Both the posterior probability method and the likelihood ratio method are based on the two-state mixture modeling approach to response times. The accuracy method is based on response accuracy data. Results from the simulation study showed that…

False recognition, broadly defined as a claim to remember something that was not encountered previously, can arise for multiple reasons. For instance, a distinction can be made between conceptual false recognition (i.e., false alarms resulting from semantic or associative similarities between studied and tested items) and perceptual false…

The researchers of this study investigated how frequently a set of 17 non-academic behavioral indicators were used to determine impairment of master's-level counseling students that resulted in remediation and termination. Thirty-five academic unit leaders of the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP)…

This research project addresses the validity of assessments used to measure the performance of English language learners (ELLs), such as those mandated by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB, 2002). The goals of the research are to help educators understand and improve ELL performance by investigating the validity of their current…

Despite favorable psychometric properties, the Generalized Anxiety Disorder Questionnaire for the "Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders" (4th ed.) (GAD-Q-IV) does not have a known factor structure, which calls into question use of its original weighted scoring system (usually referred to as the dimensional score).…

This paper describes the development and validation of the Cognate Awareness Test (CAT), which measures cognate awareness in Spanish-speaking English Language Learners (ELLs) in fourth and fifth grade. An investigation of differential performance on the two subtests of the CAT (cognates and noncognates) provides evidence that the instrument is…

In the context of paper and pencil testing, the frequency of the exposure of items is usually controlled through policies that regulate both the reuse of test forms and the frequency with which a candidate may retake the test. In the context of computerized adaptive testing, where item pools are large and expensive to produce and testing can be on…

In this paper, formulas for computing the weights that maximize the reliability of a test with multiple parts are derived using a congeneric model. A direct derivation for the three-part test and case and a two-step derivation for the n-part case are presented, and results for these two approaches are shown to be consistent for the three-part…

The decision to use a forced-choice test item format versus an item format where choice is not forced (e.g., a Likert scale) might best be determined by the nature of the information sought since the difficult decisions required for forced-choice formats may result in a different scaling than an unforced method. If a forced choice is desired,…