A study investigated the dynamics of second language classroom dyadic interactions in which one participant assumes the expert role and one the novice role. The study was conducted in a university-level Japanese language class, in which pairs were videotaped doing role play; analysis focused on one particular pair playing the roles of a teacher…

The use of the Work Keys Listening and Writing Assessment, part of an assessment system of the generic employability skills of individuals, needs to be accompanied by systematic evaluation of its technical qualities. This study examined sampling variability and generalizability of Listening and Writing scores when multiple forms, raters, and…

An item analysis study was conducted for two multiple-choice tests of introductory psychology created from a publisher's test bank. A 47-item multiple-choice test was administered to 247 students, and 433 students took a different 42-item multiple-choice test. Participants were from a large northeastern suburban community college. The difficulty…

The learning difficulties described by students in statistics courses continue to engage researchers from several disciplines. One source of difficulty for graduate students in educational statistics courses is the reading difficulty of the textbook. Instructors making decisions about a textbook typically have little information about the reading…

The final project report on development of an advanced Russian language listening and reading proficiency test is presented. It summarizes activities in the second year of the project, including dissemination of summer 1985 test validation results to participating higher education institutions, item analyses, completion of the final test edition,…

The relationship between instruction and instructional design is explored. The aim of instruction is to assist the individual as learner. The Learner, the Content, the Media, the Teacher Function, and the Context within which learning is to occur interact during a period of time to form an instructional episode (the CMT paradigm). Considering all…

Basic precepts for test development are described and explained as they are presented in measurement textbooks commonly used in the fields of education and psychology. The five building blocks discussed as the foundation of well-constructed tests are: (1) specification of purpose; (2) standard conditions; (3) consistency; (4) validity; and (5)…

In self-adapted testing (SAT), examinees select the difficulty level of items administered. This study investigated three variations of prior information provided when taking an SAT: (1) no information (examinees selected item difficulty levels without prior information); (2) view (examinees inspected a typical item from each difficulty level…

A study investigated the attitudes of adult university students of English as a Second Language (ESL) toward use of closed captioned television (CCTV) as an instructional tool. Students at the intermediate (n=51) and advanced (n=55) levels of ESL study in classes using CCTV were administered a questionnaire concerning their perceptions of the…

A study was conducted that attempted to show changes in electroencephalographic (EEG) patterns (identified using topographic EEG mapping) when children were required to perform the relatively simple task of button pressing during an eyes-open baseline session of low cognitive demand and a complex reaction time (RT) task of high cognitive demand.…

A study of children's acquisition of the auxiliary verb system in English is reported. The first section describes the operation of the auxiliary system, and proposes that the behavior of auxiliaries is so complicated that if children were to generalize from one auxiliary to another, they would make predictable errors. The second section reviews…

The traditional system of letter grades discourages college-bound students from taking difficult courses. Many colleges look closely at an applicant's grade point average (GPA). When a student's GPA is computed, a grade from an easy course carries as much weight as a grade from a difficult course. Since a student can achieve a higher grade with…

The expansion theory, which maintains that an individual has unlimited energy to expend in work or marital involvement, and the drain theory, which maintains that an individual's energy for work can be depleted by overcommitment to family, compete with each other in explaining the effect of worklife on the adult male's family relationships. To…

This study focuses on the relationship between item modeling and evidence-centered design (ECD); it considers how an appropriately generalized item modeling software tool can support systematic identification and exploitation of task-model variables, and then examines the feasibility of this goal, using linear-equation items as a test case. The…

Three examinations administered to medical students were analyzed to determine differences among severities of judges' assessments and among grading periods. The examinations included essay, clinical, and oral forms of the tests. Twelve judges graded the three essays for 32 examinees during a 4-day grading session, which was divided into eight…