This book offers a comprehensive introduction to the latest developments in the theory and practice of CAT. It can be used both as a basic reference and a valuable resource on test theory. It covers such topics as item selection and ability estimation, item pool development and maintenance, item calibration and model fit, and testlet-based adaptive testing, as well as the operational aspects of existing large-scale CAT programs.
This book traces the development of computerized adaptive testing (CAT) from its origins in the 1960s to its integration with the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) in the 1990s. A paper-and-pencil version of the battery (P & P-ASVAB) has been used by the Defense Department since the 1970s to measure the abilities of applicants for military service. The test scores are used both for initial qualification and for classification into entry-level training opportunities. /// This volume provides the developmental history of the CAT-ASVAB through its various stages in the Joint-Service arena. Although the majority of the book concerns the myriad technical issues that were identified and resolved, information is provided on various political and funding support challenges that were successfully overcome in developing, testing, and implementing the battery into one of the nation's largest testing programs. The book provides useful information to professionals in the testing community and everyone interested in personnel assessment and evaluation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2004 APA, all rights reserved).
This open access book presents a large number of innovations in the world of operational testing. It brings together different but related areas and provides insight in their possibilities, their advantages and drawbacks. The book not only addresses improvements in the quality of educational measurement, innovations in (inter)national large scale assessments, but also several advances in psychometrics and improvements in computerized adaptive testing, and it also offers examples on the impact of new technology in assessment. Due to its nature, the book will appeal to a broad audience within the educational measurement community. It contributes to both theoretical knowledge and also pays attention to practical implementation of innovations in testing technology.
Unlike other forms of adaptive testing, multistage testing (MST) is highly suitable for testing educational achievement because it can be adapted to educational surveys and student testing. This volume provides the first unified source of information on the design, psychometrics, implementation, and operational use of MST. It shows how to apply theoretical statistical tools to testing in novel and useful ways. It also explains how to explicitly tie the assumptions made by each model to observable (or at least inferable) data conditions.
This book is about inclusivity and open education in the digital age. It reports the latest data on this topic from the 2021 Cognition and Exploratory Learning in the Digital Age (CELDA) conference. This annual conference focuses on challenges pertaining to the evolution of the learning process, the role of pedagogical approaches and the progress of technological innovation, in the context of the digital age. The material in this book represents the work of both researchers and practitioners in an effort to cover both technological and pedagogical issues in ground-breaking studies. The book covers a wide array of topics examining the deployment of learning technologies, proposing pedagogical approaches and practices to address digital transformation, presenting case studies of specific technologies and contexts and overall debating the contribution of learning technologies for the improvement of the learning process and the experience of students and for the development of key competences. It represents the best work reported during CELDA 2021, comprising expanded peer reviewed chapters from best papers focusing on open education models, inclusive learning environments and adaptive as well as personalized learning support.
This book addresses challenges in the theoretically and empirically adequate assessment of competencies in educational settings. It presents the scientific projects of the priority program “Competence Models for Assessing Individual Learning Outcomes and Evaluating Educational Processes,” which focused on competence assessment across disciplines in Germany. The six-year program coordinated 30 research projects involving experts from the fields of psychology, educational science, and subject-specific didactics. The main reference point for all projects is the concept of “competencies,” which are defined as “context-specific cognitive dispositions that are acquired and needed to successfully cope with certain situations or tasks in specific domains” (Koeppen et al., 2008, p. 62). The projects investigate different aspects of competence assessment: The primary focus lies on the development of cognitive models of competencies, complemented by the construction of psychometric models based on these theoretical models. In turn, the psychometric models constitute the basis for the construction of instruments for effectively measuring competencies. The assessment of competencies plays a key role in optimizing educational processes and improving the effectiveness of educational systems. This book contributes to this challenging endeavor by meeting the need for more integrative, interdisciplinary research on the structure, levels, and development of competencies.
This book introduces computer-based testing, addressing both nontechnical and technical considerations. The material is oriented toward practitioners and graduate students. The practical emphasis will be useful to measurement professionals who are or will be responsible for implementing a computerized testing program. The instructional information is also designed to be suitable for a one-semester graduate course in computerized testing in an educational measurement or quantitative methods program. While certain theoretical concepts are addressed, the focus of the book is on the applied nature of computerized testing. For this reason, the materials include such features as example applications, figures, and plots to illustrate critical points in the discussions. A wide range ofnontechnical issues need to be considered in implementing a computer-based testing program. Separate chapters are provided on test administration and development issues, examinee issues, software issues, and innovative item types. Test administration and delivery issues include the location of exam administration, selection of hardware and software, security considerations, scheduling of administration frequency and time limits, cost implications, and program support as well as approaches for addressing reliability, validity, comparability, and data analysis. Examinee issues include the influence ofexaminees' reactions to adaptive testing, the effect ofcomputer based task constraints, and the impact of examinees' prior computer experience. Software issues include usability studies and software evaluation as tools in selecting and developing appropriate software, based on the test program needs.
