Lecture 6: Essential Test Item Consideration Flashcards
Test items
the units that make up a test and the means through which samples of test taker behaviors are gathered
Item Analysis
term that refers to all techniques used to assess the characteristics of test items and evaluate their quality during the process of test development and test construction
Qualitative item analysis
rely on judegments of reviewers concerning the substantive and stylistic charcateristics of items as well as their accuracy and fairness
Qualitative criteria (how do you evaluate criteria qulitatively?)
- appropriateness of item content and format
- clarity of expression
- grammatical correctness
- adherence to “some basic rules for writing items that have evolved over time”
Quantitative item analysis
involves a variety of statistical procedures designed to ascertain the psychometric characteristics of items based in the responses obtained from the samples used in the process of test development
Bias
any systematic error that enters into scores and affects their meaning in relation to what scores are designed to measure or predict
The context of item analysis
- usage of simple statistical procedures
- information on item behavior
- practical features of interest
When is the decision to create a test developed?
when developer realized that either no test exists for a particular purpose or that the existing tests for certain purpose are not adequate for a reason
Planning a test entails specifying:
- the contruct or knowledge domains that the test will asess
- the typoe of population with which the test will be used
- the objectives of the items to be developed
- the concrete means through which teh behavior samples will begathered and scored
Steps in the Test development Process
- Item generation
- Qualitative item analysis
- Revision/replacement of items
- Pilot study
- Evaluation of pilot study results
- Potentil modification of items
- Additional pilot studies
- Determination and fixation of test length
- Test norming
- Test publication
Item generation
by writing (or otherwise) creating the test items, the administration and scoring procedures
Qualitative item analysis
- submitting the pool item to experts
- to identify items that may be a disadvantage, or be offensive to any particular demographic group for which the test is intended
Revision/Replacement of items
items that are identified by the reviwers as inadequate or problematic from the point of view of subject matter, offensiveness, or bias
Pilot study
tryout out items that have been gathered and reviewed on samples
Evaluation of pilot study results
through quantitative item analysis and additional qualitative analysis
Potential modification of items
adding, deleting or modifying test items as needed
Additional pilot studies
cross-validation: for checking wthether item statistics remain stable across different groups until a satisfactory set of items is obtained
Determination and fixing of test length
- and the sequencing of items
- administration and scoring procedures that will standard in the final from of the test - on the basis of the foregoing analysis
Test norming
administering the test to a new sample of individuals in order to develop normative data or performance criteria, etc.
Test publication
Publishing the final form, along with administration and scoring manual
(accompanying documentation of the use for which the test is intended)
computer adaptive testing (CAT)
relies on banking pools of items that have been carefully calibrated with respoect to the information they convey
Types of responses they require from test takers (two types)
- selected-response items
2. constructed-response items
Selected-response items
- objective or fixed-response items
- present a limited number of response alternatives (from which test takers must choose)
- Pass/fail items (dichotomous), ranking scale items (polytomous)