Robert J. Mislevy

Isaac I. Bejar

David M. Williamson

The use of computers and the Internet in the testing community has expanded the opportunity for innovative testing. Until now, there was no one source that reviewed the latest methods of automated scoring for complex assessments. This is the first volume to provide that coverage, along with examples of "best practices" in the design, implementation, and evaluation of automated complex assessment. The contributing authors, all noted leaders in the field, introduce each method in the context of actual applications in real assessments so as to provide a realistic view of current industry practices. Evidence Centered Design, an innovative approach to assessment design, is used as the book's conceptual framework. The chapters review both well known methods for automated scoring such as rule-based logic, regression-based, and IRT systems, as well as more recent procedures such as Bayesian and neural networks. The concluding chapters compare and contrast the various methods and provide a vision for the future. Each chapter features a discussion of the philosophical and practical approaches of the method, the associated implications for validity, reliability, and implementation, and the calculations and processes of each technique. Intended for researchers, practitioners, and advanced students in educational testing and measurement, psychometrics, cognitive science, technical training and assessment, diagnostic, licensing, and certification exams, and expert systems, the book also serves as a resource in advanced courses in educational measurement or psychometrics.

Automated Scoring of Complex Tasks in Computer-based Testing

A book which summarizes many of the recent advances in the theory and practice of achievement testing, in the light of technological developments, and developments in psychometric and psychological theory. It provides an introduction to the two major psychometric models, item response theory and generalizability theory, and assesses their strengths for different applications. The book closes with some speculations about the future of achievement tests for the assessment of individuals, as well as monitoring of educational progress. `...the book contains valuable information for both beginners and for advanced workers who want an overview of recent work in achievement testing.' -- The Journal of the American Statistical A

Recent Advances

Achievement Testing

Roger Chaffin

Susan Embretson

If one were to conduct an analysis of any profession the "ability to think analogically" is more than likely to be one of the requirements for success, be it an architectural studio, a research laboratory, a legal office, or a nuclear plant. Cognitive scientists are aware of the prominence of analogical reasoning in all forms of reasoning and learning, and have devoted substantial effort to ascer taining its nature. Test builders, like cognitive scientists, are aware of the cen trality of analogical reasoning and figure, correctly, that a test that samples a student's ability to think analogically may well be a good predictor of success in a variety of fields. This book is the result of a project to investigate analogical reasoning from both an individual differences and a cognitive perspective. The book is directed to both researchers and practitioners concerned with the nature and measurement of analogical reasoning. Cognitive scientists, linguists, psycholinguists, and natural language researchers will find the seman tic taxonomy and accompanying empirical results food for thought. Test devel opers will fmd it reassuring that performance on verbal analogy items is not just a reflection of the size of a person's vocabulary, and that tests can be designed according to principles, rather than assembled to satisfy a set of statistical speci fications. Psychometricians will find that content and response modelling can go together and that there are distinct benefits in approaching psychometric re sponse modelling from that integrative perspective.

Isaac I. Bejar

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