EFFECTS OF INCORPORATING HUMOR IN TEST ITEMS

Two matched forms of a 50 item multiple-choice grammar test were developed. Twenty items designed to be humorous were included in one form. Test forms were randomly assigned to 126 eighth graders who received the test plus alternate forms of a questionnaire. Inclusion of humorous items did not affect grammar scores on matched humorous/nonhumorous items nor on common post-treatment items, nor did inclusion affect results of anxiety measures. Students favored inclusion of humor on tests, judged effects of humor positively, and estimated humorous items to be easier. Humor did not lower performance but was sought by the students. Potential for more valid and humane measurement is discussed.     

COLLEGE STUDENTS’ REACTIONS TOWARDS KEY FACETS OF CLASSROOM TESTING

The major aim of the present study is to assess college students’ attitudes, perceptions, emotional reactions and affective dispositions with respect to various critical dimensions of course achievement testing and assessment, including: “papers” vs. “exams”, “essay” vs. “multiple choice” type formats, “open book” vs. “closed book” exams, “free choice” among items vs. “no free choice” among items, and “oral” vs. “written” modes of test administration. A further aim is to delineate the construction, properties, and potential classroom uses and applications of a selected sample of examinee feedback inventories designed to gauge students’ test attitudes and dispositions. The use of each examinee feedback inventory is demonstrated and exemplified in the context of an empirical study. This paper discusses the assumptions underlying the use of feedback systems in college achievement evaluation; their importance for assessing the face validity of classroom tests; some possible future applications of feedback inventories for research and applied purposes in college; and some guidelines for future research. A mapping sentence specifying the universe of content of test attitude and examinee feedback research is suggested as a heuristic device for guiding future research.     

ANALYSIS OF “CHUNKED” TEST ITEMS AS MEASURES OF READING AND LISTENING COMPREHENSION1

A new type of test item was developed which required Ss to recognize groups of words, i.e., chunks, whose meaning had been changed from that in the original reading or listening passage. In one study involving 52 Ss and 20 test variables, individual differences on the chunked reading test were found to correlate .68 with a multiple-choice alternate form. In another study, the decrease in listening comprehension due to increased speech rate as measured by the chunked items was roughly parallel to the decrease as measured by the multiple-choice questions. These data were interpreted as providing evidence for the validity of the chunked items as measures of comprehension. However, other results suggested that the chunked items may be less dependent upon grammatical and vocabulary knowledge and more sensitive to within individual changes in comprehension as compared to the traditional multiple-choice question.     

BACKGROUND CHARACTERISTICS AS PREDICTORS OF ACADEMIC SELF-CONFIDENCE AND ACADEMIC SELF-EFFICACY AMONG GRADUATE SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING STUDENTS

This study uses data from the 1995-96 Graduate Experience Project to explore differences among, and possible predictors of, academic self-confidence, academic self-efficacy, and outcome expectations of entering graduate students in science and engineering. The results suggest that at time of entry, women and U.S. minority graduate students entered with similar academic credentials and academic expectations as their Anglo male peers. Further, gender was not found to be a significant factor in predicting academic self-confidence, academic self-efficacy, or careerrelated outcome expectations. Rather, student perceptions of academic preparedness, status-related disadvantages, and expectations about faculty/student interactions emerged as significant predictors of academic self-efficacy and career-related outcome expectations.     

CORRELATES OF UNWARRANTED CONFIDENCE IN RESPONSES TO OBJECTIVE TEST ITEMS

Investigated were the effects of several variables on the expression of unwarranted confidence in the accuracy of responses to objective test items. A final examination was administered to 72 subjects under confidence-weighting instructions with two levels of penalty for incorrect responses. A 2-way ANOVA revealed no significant main effects or interaction attributable to level of penalty or sex. Although increased penalty level had no effect on confidence-expression, the test's reliability decreased from .85 to .39, and the correlation between conventional and weighted scores dropped from .88 to .095.     

DETECTION OF A SKILL DICHOTOMY USING STANDARDIZED ACHIEVEMENT TEST ITEMS

Multiple-choice reading comprehension items from a conventional, norm-referenced reading comprehension test are successfully analyzed using a simple latent class model. A classification rule for assigning respondents to "mastery" or "nonmastery" states is presented which simplifies the scoring procedure of Macready and Dayton (1977). A procedure is also derived for estimating the "true," or "disattenuated," latent cross-classification of masters versus nonmasters for two tests, and illustrated using two sets of items from the same content domain. Results support the use of latent class, state mastery models with more heterogeneous item pools than has been advocated by previous authors.     

SOCIAL AND PERSONALITY CHARACTERISTICS OF GIFTED STUDENTS

This study aimed at investigating the relationship between intellectual, social, personal and personality variables of academically gifted secondary school students. A total of 297 tenth grade boys and girls were identified on the basis of three main criteria: 1. Academic achievement with special emphasis on Arabic language, science and math scores; 2. Behavioural traits; 3. General mental ability and general adjustment. Data related to socioeconomic status and personal characteristics were also collected. Results of the analysis of variance showed that there were significant differences between gifted and nongifted groups in general mental ability, achievement, general adjustment, behavioural traits, personal and social variables, in favour of the former.     

CHARACTERISTICS OF SUCCESSFUL STUDENTS READMITTED FOLLOWING ACADEMIC SUSPENSION

The study was an investigation of the usefulness of 50 variables in predicting the academic performance of 86 students readmitted to Bronx Community College following academic suspension. The variables included scores on the City University of New York placement tests, the Maudsley Personality Inventory, and the Survey of Study Habits and Attitudes. Other variables included 8 educational history items, 20 biographical items, and students' opinions about the contribution of 12 factors to their previous academic failure. The criterion measure was the academic performance (pass or fail) in the re‐entry semester.

The principal conclusions to be derived from this study are that, for the population of academic failures characterized by average high school achievement and average scholastic aptitude, specific academic skills are important, past academic record seems unimportant, and a general factor called incentive seems important in the attainment of passing grades upon readmission.     

THE EFFECTS OF MANIPULATED ITEM WRITING CONSTRAINTS ON THE HOMOGENEITY OF TEST ITEMS1

Described are the effects of four sets of instructions on the observed item inter- correlations of current events and subtraction items. The four conditions were: (a) general objective, (b) behavioral objective, (c) behavioral objective plus test item, and (d) behavioral objective plus item-form. Two tests, one in each subject matter, constructed by selecting four items generated from each of the experimental conditions, were administered to 51 seventh grade children. Not found were the expected tendencies toward greater homogeneity among items produced under the three conditions employing behavioral objectives.