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Full-Text Articles in Education

The Estimation Of Polytomous Item Response Models With Many Dimensions, Nikolai Volodin, Ray J. Adams Dec 2002

The Estimation Of Polytomous Item Response Models With Many Dimensions, Nikolai Volodin, Ray J. Adams

Assessment and Reporting

Identification conditions and an improved estimation method for a D-dimensional mixed coefficients multinomial logit model are discussed. This model is a generalisation of the Adams and Wilson (1997) random coefficients multinomial logit and it can be used to fit multdimensional forms of a wide range of Rasch measurement models. The computational demands of the numerical integration required in fitting such models have limited previous implementations to three and perhaps four-dimensional problems (Glas, 1992; Adams, Wilson and Wang, 1997). This paper illustrates a Monte Carlo integration method that permits the estimation of models with much higher dimensionality. The example in …


It’S Time To Upgrade: Tests And Administration Procedures For The New Millennium, Michael Russell Apr 2002

It’S Time To Upgrade: Tests And Administration Procedures For The New Millennium, Michael Russell

Essays in Education

Increasing use of computers in schools has led to a mis-alignment between the way some students develop skill and knowledge and how they are tested. This paper reviews past research that demonstrates that paper-based tests that require students to produce written responses underestimate the achievement of students who are accustomed to writing on computer. The paper then explores how learning that occurs through other instructional uses of computers is not adequately captured by current testing practices. The paper argues that new approaches should be explored to better measure student learning.


Assessment Criteria In A Large-Scale Writing Test: What Do They Really Mean To The Raters?, Tom Lumley Dec 2001

Assessment Criteria In A Large-Scale Writing Test: What Do They Really Mean To The Raters?, Tom Lumley

Dr Tom Lumley

The process of rating written language performance is still not well understood, despite a body of work investigating this issue over the last decade or so (e.g., Cumming, 1990; Huot, 1990; Vaughan, 1991; Weigle, 1994a; Milanovic et al., 1996). The purpose of this study is to investigate the process by which raters of texts written by ESL learners make their scoring decisions using an analytic rating scale designed for multiple test forms. The context is the Special Test of English Proficiency (step), which is used by the Australian government to assist in immigration decisions. Four trained, experienced and reliable step …