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Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons

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Theses/Dissertations

Differential Item Functioning

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Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics

Investigation Into The Measurement Of Student Ability: Refinements, Improvements And Enhanced Understanding Of Factors That Influence Performance, David Schreurs May 2022

Investigation Into The Measurement Of Student Ability: Refinements, Improvements And Enhanced Understanding Of Factors That Influence Performance, David Schreurs

Theses and Dissertations

The following series of experiments were all designed and implemented with the goal of understanding and improving undergraduate students understanding of chemistry. In order to accurately access changes in student’s chemistry understanding, the first chapter focuses on how a student’s chemistry proficiency can be most effectively measured. This includes practical recommendations for the average instructor as well as advanced methods more appropriate for researchers who require highly precise scores. With a better understanding on how to measure student proficiency, the next step was working to improve student understanding through various types of feedback following assessments. On top of establishing a …


Development Of An Effect Size To Classify The Magnitude Of Dif In Dichotomous And Polytomous Items, James D. Weese Dec 2020

Development Of An Effect Size To Classify The Magnitude Of Dif In Dichotomous And Polytomous Items, James D. Weese

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

A standardized effect size for the SIBTEST/POLYSIBTEST procedure is proposed, allowing for Differential Item Functioning (DIF) to be classified with a single set of DIF heuristics regardless of whether data are dichotomous or polytomous. This proposed standardized effect size accounts for both variability in responses and whether participants are included in the SIBTEST/POLYSIBTEST calculations. First, a new set of unstandardized effect size heuristics are established for dichotomous data that are more aligned with Educational Testing Service (ETS) standards using two and three parameter logistic (2PL and 3PL) models. Second, a standardized effect size is proposed and compared to other DIF …