What Educators Need to Know About Computer-Adaptive Testing

naveen

Moderator
Computer-adaptive tests are a type of assessment where the rigor or questions are adjusted based on the learner’s response. For instance, if the learner answers correctly, the next question will be harder; if a learner answers incorrectly, the next question will be easier. The assessment adapts to accommodate the test takers’ skill level.

This customization provides an accurate assessment of a learner’s present level of educational functioning. The learning potential is endless because the best computer-adapted tests pull from a large pool of test items designed to assess and improve a learner’s knowledge of a particular subject or skill.

How they work

Computer-adaptive tests are designed to alter their difficulty level—based on the responses provided—to match a test taker’s knowledge and skill. If a learner gives a wrong answer, the computer follows up with an easier question; if the learner answers correctly, the next question will be more challenging.

Considered to be on the cutting edge of assessment tech, computer-adaptive tests represent an attempt to measure personal learners’ capabilities more precisely while avoiding some of the issues often associated with the “one-size-fits-all” nature of standardized tests.

For learners, offers a shorter testing session with a smaller number of questions since only those questions considered appropriate for the learner are offered. Best developers have to create a larger pool of test items so that testing systems have enough questions to match all learners’ varied capabilities taking the exam.

The most current types of are usually administered online. Because the scoring is computerized, educators and learners can test results more quickly than with paper-and-pencil tests.

Computer-adaptive tests can be used for a broad variety of purposes, including large-scale, high-stakes testing; formative assessment, which provides educators with in-process feedback on learner learning that they can utilize to modify teaching strategies; and summative assessment, which educators utilize to decide what learners have learned at the end of a unit, term, or year. They are also used to find learners who may need specialized educational support in a specific skill or subject area, such as reading, writing, or math.

Because systems select questions intended to be challenging for each learner, most learners will get about half the questions right and half wrong, so a score based on the total number or percentage of correct responses will be meaningless.

Computer-adaptive scoring is based on the number of correct answers provided and the difficulty of the items finished. Before the tests are administered to learners, test questions are usually field-tested with representative samples of learners to calibrate difficulty levels.

The post appeared first on .
 
Top
AdBlock Detected

We get it, advertisements are annoying!

Sure, ad-blocking software does a great job at blocking ads, but it also blocks useful features of our website. For the best site experience please disable your AdBlocker.

I've Disabled AdBlock