What pre-exam and post-exam quizzes can tell us about test construction

Author

Yokomoto, Charles F. ; Ware, Roger

Author_Institution

Indiana Univ., Indianapolis, IN, USA

Volume

1

fYear

1995

fDate

1-4 Nov 1995

Abstract

We describe a study of an instructor´s ability to write short problems that are effective measures of learning, using the traditional exam which uses formal problems as the standard for comparison. Pre-exam and post-exam quizzes containing short problems were administered in addition to the formal exam. Post-exam quizzes were written after the formal exam was graded, allowing the instructor some insight into the strengths and weaknesses of the students´ knowledge, while pre-exam quizzes were written with no a priori knowledge of student capabilities. Correlations and regression analysis were used to compare the pre-exam and post-exam quiz scores with the standard, the formal exam. The results of the analyses suggest that short problems must be carefully written if they are to reflect learning as measured by traditional problem solving exams which use longer problems to measure learning

Keywords

engineering education; human factors; statistical analysis; correlations; effective learning measures; formal exam; formal problems; instructor ability; post-exam quizzes; pre-exam quizzes; quiz scores; regression analysis; short problem writing; student knowledge; test construction; traditional exam; Automotive materials; Marine vehicles; Materials testing; Measurement standards; Regression analysis;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Frontiers in Education Conference, 1995. Proceedings., 1995

Conference_Location

Atlanta, GA

ISSN

0190-5848

Print_ISBN

0-7803-3022-6

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/FIE.1995.483061

Filename

483061