| 1. |
- Jönsson, Anders, et al.
(författare)
-
Complement or Contamination : A Study of the Validity of Multiple-Choice Items when Assessing Reasoning Skills in Physics
- 2017
-
Ingår i: Frontiers in Education. - : Frontiers Media S.A.. - 2504-284X. ; 2
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The purpose of this study is to investigate the validity of using multiple-choice (MC) items as a complement to constructed-response (CR) items when making decisions about student performance on reasoning tasks. CR items from a national test in physics have been reformulated into MC items and students’ reasoning skills have been analyzed in two substudies. In the first study, 12 students answered the MC items and were asked to explain their answers orally. In the second study, 102 students from five randomly chosen schools answered the same items. Their answers were scored, and the frequency of correct answers was calculated for each of the items. The scores were then compared to a sample of student performance on the original CR items from the national test. Findings suggest that results from MC items might be misleading when making decisions about student performance on reasoning tasks, since students use other skills when answering the items than is intended. Results from MC items may also contribute to an overestimation of students’ knowledge in science.
|
|
| 2. |
- Stenlund, Tova, et al.
(författare)
-
Assessing the Willingness to Elaborate among Young Students : Psychometric Evaluation of a Swedish Need for Cognition Scale
- 2017
-
Ingår i: Frontiers in Education. - : Frontiers Media SA. - 2504-284X. ; 2
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The personality trait Need for Cognition (NFC) has been studied for many years, and found to be important for individuals’ educational achievement. The original NFC-scale was developed in the eighties, and during the following decade the scale was translated and adapted into a number of other languages. A renewed interest for the personality trait of NFC has made these scales interesting to use. It is though vital that instruments used for studies of individual differences in the area of educational research, or in any other area, can portray valid results today. The aim of the present paper was to evaluate validity and reliability of the short version of the Mental Effort Tolerance Questionnaire, a Swedish adaption of the NFC-scale made in 1991, which has not been previously evaluated. This study involved 420 young students, and the evaluation of reliability includes a study of temporal stability (test-retest), as well as internal stability. Further, the evaluation of validity includes construct and criterion validity. Regarding reliability, the results showed a test-retest reliability coefficient of .88 (n = 108), and an internal stability (Cronbach’s alpha) of .88 (n = 420). Evaluation of construct validity found evidence for a five factor dimensional structure (n = 420), discriminant validity to measures of general intelligence (r = .25; n = 122), working memory (r = .22; n =164), and the personality trait Grit (r = .26; n = 169). Finally, criterion validity was found for grades (r =.35; n =125). Overall, the results of the evaluation show that the inferences made from the results of the short version of the Swedish NFC-scale exhibits satisfactory reliability and validity, suggesting that the questionnaire can be used in educational contexts. The questionnaire might, however, benefit from being even more shortened.
|
|
| 3. |
- Wikström, Christina, et al.
(författare)
-
Group differences in student performance in the selection to higher education : tests vs grades
- 2017
-
Ingår i: Frontiers in Education. - : Frontiers Media S.A.. - 2504-284X. ; 2
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Student selection in the Swedish admission to higher education system is based on two fundamentally different performance measures: their criterion-referenced upper secondary grade point average (GPA) and their score on a norm-referenced and multiple-choice admissions test [Swedish admissions test (SweSAT)]. Several student characteristics are known to affect rankings in such assessments. The objectives of this study are to assess main and interactive effects of several variables that influence rankings obtained from these measures in greater detail than previously attempted and assess the findings from a fairness perspective. The data consist of test scores, upper secondary grades, and background information for SweSAT participants aged 19–25 years, who took the test in the autumn of 2011 (N = 23,214) or spring of 2012 (N = 27,075). The data were analyzed through correlation and regression analyses. The results support previous findings that gender, parents’ education, and immigration status are all influential. Males obtain better SweSAT scores than females, while females obtain better GPAs, in accordance with previous findings regarding gender-related variations in rankings provided by similar instruments. Moreover, we found the same pattern in scores for specific components of the test and grades in specific subjects, suggesting that the test and GPA measure different, gender-related, things. In addition, students with an immigrant background seem to be more highly ranked by grades than by the SweSAT, largely due to differences in assessments of their verbal skills.
|
|
