Dividing the Force Concept Inventory into Two Equivalent Half-Length Tests

Autor/inn/en	Han, Jing; Bao, Lei; Chen, Li; Cai, Tianfang; Pi, Yuan; Zhou, Shaona; Tu, Yan; Koenig, Kathleen
Titel	Dividing the Force Concept Inventory into Two Equivalent Half-Length Tests
Quelle	In: Physical Review Special Topics - Physics Education Research, 11 (2015) 1, S.010112-1 (9 Seiten) PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	1554-9178
DOI	10.1103/PhysRevSTPER.11.010112
Schlagwörter	Physics; Multiple Choice Tests; Science Instruction; Scores; Statistical Analysis; Correlation; Pretests Posttests; Item Response Theory; Introductory Courses; Mechanics (Physics); Calculus; Science Tests; Test Results; Comparative Analysis; Test Format; Undergraduate Students; Scientific Concepts + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Physik; Multiple choice examinations; Multiple-choice tests, Multiple-choice examinations; Multiple-Choice-Verfahren; Teaching of science; Science education; Natural sciences Lessons; Naturwissenschaftlicher Unterricht; Statistische Analyse; Korrelation; Item-Response-Theorie; Einführungskurs; Mechanik; Analysis; Differenzialrechnung; Infinitesimalrechnung; Integralrechnung; Testentwicklung
Abstract	The Force Concept Inventory (FCI) is a 30-question multiple-choice assessment that has been a building block for much of the physics education research done today. In practice, there are often concerns regarding the length of the test and possible test-retest effects. Since many studies in the literature use the mean score of the FCI as the primary variable, it would be useful then to have different shorter tests that can produce FCI-equivalent scores while providing the benefits of being quicker to administer and overcoming the test-retest effects. In this study, we divide the 1995 version of the FCI into two half-length tests; each contains a different subset of the original FCI questions. The two new tests are shorter, still cover the same set of concepts, and produce mean scores equivalent to those of the FCI. Using a large quantitative data set collected at a large midwestern university, we statistically compare the assessment features of the two half-length tests and the full-length FCI. The results show that the mean error of equivalent scores between any two of the three tests is within 3%. Scores from all tests are well correlated. Based on the analysis, it appears that the two half-length tests can be a viable option for score based assessment that need to administer tests quickly or need to measure short-term gains where using identical pre- and post-test questions is a concern. (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2020/1/01