Phys. Rev. ST Phys. Educ. Res. 4, 010102 (2008)

Measuring student learning with item response theory

Young-Jin Lee, David J. Palazzo, Rasil Warnakulasooriya, and David E. Pritchard

Download: PDF (276 kB) Export: BibTeX or EndNote (RIS)

(Some reference links may require a separate subscription.)

  1. A. Collins, J. S. Brown, and S. E. Newman, Cognitive apprenticeship: Teaching the craft of reading, writing, and mathematics, in Knowing, Learning, and Instruction: Essays in Honor of Robert Glaser, edited by L. B. Resnick (Lawrence Erlbaum, Hillsdale, NJ, 1990), p. 453.
  2. http://www.masteringphysics.com/ was made by Effective Educational Technologies, a company started by the family of one of the authors (D.E.P.). It has been purchased by Pearson Education.
  3. N. Chudowsky, R. Glaser, and J. W. Pellegrino, Knowing What Students Know: The Science and Design of Educational Assessment (National Academies Press, Washington, DC, 2001).
  4. F. B. Baker and S.-H. Kim, Item Response Theory: Parameter Estimation Techniques (Marcel Dekker, New York, 2004).
  5. R. K. Hambleton and H. Swaminathan, Item Response Theory: Principles and Applications (Kluwer Nijhoff, Boston, 1985).
  6. F. M. Lord, Applications of Item Response Theory to Practical Testing Problems (Erlbaum, Mahwah, NJ, 1980).
  7. Computer code bilog-mg (Version 3.0) (Assessment Systems Corporation; St. Paul, MN, 2003).
  8. S. Kim, F. B. Baker, and M. J. Subkoviak, The 1∕kn rules in the minimum logit chi-square estimation procedure when small samples are used, Br. J. Math. Stat. Psychol. 42, 113 (1989).
  9. We also examined if subtasks were more beneficial than hints, considering the fact that subtasks provide much more specific information than hints, but found no statistical evidence.
  10. This “hints first” route was followed in 11.0% of all cases, and the median, mode, and maximum use of this route by students were 8.6%, 0.01%, and 71%, respectively.
  11. E.-S. Morote and D. E. Pritchard, Technology closes the gap between students' individual skills and background difference, in Proceedings of the Society for Information Technology and Teacher Education: International Conference, Atlanta, GA edited by C. Crowford, D. A. Willis, R. Carlsen, I. Gibson, K. McFerrin, J. Price, and R. Weber (AACE, Chesapeake, VA, 2004), p. 826.
  12. R. Warnakulasooriya and D. E. Pritchard, Time to completion reveals problem-solving transfer, in Proceedings of the Physics Education Research Conference, Sacramento, CA, edited by J. Max, P. Heron, and S. Franklin (AIP, Melville, NY, 2004), p. 205.
  13. R. Warnakulasooriya, D. J. Palazzo, and D. E. Pritchard, Evidence of problem-solving transfer in web-based Socratic tutor, in Proceedings of the Physics Education Research Conference, Salt Lake City, UT, edited by P. Heron, L. McCullough, and J. Max (AIP, Melville, NY, 2005), p. 41.