Can Developmental Status Information Be Obtained From Wrong Answers?

Autor/in	Powell, J. C.
Institution	Windsor Univ. (Ontario).
Titel	Can Developmental Status Information Be Obtained From Wrong Answers?
Quelle	(1979), (57 Seiten) PDF als Volltext kostenfreie Datei Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Monographie
Schlagwörter	Age Differences; Cognitive Development; Cognitive Processes; Elementary Secondary Education; Multiple Choice Tests; Postsecondary Education; Research Reports; Response Style (Tests); Scoring Formulas; Statistical Analysis; Test Interpretation + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Age; Difference; Age difference; Altersunterschied; Kognitive Entwicklung; Cognitive process; Kognitiver Prozess; Multiple choice examinations; Multiple-choice tests, Multiple-choice examinations; Multiple-Choice-Verfahren; Post-secondary education; Tertiäre Bildung; Research report; Forschungsbericht; Antwortverhalten; Scoring rubrics; Auswertungsbogen; Statistische Analyse; Test analysis; Testauswertung
Abstract	The educational significance of wrong answers on multiple choice tests was investigated in over 4,000 subjects, aged 7 to 20. Gorham's Proverbs Test--which requires the interpretation of a proverb sentence--was administered and repeated five months later. Four questions were addressed: (1) what can the pattern of answer choice, across age, using frequencies of response as the raw data, indicate about the psychometric properties of learner development; (2) what process/product inferences might be drawn from these outcomes; (3) is the total correct score adequate for evaluating achievement; and (4) is the cumulative learning hypothesis valid--this hypothesis implies that the principal source of meaning is found in the frequency of right answers, or in interactions between right answers. Analyses considered various interactions between two right answers, one right answer and the wrong answer in another item, wrong answers in both items, equivalent ages, and equivalent student groups. The results suggested that learning involves a complex hierarchical sequence of interactive non-linear events; analysis of error patterns is more meaningful than frequency counts; total correct scores are only adequate for evaluation of simple recall; and the cumulative learning hypothesis is not valid for complex cognitive processes. (GDC)
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC