A Procedure for Empirical Initialization of Adaptive Testing Algorithms.

Autor/in	van der Linden, Wim J.
Institution	Twente Univ., Enschede (Netherlands). Faculty of Educational Science and Technology.
Titel	A Procedure for Empirical Initialization of Adaptive Testing Algorithms.
Quelle	(1997), (20 Seiten) PDF als Volltext kostenfreie Datei Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Monographie
Schlagwörter	Ability; Adaptive Testing; Algorithms; Computer Assisted Testing; Foreign Countries; Item Response Theory; Test Construction + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Fähigkeit; Fertigkeit; Algorithm; Algorithmus; Ausland; Item-Response-Theorie; Testaufbau
Abstract	In constrained adaptive testing, the numbers of constraints needed to control the content of the tests can easily run into the hundreds. Proper initialization of the algorithm becomes a requirement because the presence of large numbers of constraints slows down the convergence of the ability estimator. In this paper, an empirical initialization of the algorithm is proposed based on the statistical relation between the ability variable and background variables known prior to the test. The relation is modeled using a two-parameter logistic version of an item response theory (IRT) model with manifest predictors discussed in A. H. Zwinderman (1991). An empirical example shows how an (incomplete) sample of response data and data on background variables can be used to derive an initial ability estimate or an empirical prior distribution for the ability parameter. An appendix gives the derivation of an equation for the estimator. (Contains 12 references.) (Author/SLD)
Anmerkungen	Faculty of Educational Science and Technology, University of Twente, P.O. Box 217, 7500 AE Enschede, The Netherlands.
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC