Question Mark Introduces Item Analysis Tool for Psychometricians
NEWS RELEASE
STAMFORD, CT – November 30, 2000 — Question Mark, supplier of Perception™ testing and assessment software, is now offering a new Item Analysis report specially built for psychometricians and test analysts, in addition to Perception’s standard reports.
The Item Analysis report calculates the item difficulty and item discrimination indices and correlation of individual test items and choices to the total test score. Statistics in the report are calculated and formatted according to classical test theory and best practices used by psychometricians and other professional test analysis experts.
The report contents and layout are fixed and include a list of all questions in the session, the number of results for each question, the number of times a question was not answered, the proportion of times it was answered correctly, and an item discrimination statistic indicating how performance on a question differs or discriminates between a high scoring group and a low scoring group. The higher the discrimination, the better the question discriminates between people who scored highly in the session and those who scored lowly. The report also presents the correlation with the total test score for each choice/outcome as well as for the question as a whole. Poor quality choices can thus be identified and weeded out of future assessments.
The new report can be used on quizzes and tests with at least 26 participants, but for the statistics to be valid, a minimum of 50 results is recommended and 200 or more results are preferable. The header to the report lists the session name, session ID and session author and the filters applying to the report. It also lists the number of results being reported on and the dates on which the session was first and last taken. Complete details are available at http://www.questionmark.com/perception/help/is_help.html.
Question Mark consulted with Alpine Media, specialists in measurement science, courseware development, and technology solutions, while developing the new report format.
“These new item analysis statistics enable Perception users to continuously investigate and improve their test items and answer choices to measure important knowledge and skills,” commented Alpine Media instructional scientist James Olsen. “Test developers can decide which items are working well, which items need minor improvements, and which items should be removed from the test.”
“Our work with Alpine Media has been reflected will in this product,” said Eric Shepherd, president of Question Mark, “The new report format will help provide powerful item statistics immediately, with graphics to help psychometricians gauge the value of individual items within a test.”
Perception offers seven standard report types: a participant report that displays detailed information on a single session, including the answers and scores for each question; a question statistics report that provides information about difficulty discrimination, standard deviation, and the frequency of rates for choices within questions; a session overview report that lists general statistics for all sessions on the server, a survey report that offers a frequency analysis for multiple choice and similar questions and a listing of answers for test questions; a list report telling which participant has taken which session in score order, or gives other lists of information about each attempt at a session; a grade book report for calculating final grades; and a group comparison or gap analysis report. To learn more visit http://www.questionmark.com/perception/.
Question Mark has been producing testing and assessment software since 1988, enabling educators and trainers to write, administer, and report on tests and surveys securely using individual PCs, local networks, the Internet, and intranets.
Question Mark Perception software allows people to create question files without programming experience or knowledge of HTML. Users can create multiple question banks from which to assemble tests and surveys, organizing questions into topics and sub-topics. They can shuffle questions and answers for each participant and preview sessions to see how they will appear post-deployment. They can present a wide variety of question types and styles, incorporating videos and graphics if desired.
Participants can use a run-time system (with Perception for Windows) or a browser (with Question Mark for Web) to answer questions. For high stakes exams, where the content is valuable, Perception Secure Browser can be used to limit printing, navigation and save-to-disk functions. The participant receives the feedback that the test author has specified. Answers are then saved to a file for scoring and analysis with Enterprise Reporter, which offers a variety of report formats.
Businesses, governments, schools, colleges, and universities in more than 45 countries use Question Mark software. Typical applications include exams, quizzes, study aids, diagnostic tests, pre-course skills assessments, and course evaluations. Question Mark Corporation is actively involved with the IMS Global Learning Consortium and supports open standards. For more information visit http://www.questionmark.com or call (800) 863-3950 or 203-425-2400.
Joan Phaup
Question Mark Corporation
Tel: 800-642-3950
Fax: 800-399-3944
joan@questionmark.com
