Title: |
A Summary of the Effects of
Question Order* |
Meeting: |
129th AAPT National Meeting:
Sacramento, CA |
Location: |
Amador 150 |
Date: |
Wednesday, Aug. 4 |
Time: |
9:15 a.m. |
Author: |
Kara Gray, Kansas State
Univ.
785-532-7167,
kgray@phys.ksu.edu |
Co-Author(s): |
N. Sanjay Rebello, Dean A.
Zollman |
Abstract:
|
Developing accurate
assessment tools is critical if we are to continue to expand our
knowledge of student understanding. Test development often relies on the
assumption that student knowledge is unaffected by the test or by the
order of questions on the test. The results of this study call into
question this assumption. This study used multiple choice mechanics
questions taken from the Force Concept Inventory in both large class
survey and interview situations with introductory physics students. Our
analysis shows that question order can have a statistically significant
effect on student responses and these effects can influence student
scores on these surveys. This talk will also draw on some of the current
theories of transfer to provide explanations for the observed effects.
|
Footnotes:
|
*Supported in part by NSF
grant # 0087788. |