ABSTRACT

The answer-until-correct (AUC) method of multiple-choice (MC) testing involves test respondents making selections until the keyed answer is identified. Despite attendant benefits that include improved learning, broad student adoption, and facile administration of partial credit, the use of AUC methods for classroom testing has been extremely limited. This study presents scoring properties and item analysis for 26 AUC university course examinations, administered using a commercial scratch-card response system. Here, we show that beyond the traditional pedagogical advantages of AUC, the availability of partial credit adds psychometric advantages by boosting both the mean item discrimination and overall test-score reliability, when compared to tests scored dichotomously upon initial response. Furthermore we also find a strong correlation between students’ initial-response successes and the likelihood that they would obtain partial credit when they make incorrect initial responses. Thus, partial credit is being granted based on partial knowledge that remains latent in traditional MC tests. The fact that these advantages are realized in real-life classroom tests may motivate further expansion of the use of AUC MC tests in higher education.

摘要

多项选择（MC）测试的直到正确答案（AUC）的方法涉及测试受访者进行选择，直到确定了关键答案为止。尽管随之而来的好处包括改善学习，广泛采用学生和方便地管理部分学分，但是AUC方法在课堂测试中的使用却极为有限。这项研究介绍了使用商业刮刮卡响应系统进行的26项AUC大学课程考试的评分属性和项目分析。在这里，我们表明，与初始响应时按两分法评分的测试相比，部分信用的可用性超越了AUC的传统教学优势，通过提高平均项目歧视度和总体考试分数可靠性，增加了心理计量方面的优势。此外，我们还发现学生的初始反应成功与他们做出错误的初始反应时获得部分学分的可能性之间存在很强的相关性。因此，将基于仍在传统MC测试中保留的部分知识来授予部分学分。在现实的课堂测试中实现这些优势的事实可能会促使AUC MC测试在高等教育中的应用进一步扩展。