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Measuring Student Learning With Item Response Theory

Author(s)
Lee, Young-Jin; Palazzo, David J.; Warnakulasooriya, Rasil; Pritchard, David E.
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Abstract
We investigate short-term learning from hints and feedback in a Web-based physics tutoring system. Both the skill of students and the difficulty and discrimination of items were determined by applying item response theory (IRT) to the first answers of students who are working on for-credit homework items in an introductory Newtonian physics course. We show that after tutoring a shifted logistic item response function with lower discrimination fits the students’ second responses to an item previously answered incorrectly. Student skill decreased by 1.0 standard deviation when students used no tutoring between their (incorrect) first and second attempts, which we attribute to “item-wrong bias.” On average, using hints or feedback increased students’ skill by 0.8 standard deviation. A skill increase of 1.9 standard deviation was observed when hints were requested after viewing, but prior to attempting to answer, a particular item. The skill changes measured in this way will enable the use of IRT to assess students based on their second attempt in a tutoring environment.
Date issued
2008-01
URI
http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/51798
Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Physics
Journal
Physical Review Special Topics. Physics Education Research
Publisher
American Physical Society
Citation
Lee, Young-Jin et al. “Measuring student learning with item response theory.” Physical Review Special Topics - Physics Education Research 4.1 (2008): 010102. © 2008 The American Physical Society.
Version: Final published version
ISSN
1554-9178

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