| 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. |