Examining the Effects of Testwiseness Using the FCI and CSEM

ORAL

Abstract

Testwiseness is generally defined as the set of cognitive strategies used by a student and intended to improve their score on a test regardless of the test's subject matter. To improve our understanding of the potential effect size of several elements of testwiseness we analyze student performance on questions present in the Force Concept Inventory (FCI) and Conceptual Survey on Electricity and Magnetism (CSEM) that contain distractors, the selection of which can be related to the use of testwiseness strategies. Additionally we examine the effects of the position of a distractor on its likelihood to be selected in 5-option multiple choice question. Finally we present a brief overview of the existence of the examined testwiseness effects present in a number of standardized physics assessments.

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Authors

  • Seth DeVore

    West Virginia University, West Virginia Univ

  • Scott Cushing

    National Radio Astronomy Observatory, Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics, New York University Abu Dhabi, Naval Research Laboratory, CSIRO Astronomy and Space Sciences, George Mason University, ASTRON, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee,, Station de radioastronomie de Nancay, Columbia Astrophysics Laboratory, Max-Planck-Institut fur Physik, West Virginia Univ, West Virginia University, Lehigh University, Fraunhofer Institute for Physical Measurement Techniques, Department of Microsystems Engineering (IMTEK), Pennsylvania State University, Department of Physics and Astronomy, West Virginia University, Morgantown, West Virginia 26506, USA, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of Minnesota, Pennsylvania State Univ, University of Maryland, Towson University, Department of Physics, Villanova University, University of Virginia, Boston University, Univ of Maryland-College Park, Harvard University, The Pennsylvania State Unversity, University of Wisconsin-Madison, McMaster University, California State University - Long Beach, National Chiao Tung University, National Chiao Tung University, Taiwan, Ohio University, University of Rennes, UMR CNRS 6251, Rennes, France, University of Bordeaux, UMR 5804, Floirac, France, University of Bordeaux, UMR 5255, Talence, France, Sandia National laboratories, Livermore, CA, Department of Chemistry, West Virginia University, Morgantwon, WV, The Pennsylvania State University, University of Toronto, Departamento de F\'isica, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Chile, Casilla 653, Santiago, Chile, Cinvestav-Unidad Queretaro, Queretaro-76230, Mexico, Department of Physics and Astronomy, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV-26505-6315, USA, The University of Arizona, TU Dortmund, Dortmund, Naval Air Warfare Center - Aircraft Division