EXAMINATION

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xamination: Just like in the case of any physical examination, for example medical examination; in education, examination involves several testing’s’’. Examination is a close and an in-depth scheduled investigation of an individual as a learner with a series of testings in several areas or subjects as determined by the intention of the examination. The result of an examination is an aggregation of the results of several tests that make up the examination. The product of a test is always a score, which can be transformed into a grade, but the results of an examination, is always an aggregated grade. An examination involves a detailed, advanced and extended schedule and notification.                                                                      

Classical Test Theory: A test-based model that underlies the traditional practices in testing. But for an unestimateable error of measurement, it claims the observed sum of the scores on the items answered correctly during a testing situation as an estimate of the true ability that underlies performance in the test.

Item Response Theory: An item-level model that underlies modern testing practices. The probability             that a testee answers an item correctly is governed by the extent to which an item cognitive demand or cognitive resistant (item difficulty) differs from the ability of the item taker. During a testee-by-item interaction the ability of the person is pitched against the cognitive resistance of the item and the result of the encounter depends on the size of the difference between the two.  Hence, that which underlies a testee’s performance on an item is the extent to which an item cognitive demand differs from the ability of the item taker. The ability of the item taker or testee could be estimated not by the sum of the number of items he/she answers correctly but by the estimate of the cognitive demand of the item he/she has overcome. A testee has a higher probability of overcoming a less-demanding than a more- demanding item, and vice versa. Similarly, a testee with a high ability is more likely to overcome an item than a testee with low level of ability. Hence, for this model in the case of ability or achievement test, the probability of a correct response to an item is a function of the difference between ability and the level of an item cognitive demand.     

(c) ERMIC 2016

TEST DEVELOPMENT

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ike for a lesson or course objective, a test item is the product of the interaction of two domains: the subject matter or content domain; and the domain of cognitive, affective, or psychomotor behaviour. For the development of cognitive skill, for example, an objective for a lesson in algebra might be: “at the end of the lesson the learners will be able to analyse an expression involving an unknown up to the third power” or for a lesson in English comprehension: “at the end of the lesson the learners will be able to critically analyse all the sentences in a paragraph”.  For the first objective, the content domain is algebra and for the second it is English comprehension but for both objectives, the cognitive domain is analysis behaviour. So each lesson objective represent a marriage of two domains (see Figure 1). Similarly, an item designed to assess the extent to which a lesson objective has been met, is an interaction between these two domains. For example: “explain the process of photosynthesis” or “prepare a culture with which amino acids could be identified” Hence In this case while the subject matter is the same – biology; the human behaviour in the first item is comprehension while in the second item it is application.

         Test development involves the translation of a course content into tasks, statement, or questions (items) which when presented to the testees, under controlled condition, will provoke or elicit from them the type and amount of behaviour called for in the course objective such that a testee’s responses or reactions to the items reflect how much of the desired behaviour or knowledge he/she has or has acquired.  So an item like: “which one of the following four options shows the correct procedure for analysing the given expression with X raised to power three?” indicates an interaction between algebra, a subject matter, and analysis, a cognitive behaviour. To effectively utilize this principle in test development, a table of specification (TOS) or test blueprint is developed to guide item construction. TOS is a two-dimensional arrangement which brings together, in one dimension, aspects of the subject matter covered and for which the test is developed to assess and in the second dimension, levels of the cognitive behaviour intended to be developed among the learners. An analysis of human cognitive behaviour as presented by Bloom and his colleagues (1956) provides the basis for assessing the development of different levels of human cognitive ability through education. These levels are: memory, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis and evaluation learning attainment. Similar analysis has been done for affective and psychomotor skills.   

TESTING:

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n educational assessment, testing is a cognitive investigative string in an educational system that may involve several tests as a means of assessing a learner given several subject matter areas.

A Test: Just as a meter rule is a physical measurement instrument, a test is a psychological or educational measurement instrument. A meter rule is a systematic arrangement of calibrated marks on a piece of wood or metal each mark representing a given amount of length or height which must be matched by what is being measured before it could be said to be of that length or height. Similarly, a test is a collection of devotedly developed and calibrated items arranged systematically to provide a means of quantifying the amount of what is being measured that a person, body or event possesses. Hence a test provides a calibrated line along which the amount of trait or ability under measurement possessed by an individual can be located.      

Test item: In educational measurement, a test is like a meter rule and an item determines one calibrated mark on the rule.  In cognitive testing, an item is a calibrated cognitive task, statement or problem which when presented to the learner elicits from him/her the amount of behaviour under measurement called for in the course objective such that the learner’s reaction to it reflects how much of the desired behaviour or knowledge he/she possesses or has acquired.  During testing, a testee comes to the testing scene equipped with his/her level of ability or knowledge demanded by the test. An item is designed to pose a cognitive challenge to, or cognitive demand on the level of ability under measurement possessed by an individual and hence to elicit or provoke such ability into action. The ability is latent and not seen nor can it be perceived hence to measure it, it has to be provoked into action by posing a task or problem that calls on it for solution. Such task or problem is called an item. Therefore an item serves as a stimulus to the latent ability or knowledge possessed by the individual or acquired during a course. To be a good item, it must be constructed to illicit the desired ability only and in such a way that only those who possess the desired ability to a level that matches the cognitive resistance of an item can react correctly to it. An item’s cognitive resistance or demand is the ability just necessary to overcome the item. Each item has a specific amount of cognitive demand which determines its place on the measurement line for the desired ability or trait.     

STATISTICS:

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DUCATIONAL STATISTICS DEALS ANALYTICALLY WITH THAT WHICH RESULTS FROM THE QUANTIFICATION OF BEHAVIOUR OR OBSERVATION THROUGH MEASUREMENT. IT IS THE PROCESS OF SIEVING OUT THE TRUTH FROM SEVERAL DATA GENERATED THROUGH MEASUREMENT BY QUANTITATIVELY DISTILLING THEM FOR COMMONALITY, RELATIONSHIP, DIFFERENCES, AND DEPENDENCE. SO IT INVOLVES QUANTITATIVE MANIPULATION OF DATA TO EXTRACT MEANINGFUL PATTERNS. IT IS THE PROCESS THROUGH WHICH OBSERVATIONS ARE COMPREHENSIVELY AND QUANTITATIVELY DESCRIBED AND HYPOTHESES TESTED. 

EVALUATION:

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VALUATION IS THE PROCESS OF DETERMINING THE VALUE OR QUALITY OF THE PROCESS AND PRODUCT OF EDUCATION, ESPECIALLY LEARNING, BASED ON THE RESULTS OF ASSESSMENT RELATIVE TO SPECIFIED OBJECTIVES, STANDARDS OR CRITERIA.  EVALUATION IS JUDGMENTAL WITH EITHER EXTERNAL OR INTERNAL CRITERIA. UNLIKE, MEASUREMENT, EVALUATION IS SUBJECTIVELY DEPENDENT ON THE STANDARD OR CRITERIA ON WHICH THE EVALUATION DECISION IS BASED. FOR EXAMPLE, IN PHYSICAL MEASUREMENT, WHILE A HEIGHT OF 1.65M REPRESENTS AN OBJECTIVE RESULT OF THE HEIGHT OF AN INDIVIDUAL, WHETHER THIS REPRESENTS A TALL , SHORT OR AVERAGE HEIGHT IS THE RESULT OF EVALUATION AND DEPENDS ON THE POPULATION WHERE THE HEIGHT IS TAKEN. JOHN IS 1.45M IN HEIGHT EVERYWHERE IN THE WORLD, BUT WITH THE PIGMIES, JOHN IS A TALL PERSON WHILE WITH THE FULANI, JOHN IS A SHORT PERSON. SIMILARLY, A SCORE OF 65% IS THE OBJECTIVE RESULT OF ASSESSMENT, WHETHER THIS REPRESENTS A PASS OR FAIL, A C OR D GRADE, ETC., IS THE RESULT OF EVALUATION AND SUCH DECISION DEPENDS ON THE RELATIVE VALUE OF THE SCORE GIVEN SOME SPECIFIED CRITERIA. SO WHILE THE RESULT OF ASSESSMENT IS SUBJECTIVELY RELATIVE, THAT FROM MEASUREMENT IS OBJECTIVELY INDEPENDENT OF ANY CRITERIA.     

EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH

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DUCATIONAL RESEARCH IS THE OPERATIONALIZATION OF THE SCIENTIFIC PROCESS IN SEARCHING FOR TRUTH ABOUT HUMAN BEHAVIOUR. IT IS AN INTEREST/CURIOSITY-SATISFYING OR PROBLEM-SOLVING EXERCISES WHICH. AS A SCIENTIFIC PROCESS, IT IS A SYSTEMATIC, OBJECTIVE AND CRITICAL IN SEARCHING FOR TRUTH ABOUT THAT WHICH IRKS US OR WHICH POSES ONE PROBLEM OR THE OTHER DURING THE PROCESSES OF ENSURING DESIRABLE CHANGES IN HUMAN BEHAVIOUR. EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH INVOLVES EMPIRICAL INVESTIGATION INTO THE EXTENT TO WHICH BEHAVIOURS OF INTEREST EXIST, ARE EXHIBITED, AND ARE INTERRELATE GIVEN MEMBERS OF A WELL-DEFINED POPULATION. THE INTENTION OF SEARCHING FOR TRUTH ABOUT THAT WHICH UNDERLIES AN IDENTIFIED PROBLEM IS TANTAMOUNT TO CONTRIBUTING A SOLUTION TO SUCH PROBLEM. A PROBLEM EXISTS IF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN OR AMONG VARIABLES OR BEHAVIOURS INVOLVED IN A SITUATION YIELDS UNDESIRABLE RESULTS. TO CONTRIBUTE SOLUTION TO SUCH PROBLEM, RESEARCH MUST, FIRST OF ALL, IDENTIFY THE VARIABLES UNDERLYING A VALIDATED PROBLEM AND THEN DETERMINE THE RELATIONSHIP AMONG SUCH VARIABLES. VALID SOLUTION TO A PROBLEM DEPENDS ON HOW WELL THE CONSTITUENTS OF THE PROBLEM CAN BE IDENTIFIED, EXPLAINED AND THE RELATIONSHIP OR CONNECTIONS AMONG THEM ESTABLISHED. TO PROVIDE SOME FOUNDATION TO ONE’S THINKING, THE PROCESS INVOLVES CONSULTATION WITH EXISTING RELATED KNOWLEDGE IN THE AREA OF THE PROBLEM BASED ON WHICH SPECULATIONS AS TO THE POSSIBLE SOLUTION TO THE PROBLEM ARE MADE. GUIDED BY SUCH SPECULATIONS, CONSULTATIONS WITH THE EMPIRICAL EXPERIENCES OF PREVIOUS RESEARCHERS WHO HAVE TRIED TO CONTRIBUTE SOLUTION TO A SIMILAR OR RELATED PROBLEMS ARE MADE.  JUSTIFIED SCIENTIFIC METHODOLOGY AND PROCEDURES ARE PUT IN PLACE TO GUIDE DATA GENERATION AND ANALYSIS. THE RESULTS OF SUCH ANALYSES ARE INTERPRETED AND THE FINDINGS DISCUSSED AND RECOMMENDATIONS OF POSSIBLE SOLUTION TO THE PROBLEM ARE MADE. 

EDUCATIONAL MEASUREMENT:

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IKE PHYSICAL MEASUREMENT, EDUCATIONAL MEASUREMENT INVOLVES THE QUANTIFICATION OF CHARACTERISTICS, BUT IN THIS CASE, THE CHARACTERISTIC IS NOT PHYSICAL BUT BEHAVIOURAL, INCLUDING OBSERVATIONS AND EXPERIENCES. THAT IS, EDUCATIONAL MEASUREMENT IS AN OBJECTIVE AND SYSTEMATIC ASSIGNMENT OF A NUMERAL TO REPRESENT THE QUANTITY, QUALITY OR TYPE OF A CHARACTERISTIC OR BEHAVIOUR POSSESSED OR EXHIBITED BY AN INDIVIDUAL OR EVENT. NUMERAL INCLUDES NUMBERS AS WELL AS TYPE-DIFFERENTIATING SYMBOLS. UNLIKE PHYSICAL MEASUREMENT, EDUCATIONAL MEASUREMENT INVOLVES THE CONSTRUCTION AND VALIDATION OF THE TOOL WITH WHICH THE QUANTIFICATION IS DONE, WHEREAS IN PHYSICAL MEASUREMENT, THE TOOLS USED FOR THE QUANTIFICATION ARE READY-MADE AND CAN ALWAYS BE PICKED UP IN A STORE ACROSS THE STREET.  AND MUCH MORE SO, THAT TO BE MEASURED IN PHYSICAL MEASUREMENT CAN BE SEEN, FELT, TOUCHED, OBSERVED OR PERCEIVED, BUT IN EDUCATIONAL MEASUREMENT, THAT WHICH IS TO BE MEASURED ARE MOSTLY LATENT, AND CANNOT BE SEEN, FELT, OBSERVED OR PERCEIVED BUT MAY ONLY BE IMAGINED OR CONCEIVED. IN THAT CASE, WHILE PHYSICAL MEASUREMENT IS SAID TO BE DIRECT AND CONCRETE, EDUCATIONAL MEASUREMENT IS INDIRECT AND ABSTRACT. HENCE THE CHALLENGE OF VALIDITY IS PARAMOUNT IN THE CASE OF EDUCATIONAL MEASUREMENT. IN OTHER WORDS, SINCE EDUCATIONAL MEASUREMENT IS INVOLVED WITH EXHIBITED BEHAVIOUR, HOW MUCH DOES SUCH EXHIBITED BEHAVIOUR REPRESENTS THE ACTUAL BEHAVIOUR? AND, HOW WELL HAS THE EXHIBITED BEHAVIOUR BEEN ACCURATELY CAPTURED BY THE MEASUREMENT TOOL OR PROCESS? VALIDITY CAN BE VIEWED AS REPRESENTING THE PROPORTION OF WHAT IS CAPTURED THROUGH OUR MEASUREMENT THAT REPRESENTS THE ACTUAL CHARACTERISTIC OR ABILITY THAT IS BEING MEASURED. THIS EXEMPLIFY THE INFERENTIAL NATURE OF EDUCATIONAL MEASUREMENT.  HENCE, EDUCATIONAL MEASUREMENT IS THE PROCESS OF FINDING OUT THE TRUTH ABOUT THE AMOUNT AND/OR TYPE OF CHARACTERISTIC OR BEHAVIOUR POSSESSED BY AN INDIVIDUAL, OBJECT OR AN EVENT.  

MEASUREMENT AS A MEANS OF LOCATING THE AMOUNT OR TYPE OF CHARACTERISTICS POSSESSED BY A PERSON ON A CONTINUUM THAT DEFINES THAT CHARACTERISTICS. 

Welcome to ERMIC website.

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He website aims at improving understanding and enhancing applicability of assessment, measurement, research, evaluation and statistics in the classrooms as well as at the national and international levels. 

ASSESSMENT:

ASSESSMENT:

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N EDUCATION, ASSESSMENT IS THE PROCESS OF GENERATING, PROCESSING OR ANALYZING AND DOCUMENTING INFORMATION ON THE KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, ATTITUDES, MOTIVATIONS AND BELIEFS OF LEARNERS, OF LEARNING COMMUNITIES AND OF NATIONS AND TURNING THESE INTO COMPREHENSIVE DECISION TOOLS. IT INVOLVES ALL TECHNIQUES FOR GENERATING DATA INCLUDING MEASUREMENT LIKE IN TESTING, QUESTIONNAIRE AIRING, INTERVIEWING, CONTENT ANALYZING, CLASSROOM QUESTIONING, OBSERVATION, ASSIGNMENTS, ETC., AS WELL AS ALL TECHNIQUES OF DATA PREPARATION, ANALYSIS AND COMMUNICATION OF INFORMATION. WHILE WE CANNOT MEASURE LEARNING, WE CAN ASSESS IT BASED ON THE RESULTS OF THE MEASUREMENT OF SEVERAL COMPOSITES OF LEARNING. THE RESULT OF ASSESSMENT FEEDS INTO RESEARCH AS WELL AS INTO EVALUATION AND DECISION-MAKING FROM THE CLASSROOM TO THE NATIONAL LEVELS AS WELL AS INTO BOTH THE FORMULATION AND IMPLEMENTATION OF POLICIES. CLASSROOM ASSESSMENT IS EITHER LEARNING-ENHANCING OR LEARNING-DETERMINING EXERCISE. AS LEARNING-ENHANCING ENDEAVOUR, IT INVOLVES FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT INCLUDING, ASSESSMENT FOR LEARNING AND AS LEARNING-DETERMINING PROCESS, IT INVOLVES SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENT.