Test Construction IDE':TIFIERS Paper and Pencil Tests

Subjects for an investigation of the effects of training with a computer and past computer experience on the computerized aptitude test performance of college students were 92 undergraduates at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, who participated in a test study utilizing six Apple II+ microcomputers. The study was conducted to determine whether: (1) computerized test performance would be significantly enhanced and the concomitant anxiety level would be significantly lowered by increasing the amount of training with the computer prior to testing; and (2) increasing the amount of training with the computer would significantly reduce the difference between the mean anxiety level occurring with a computerized test and the mean anxiety level occurring with a paper-and-pencil test. Test performance was measured by the number-correct score on an arithmetic reasoning test. Results indicate that neither training immediately before testing nor past computer experience appear to significantly affect computerized test performance or the concomitant anxiety level. The mean paper-and-pencil test score was higher than the mean computerized score, however, and it is suggested that differences between pencil-and-paper and computerized test performance may be the result if human error and deficiencies of che computer software. A list of references completes the document. (JB) ********************************************************e************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document