Some critical reflections on the special issue: Current innovations in computer-based assessments

Technology and computers change and penetrate our lives to an extent that was unthinkable 30 years ago, and it is the mission of Computers in Human Behavior to advance our knowledge on how humans interact with, make use of, and are influenced by computers. The nine papers in this special issue “Current Innovations in Computer-Based Assessment” reflect the innovations and advances computers have brought to the ways we assess psychological attributes of a variety of populations including primary and secondary students, students in higher education, or adults in the work force. This special issue covers four broad areas within the field of computer-based assessment (CBA): Assessment of new constructs or widening the assessment of existing constructs; use of log-file and multi-channel data; psychometric models and experiments that inform the measurement of complex skills and task construction; integration of assessment and learning. Obviously, these areas are neither representative in and by themselves, nor are they comprehensively and fully covered within this limited selection of papers. Even more importantly, the results reported in the contributions of this special issue do not represent a final destination, but are an intermediate step on a long journey to our understanding of computer-based assessment in which we are only making the first steps. In this discussion, we, as the guest editors of this special issue, highlight some points that we consider paramount to the development of the field and that might require close attention in the near future, namely: (2) Application across psychological sub-disciplines; (3) Adequate methodological approaches; (4) Theoretical and empirical foundation and validation; (5) Integration of assessment and learning, stealth assessment, and modern test design; and (6) Establishing CBA-specific, cognitive theory