Development and analysis of the CT 225 construction diagnostic and summative tests at Oregon State University

Graduation date: 1980An individualized beginning construction course, CT 225, was developed\ud to accommodate students entering the clothing course sequences\ud with varying amounts of knowledge and skill in the area of construction.\ud The faculty in the Clothing, Textiles & Related Arts Department at\ud Oregon State University wanted to determine new students' skills and\ud knowledge in the area of construction and give credit to the students\ud who had already mastered the basics through other experiences. To accomplish\ud this a diagnostic test was needed which would assess knowledge\ud of the material covered in the seven modules or units of CT 225. The\ud purpose of this study was to develop such a test to be used both as\ud diagnostic and summative tests for the course.\ud The CT 225 tests were developed for the course. Then, more specific\ud objectives were written based on the general ones. Next, tables\ud of specifications were written for each of the seven modules which\ud identified the course content and the learning outcomes expected for\ud the students. The test items were written. Then the behavioral objectives\ud for the course, the tables of specifications, and the test items\ud were given to two panels of judges who judged the questions for content\ud validity, ambiguity, and correct course content. The test items were\ud revised using the judges' comments as guidelines.\ud The two revised forms of the diagnostic test were administered to\ud students enrolled in CT 225 Winter term, 1980, at Oregon State University.\ud Statistical analysis was done and results were compiled.\ud Both Forms A and B of the CT 225 diagnostic test were found to be\ud comparable in three of the four following areas: discrimination power,\ud difficulty level, distracter effectiveness, and reliability.\ud Difficulty levels of the two tests differed. Test B was somewhat\ud more difficult than Test A.\ud The reliability coefficients for both diagnostic Tests A and B\ud were very satisfactory. The tests are comparable in this respect. The\ud reliability of the diagnostic tests, subdivided into module tests, decreased\ud when item analysis was run on the individual module tests.\ud Tests for modules one and six, Form A, were in the acceptable reliability\ud range; the same was true for module tests one and four of Form B. All\ud the other module tests, Forms A and B, fell below the acceptable reliability\ud level when analyzed as individual tests.\ud When the tests were subdivided into module tests and the statistics\ud run for each part, different results appeared. More of the test\ud items in both Tests A and B were found to discriminate. The two forms\ud of the test were still comparable, but more test items discriminated\ud correctly between the low scoring and high scoring groups.\ud Validity for both the whole and module tests was deemed acceptable.\ud Both sets of judges found the tests to measure what the objectives\ud stated. The tests covered the behavioral objectives thoroughly and\ud the clothing and textile content was found to be accurate