Innovative approaches to increasing the student assessment procedures effectiveness

Abstract

The relevance of the investigated problem is determined by the need to improving the evaluation procedures in education and the student assessment in the age of the context of education widening, new modes of study developing (such as blending learning, e-learning, massive open online courses), immediate feedback necessity, reliable and valid assessments. The purposes of the article are multistage adaptive measurements validation and testing for increasing the student assessment procedures effectiveness and getting immediate feedback, reliable and valid assessments. Multistage adaptive measurements mentioned above are based on modern test theory Item Response Theory (IRT). The main research methods are math models and measurements on the basis of IRT models, mathematical-statistical methods (descriptive statistics, Bayesian models and maximum likelihood method) and the systematic analysis of the developing practices for student evaluation during the assessment procedures, opinion polls and questionnaires of learning process participants at university. The article presents validation and results of multistage adaptive measurements application, description of adaptive measurement algorithm (leading to the increase of effectiveness in student assessment procedure due to the selection of optimal task difficulty for each student, creating a situation of success during computer-based test session with the tasks accomplishable at individual pace, increase of assessment accuracy and cutting of labor input. Multistage adaptive measurements, as one of the innovative approaches increasing the student assessment effectiveness, admit of individualization principle, actualization in education and getting immediate feedback for improving learning process and the content of education. Multistage adaptive measurements can be applied in blending learning, massive open online courses and e-learning. The article can be of interest for teaching staff and experts in developing the effective methods of learning outcomes assessment. © 2016 Dorozhkin et al.