Integrated testlets: ordered, inter-dependent MC item sets enabled by immediate feedback¶

Theory · All theories
Evidence · 2 claims (2 for) · 1 study (1 design), q2 · 1 of 1 report an effect size · 2 claims rest on one study

Description¶

Integrated testlets are context-dependent item sets in which, per the article, "certain items are purposefully inter-dependent and are thus presented in a particular order", unlike traditional testlets whose items are independent and order-arbitrary. Because one task may lead to another procedurally, the format can assess knowledge of how concepts relate, approximating constructed-response problems. Immediate confirmatory/corrective feedback per item (via the IF-AT) prevents error propagation ('multiple jeopardy') and allows each concept or procedural step to be scored fairly and independently, with partial credit for proximal knowledge.

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• Requires immediate confirmatory or corrective feedback for each item so students can gauge and modify their approach before each step, making inter-dependent scoring fair.

Constraints¶

• The integration of ideas is sequential and prescriptive: the problem-solving path is contextually outlined to the student, providing little opportunity to assess problem-solving strategies inherent to traditional exam problems.

Target Learners¶

• undergraduate introductory physics students

Target Learning Objectives¶

• assessing integration of concepts and procedures in complex numerical problem solving
• assessing conceptual understanding of physics

Claims¶

• If At Integrated Testlet Items Excellent Discrimination [+M]
• If At Partial Credit Discriminating [+M]

Related Theories¶

Examples¶

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Key Sources¶

• Slepkov, A. D. (2013). Integrated Testlets and the Immediate Feedback Assessment Technique. https://arxiv.org/abs/1308.4365. doi:10.48550/arxiv.1308.4365