Analyzing And Improving The Appropriateness Of The Exams Term Paper

Analyzing And Improving The Appropriateness Of The Exams - Term Paper Example To determine these factors, a myriad of assessment methods are used on the exam questions, including basic statistics to determine the performance of the students, qualitative and quantitative item analysis. In this case, basic statistics include the mean of each question in the exam and the entire test (Black, 2003). Qualitative item analysis refers to the careful reading of the contents of the exam to determine the accuracy of the exam, find proofreading errors, and determine whether any components of the exam could tip the students towards the correct answer (Triola, 2003). This paper will analyze the hypothetical psychology test presented using the methods discussed above, after which a suggested method for improving the exam is given. The first part of this analysis will focus on basic statistics, followed by the qualitative item analysis and the quantitative item analysis. The quantitative analysis will be focused on determining a difficulty-rating index for each question in th e test. The mean for the entire test is found by adding the total scores by each student, as represented by the totals column. The mean is then found by adding all the total scores and dividing the sum by the number of students taking the test (Black, 2003). As previously mentioned, the analysis of the test will include an analysis of the basic statistics, which in this case is the mean for each question and the entire test. The mean score for the first question is 1.8, which indicates that the pass rate is high among all the students.... Basic Statistics: Mean for Entire Test Question 1 Question 2 Question 3 Question 4 Question 5 Total Student 1 2 2 0 2 0 6 Student 2 2 2 0 2 0 6 Student 3 2 0 0 2 0 4 Student 4 2 2 0 2 0 6 Student 5 2 2 2 2 2 10 Student 6 2 0 0 2 0 4 Student 7 2 2 0 2 0 6 Student 8 0 0 0 2 0 2 Student 9 2 2 0 2 0 6 Student 10 2 2 0 2 0 6 Mean 5.6 The mean for the entire test is found by adding the total scores by each student, as represented by the totals column. The mean is then found by adding all the total scores and dividing the sum by the number of students taking the test (Black, 2003). Graphs for Each Question Analysis As previously mentioned, the analysis of the test will include an analysis of the basic statistics, which in this case is the mean for each question and the entire test. The mean score for the first question is 1.8, which indicates that the pass rate is high among all the students. Question 2 has a mean score of 1.4, while questions 3 and 5 have mean scores of 0.2. Question 4 has a mean score of 2. The mean scores indicated above show the average pass rate for each question for each question, and can be sued as an indicator for the difficulty rating for each question in the test. This indicates that the easiest question is question 4, and the most difficult questions are questions 3 and 5. The mean for the entire test is 5.6, and indicates that the pas rate was evenly distributed among the students. This pass rate is depicted by the graphs shown above, which indicate the scores for each question. To determine the difficulty and appropriateness of each question, we have to conduct both qualitative and qualitative analyses.