Computerized Adaptive Testing: A Primer [Hardcover]

Howard Wainer (Author), Neil J. Dorans (Author), Ronald Flaugher (Author), Bert F. Green (Author), Robert J. Mislevy (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 2000 | ISBN-10: 0805835113 | ISBN-13: 978-0805835113 | Edition: 2

This celebrated primer presents an introduction to all of the key ingredients in understanding computerized adaptive testing technology, test development, statistics, and mental test theory. Based on years of research, this accessible book educates the novice and serves as a compendium of state-of-the-art information for professionals interested in computerized testing in the areas of education, psychology, and other related social sciences. A hypothetical test taken as a prelude to employment is used as a common example throughout to highlight this book's most important features and problems.

Changes in the new edition include:
*a completely rewritten chapter 2 on the system considerations needed for modern computerized adaptive testing;
*a revised chapter 4 to include the latest in methodology surrounding online calibration and in the modeling of testlets; and
*a new chapter 10 with helpful information on how test items are really selected, usage patterns, how usage patterns influence the number of new items required, and tools for managing item pools.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 360 pages
• Publisher: Routledge; 2 edition (April 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0805835113
• ISBN-13: 978-0805835113
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,065,300 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Dr. Wainer received his Ph. D. from Princeton University in 1968. After serving on the faculty of the University of Chicago, a period at the Bureau of Social Science Research during the Carter Administration, and 21 years as Principal Research Scientist in the Research Statistics Group at Educational Testing Service, he is now Distinguished Research Scientist at the National Board of Medical Examiners and Professor (adjunct) of Statistics at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Dr. Wainer has a long-standing interest in the use of graphical methods for data analysis and communication, robust statistical methodology, and the development and application of generalizations of item response theory. His work on testlet response theory has combined all three. His latest book , Picturing the uncertain world. (Princeton University Press) was published in April of 2009. His next book, Uneducated Guesses, will be appearing in mid-2011.

Dr. Wainer was elected a Fellow in the American Statistical Association in 1985 and a Fellow of the American Educational Research Association in 2009. He was awarded the Educational Testing Service's Senior Scientist Award in 1990 and selected for the Lady Davis Prize and was named the Schonbrun Visiting Professor at the Hebrew University in 1992. He received the 2006 National Council on Measurement in Education Award for Scientific Contribution to a Field of Educational Measurement for his development of Testlet Response Theory and given NCME's career achievement award in 2007, and he received the Samuel J. Messick Award for Distinguished Scientific Contributions Award from Division 5 of the American Psychological Association in 2009 and was included in Who's Who in America, 2009 and 2010.

He was on the editorial board of Psychological Methods and the editor of the Journal of Educational and Behavioral Statistics from 2002 until 2004 and is a former Associate Editor of the Journal of the American Statistical Association, and Applied Psychological Measurement as well as a former Treasurer of the Psychometric Society. Since 1990 he has written a popular column on data visualization in the statistics magazine Chance;

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good, practical guide on the theory of CAT, May 24, 1999

By 

John Potter ([e-mail]) (Nashville, TN) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Computerized Adaptive Testing: A Primer (Hardcover)

This book contains most of what you need to understand how computerized adaptive tests (CAT) do what they do. It is a good complement to the seminal book on Item Response Theory (IRT) by Wainer's colleague, Frederic Lord (Applications of Item Response Theory to Practical Testing Problems).

The assumptions that go into item characterizations and test designs are discussed here; these assumptions are frequently glossed over or accepted as "fact" by many in the psychometric field. My own interests are in the type of test called a Mastery test. The test design criteria for a Mastery test are different than those for a general achievement test (e.g., the SAT). The stopping rules, the range of item difficulties, and the next-item selection algorithm should be tailored to the needs of a Mastery test, but this is not always the case. One consequence is that if an examinee misses several items early on in a poorly designed Mastery test, it may be difficult or impossible to recover, because the items at the beginning usually carry the most "weight" toward the final score or grade. Wainer gives a good description of the design criteria for different situations and how to avoid various problems and pitfalls.

Chapter 6, Scaling and Equating, shows the reader how an open-ended logarithmic scoring scale - used by any CAT based on IRT - is converted to a fixed scale such as 0-100 or 0-1000. A variety of methods are available, each with its own advantages and disadvantages.

This primer is cited by the Microsoft Corporation in their electronic white paper on adaptive testing (along with Lord's book and several other references.) Microsoft also has a sample adaptive test available. This test has at least three incorrect answers in it, and the impact of giving the real correct answer to an item, but having it graded as incorrect, is easily seen. Other items on the Microsoft sample CAT have assigned item difficulties that are out of line with their true difficulties. These types of problems are covered in Wainer's book but not in any of the other references on adaptive testing or IRT that I have perused.

A nice touch in the primer is a chapter-by-chapter "running story" about Cindy and Scott who apply for jobs and go through the adaptive-test-taking experience. The story line is constructed to fit in with the concepts covered in each chapter. Another feature in the book is the inclusion of Exercise/Study Questions at the end of each chapter. Many books on IRT include similar questions and exercises, probably a consequence of being written by educators who write textbooks. Wainer does not include the answers, but they can be deduced if one actually reads the book.

The book does not provide computer algorithms or pseudocode that would allow one to actually create an adaptive test Hopefully, a future edition will provide better guidance in this area. Although almost a decade since its initial publication, Wainer's book is still a good reference book for anyone interested in computer adaptive testing.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good summary of CAT and IRT, November 14, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Computerized Adaptive Testing: A Primer (Hardcover)

If you want to learn more about computer adaptive testing (CAT), this book is the place to start. Chapter four, the best chapter in the book, provides an excellent introduction to item response theory (IRT). If the chapter on IRT seems hard to understand and full of strange mathematical symbols, this reflects the unfortunate fact that ALL the literature on IRT has these shortcomings. This book could contain a lot more information. Outside of chapter four, the information is only marginally useful. Nevertheless, it's the best book on CAT that's currently available. I recommend it for anyone who wants to learn about CAT and IRT. However, if you are weak in math and statistics, you probably won't understand most of the book.

2 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars format needs work, November 23, 2000

By 

Annette Knobloch (Thibodaux, LA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Computerized Adaptive Testing: A Primer (Hardcover)

Great information. But the format needs work. Author credentials and degrees should be included. Author email also. Very lousy format for graphs, which do have useful information. However, the print and keys are literally fuzzy. Perhaps the paper absorbed too much ink, black and white is not sufficient, and the symbols for different concepts are too much alike. So far I have not found mention of NCLEX or applications in nursing.