Abstract
Student-Problem (S-P) chart, Grey Student-Problem (GSP) chart and Grey Structural Modeling (GSM) are graphical analysis tools to represent the relationship between students and test items which can be applied to diagnose, analyze, and evaluate students’ learning situation and achievement. This study has adopted a combination of these graphic analyses to assess the effect of an elementary school remedial instruction. A group of 20 fourth graders in Taipei city participated in this study, and an English test, consisting of four sections with 25 question items in total, which is based on the textbook in the fourth grade, was conducted before and after the remedial instruction. The results indicated that S-P chart, the distribution diagram of student and item types, GSP and GSM graphs effectively diagnosed students’ learning condition and items’ difficulty, and demonstrated the effect of students’ achievement and the change of test items’ types. It is strongly recommended that teachers utilize these methods in assessing the progress of their teaching and their students’ learning.
Highlights
Since English has been included as a school subject in elementary schools in Taiwan for at least 15 years, so-called two-peak phenomena of students’ English proficiency has become obvious, that is, high achievers get better and better and low achievers become worse and worse
Student-Problem (S-P) chart, Grey Student-Problem (GSP) chart and Grey Structural Modeling (GSM) are graphical analysis tools to represent the relationship between students and test items which can be applied to diagnose, analyze, and evaluate students’ learning situation and achievement
The results indicated that S-P chart, the distribution diagram of student and item types, GSP and GSM graphs effectively diagnosed students’ learning condition and items’ difficulty, and demonstrated the effect of students’ achievement and the change of test items’ types
Summary
Since English has been included as a school subject in elementary schools in Taiwan for at least 15 years, so-called two-peak phenomena of students’ English proficiency has become obvious, that is, high achievers get better and better and low achievers become worse and worse. Most elementary school English teachers use mid- and final-term tests as a tool for assessing students’ achievement By doing this, they can know if their students have learned the content of textbooks; it is far too simple to draw conclusions from this about students’ achievement (Sheu, 2017). They can know if their students have learned the content of textbooks; it is far too simple to draw conclusions from this about students’ achievement (Sheu, 2017) This is because English teachers construct mid- and final-term tests on the basis of their own experiences and the suitability and reliability of tests are not normally considered. If teachers design remedial instructions, the content, methods and activities are highly inadequate, and the effects are definitely questionable (Kirsch, 2008; Mitchell & Myles, 2004)
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