Teacher-made Achievement Test Research Articles

The Teaching and Learning of Integer Operations: The Case of Number Rule and Conventional Method

This study looked at how to employ the Number Rule to help JHS students perform better when learning about integer addition and subtraction. To ascertain the impact of the Number Rule as an instructional aid in the teaching of addition and subtraction of integers on the performance of Junior High School students in mathematics, a mixed-method approach (mostly quasi-experimental and use of interviews) was used. It was simple to choose two schools. Both classes remained unaltered, with one serving as the control group (34 students) and the other (37 students) as the experimental group. The control group received instruction using the conventional approach, while the experimental group received instruction utilizing the Number Rule. With the help of a teacher-made achievement test with fifteen (15) essay-style questions, both groups were pre- and post-tested. According to the study's findings, pupils who were taught using the Number Rule approach did better on the post-test than those who were taught using the Conventional method. Additionally, the Number Rule method makes the lessons more time-efficient, simple to learn, engaging, and practical. As a result, it was suggested that teachers employ the number rule to teach mathematical concepts, particularly the addition and subtraction of integers. The study is significant to teachers and teacher trainees as the result depicts the effectiveness to the use of manipulative (number rule) in teaching and learning of integer additions and subtraction. Keywords: Addition of Integers, Convention Method, Integers, Integer Operations, Manipulatives, Number Line, Number Rule, Operations on Integers, Subtraction of Integers, Whole Numbers DOI: 10.7176/JEP/13-27-01 Publication date: September 30 th 2022

An Investigation on the Accuracy of Teachers’ Judgments on Students’ School Achievement

Teacher-based assessment of students’ school achievement is a process in which collection of information on students’ performance is needed to allow teachers to understand what and how students achieve. This process involves the development of teachers’ judgments. This study investigated the predictive utility of an informal teacher-made achievement test on teachers’ judgments to students’ academic performance. The study involved 166 primary school students (mean age 11.7) and their respective 46 teachers. Main findings indicated that: 1. teachers’ general judgments did not distinguish the difference between students with low achievement and underachievement, and 2. teachers’ judgments with the use of an academic performance rating scale could differentiate low achieving from underachieving students. It is suggested that the accuracy of teachers’ judgments on students’ school achievement is increased when domain-specific and multi-point scales of students’ academic performance and behavior are used.

Examination of Testlet Effect in Open-Ended Items

The testlets are prevalently used in national and international standard tests and the teacher-made achievement tests thanks to their practicality. The purpose of the current study is to evaluate the testlet effect in test consisting the open-ended items and to identify the possible errors when this effect is ignored. The data consists of the scores given by three raters of the responses of 380 students in the teacher training program to two open-ended items in two testlets. The two designs with and without the testlet effect were modeled (totally crossed random design and the nested random design) and the differences between them were analyzed by Generalizability Theory (GT). The results showed that raters had a slight effect on the scores in both models tested, and the reliability of the scores was overestimated when the testlet effect was not ignored in such measurement tools.

Performance Assessment: Effective Tool Closing Academic Achievement Gap Between High and Low Ability Students

Globally, bridging the achievement gap between low and high ability students in examinations have been the goal of educators. Academic achievement disparities among students have been one of the major reasons bedeviling the attainment of target by many schools in external examinations. This study aimed at using performance assessment to narrow the gap between high and low ability students’ achievement in tests. The descriptive survey was used to gather data from a 234 JHS students in Ahanta West Municipality obtained from a multi-stage sampling procedure. Teacher-made achievement tests were used to collect the data and were analysed with descriptive statistics and multivariate analysis of variance. Results of the analyses revealed that both high and low ability JHS students’ achievements in tests were improved when assessed with performance assessment. It was concluded that educators at JHS should be in the known that performance assessment is the tool for closing gaps between high and low ability students’ achievements in examinations. Therefore, assessors at the JHS level should adapt and integrate high percentage of performance assessment tasks in assessing students in order to close the gap between the low and high ability students’ achievement in the tests and examinations.

The Constructivist Teaching Approach and Academic Achievement in English: An Empirical Evidence of Secondary School Students

Constructivism is a vibrant and self-motivated coaching paradigm that implies the establishment of the latest academic conceptions relying on the pupil’s past educational experiences. Constructive teaching approach (CAT) accompanied with PQRST method (Preview, Question, Read, Summarize and Test) considered as an efficient way for progression of the students’ comprehension regarding skills of English subject matter. This study aimed to find the effect of constructive teaching approach (PQRST) on 9th graders academic achievement in the provided subject of English. Quasi experimental Pre-test-posttest research design had employed to fulfill the fundamentals of the current study. Two intact groups were randomly selected, and teacher made achievement test used to take the score. Control group was instructed English conventionally whereas treatment group was instructed through PQRST under the shade of CAT. Pre-test scores demonstrated an insignificant statistical difference between both groups but after getting treatment for 12 weeks experimental group exposed a momentous positive statistical discrepancy in scores via getting instruction through PQRST. The current research recommends constructivist teaching approach along with PQRST may be used for the improvement of students’ reading and comprehension skills in the subject matter of English which can enhance their achievement overall.

IMPROVING STUDENTS ACHIEVEMENT AND RETENTION OF LEARNING IN ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE USING 7ES INSTRUCTIONAL MODEL

This study was undertaken to determine the effects of 7Es Instructional Model in the achievement of students in Environmental Science. It is anchored in the belief that between the two, the Traditional Approach and the use of 7Es Instructional Model in teaching Environmental Science, the latter leads to a positive effect on science achievement and retention of previously gained concepts in the Environmental Science Strand in K to 12 Science Curriculum. This study used the Quasi-Experimental Design, particularly Two – Factor Mixed Design. The experimental group was subjected to the use of 7Es Learning Model for teaching environmental science while the control group was taught with the Traditional Approach.The participants of the study were 38, 7th graders from each group. The experimental and the control groups of participants were given pre-test, underwent different treatments and were given the post-test. Three weeks, later the same post – test was re-administered to assess the retention level of the participants. The instrument used in the study were the Lesson plan, and Teacher-made Achievement Test. The instruments were validated by the pool of experts and were rated very good.Resultsshows that there is no significant difference between the posttest scores of the experimental and control groups. It also revealed that there is a significant difference between the posttest and pretest mean scores of the experimental and control groups while retention of previously gained concept in science was significant in the lag test scores of the experimental group. Analysis of Test Items and Lesson plans (7Es Instructional Model) shows that the category Explore, Explain, Elaborate and Extends promote high scores in the Science Achievement Test. Thus, teachers may use the 7Es instructional Model in making Daily Lesson Plan in teaching science subjects to improve the achievement and enhance retention of previously gained concepts of students.

OPTIMALISASI TES PRESTASI BUATAN GURU MATA PELAJARAN IPS SD UNTUK EVALUASI PEMBELAJARAN YANG PRESISI

The research goal is to develop an accurate learning evaluation instrument in Social science (IPS) subject in elementary school. The method used is Research and Development, following the 4 main steps of the Richey RDPE model, namely: research, design, production and evaluation. Field trials were carried out 2 times, with the number of respondents increasing each stage. Analysis of item characteristics uses classical test theory. The results of the development are in the form of achievement tests for Social science subjects at the fifth grade of elementary school, consisting of 35 multiple choice items and 5 essay items. The test was developed by following the standards for writing a proper test, all procedures taken have been approved by experts from a qualitative perspective. Item analysis is performed for multiple choice tests with 94.3% of questions have moderate difficulty level, the range of index values is 0.53-0.67. 80% of the items have good differentiation, the average index value is 0.30-0.50. Optimization of teacher-made achievement tests produces more qualified test kits in performing measurement functions, as evidenced by the scores obtained by students which accurately describe their real abilities during the learning process

Indoor-Outdoor Bodily Kinesthetic Teaching Technique and Manipulative with Student-Student Discourse: Effects on Students' Achievement and Retention in Plane Trigonometry

The study investigated the effects of indoor-outdoor bodily kinesthetic teaching technique on students’ achievement and retention in Plane Trigonometry. It was conducted at Misamis Oriental General Comprehensive High School, Cagayan de Oro City. Four intact sections from heterogeneous classes were randomly chosen as the participants of the study. Two sections were assigned as control groups. The control groups were exposed to manipulative and student-students discourse which is recommended by some researchers as good teaching strategies. The manipulative used for the control group was trigo-clock. For the experimental group, two sections were assigned. The experimental group was exposed to indoor-outdoor games such as trigo-card, trigo-trip, human-trigo sungka, and treasure hunting. The study used Pretest-posttest quasi-experimental control group design. The participants were given pretest before the treatment, posttest after the treatment, and retention test two weeks after the posttest, using the 25 items teacher-made achievement test. The teacher-made test has a reliability coefficient of 0.83. The data collected were analyzed using mean, standard deviation, and analysis of covariance. Results of the analysis revealed that the achievement and retention scores of the students exposed to indoor-outdoor bodily kinesthetic teaching technique were as good as those students exposed to student–student discourse and manipulative. The researchers concluded that indoor-outdoor bodily kinesthetic teaching technique is a good teaching technique. The indoor-outdoor bodily kinesthetic teaching technique is recommended to be used by the teachers in mathematics as alternative teaching strategy to help increase students’ achievement and retention scores in Trigonometry. Keyword: Kinesthetic teaching technique, achievement, retention

Glimpse into teaching and learning using rasch analyses of a teacher-made science achievement test

This study examined the quality of a teacher-made achievement test using Rasch analyses and provided useful assessment feedback information for improving teaching and testing. The participants were 8,936 seventh-grade students (4,617 boys and 4,319 girls) from the Kaohsiung area in Taiwan. Data were collected through a teacher-made biology achievement test and analyzed using the Rasch model. The results indicated that the test clearly discriminated students' abilities. Some questions, however, were found to have unfair content for girls. Additionally, some mismatches were identified between teachers' expectations and students' assessments of question difficulty. This paper also provides assessment feedback diagrams, including a person-item map and diagnostic map, and a method of identifying ＂the zone of fundamental learning development＂ and ＂the zone of proximal learning development＂ is proposed to enable teachers to plan students' learning progression.

Effects of Integrated lessons on Learning Urdu Language Skill of Students at Primary Level

The study explores the effectiveness of integrated and traditional instruction method in developing reading and writing skills in Urdu language at primary level. As an experimental study it used Pretest, post-test and control group design in finding these effects. The researcher developed integrated instruction model for Urdu language by combining contents of Urdu and Islamic Studies by adopting multidisciplinary approach. Lesson plans were prepared by the researcher according to the integrated instruction model to teach the primary level students. In order to measure the performance of the students, teacher made achievement test was prepared by the researcher. The validity of the developed instrument was checked through expert opinion and reliability was checked through pilot testing. This experimental work was carried out for sixteen weeks in a public sector primary level school in Islamabad. Population of experiment was grade IV students. Seventy-six students were selected from class IV for experiment through the draw method. Students were assigned to experimental and control group after their performance in Pre-Test. Experimental group was taught through integrated instruction method while control group was taught through traditional instruction method. After the completion of the experimental period post-test was administered. The data were collected through teacher made achievement test. Data were then analyzed applying independent t-test. The results of study revealed that integrated learning was more effective in developing basic skills of reading and writing of Urdu language in students at prima

Lecture vs. Self-Regulated Learning: A Comparison of Two Methods in Teaching Biological Science

Lecture is a common method used in college teaching. Various researchescomparing lecture and more active methods in relation to students’ performance presented mixed views on the effectiveness of the lecture. This research aimed to compare the traditional lecture and self-regulating learning method in relation tostudents’ achievement in Biological Science. The study used quasi-experimentalmethod using non-equivalent group pretest-posttest design. Two intact classeswere used with 39 students in each class. A total of 78 first year students wereincluded in the study. The two groups were randomly assigned to the twoteaching methods. One group was taught through lecture while the other groupthrough self-regulated learning (SRL) method. Comparability of the studentswas based on their pretest scores in Biological Science. The study was conductedwith an observer. Teacher-made achievement test, course teaching manual, andcourse reader were used in the study. Results revealed that both lecture andSRL methods increased students’ achievement in Biological Science. However,students in the traditional method obtained higher mean pretest, posttest, andmean gain scores than students exposed to SRL method. Lecture as a teachingmethod should not be entirely replaced but also integrated with other methodswhenever it is appropriate.Keywords: Education, college science teaching, self-regulated learning, quasiexperimentaldesign, Philippines

The Impact of Mobile Dictionary Use on Language Learning

Widespread use of mobile and wireless devices in education has led to revolutionary changes in the way teachers teach and learners learn. Due to their pervasiveness, mobile phones are considered as being potentially valuable learning tools. However, students’ personal use of mobile phones and their apps for learning benefit is still open to research. This study thus investigated the impact of mobile dictionary use on language learning. Thirty-four lower-intermediate language learners participated in a pretest-posttest quasi-experimental study. They were divided into two groups (17 in each group) based on their choice to work with a mobile dictionary or a printed one for their language course. During the course, the experimental group used a dictionary installed on their mobile phones to do all their activities. Meanwhile, the control group worked with the printed version of the same dictionary. A teacher-made achievement test was used as the pre- and post-test. The result showed that, while controlling for the entry level language ability, the experimental group outperformed the control group in the post-test. The finding of the study underscores the vital role mobile phones play in extending learning out of the classroom anywhere anytime.

An Ecological Analysis of the Role of Role-play Games as Affordances in Iranian EFL Pre-university Students’ Vocabulary Learning

The present study was intended to yield an ecological analysis of the role of role-play games on the degree of vocabulary learning and recall of the Iranian EFL pre-university students. To this end, forty students randomly selected from a range of pre-university students took part in an experiment. They were equally divided into the experimental and control groups. The control subjects received no treatment, whereas the experimental participants were assigned the responsibility of engaging in one role-play game after the teaching of the new vocabulary introduced in each lesson. Then, a 40-item vocabulary test was administered as a final teacher-made achievement test. The statistical t test results that were carried out with the SPSS Software indicated that there was a significant difference between the degree of the experimental participants’ acquisition and recall of the vocabulary items as compared with the control participants’ vocabulary recall performance. This was theoretically justified regarding the debates on the affordance of both activity and agency in the role-play gaming that accordingly augmented the degree of the experimental subjects’ further engagement.

Effect of Constructivist - Based Instructional Model on Students’ Conceptual Change and Retention on Some Difficult Concepts in Chemistry

A quasi-experimental, non-equivalent group control design involving two intact classes were used to determine the effect of constructivist-based instructional model-Generative Learning Model (GLM) on students’ conceptual change and knowledge retention in chemistry. Effect of GLM on gender is also monitored. Performance of students taught with the above instructional model was compared with those taught with Expository Method (EPM). The sample for the study consisted of 170 SSII Chemistry students from four secondary schools purposeful selected from all the secondary schools in Idemili South Local Government Area of Anambra State. Students from two schools – (one male and the other female) were randomly assigned to experimental group while the other two schools one male and the other female was assigned as control group. A Teacher Made Achievement Test in Chemistry Tests (TMATC) were used. Three sets of these tests were developed 1, II and III. Pre-test was administrated to both groups to determine their entry level. At the end of the treatment Post-test was administered to both groups to determine their achievement after treatment. The third test was administered after an interval of four weeks to measure students’ knowledge retention. ANCOVA statistical tool was used to analyze the data collected using pre-test as a co-variant. From the findings, it was very clear that experimental group performed better than the control group. This is an indication that the constructivist based method (GLM) is very effective in enhancing meaningful learning among students. Recommendations were made based on the findings.Keywords – Constructivist – based instructional models, conceptual change, retention, Generative Learning Model.

Introduction to the International Journal of Pedagogies and Learning Special issue on Language Testing

BackgroundAssessment is and should rightly be at the heart of any pedagogical activities to make them more accountable and explain the success or otherwise of the teaching/learning systems. Among the many roles of assessment is the determination of whether the pedagogies in place are achieving what they must achieve, hence the classical requirement for any valid and working educational system. This is a special theme issue that focuses on the interfaces between pedagogies and assessment. It reflects both the ongoing work of specialists in the research field and teachers who as professionals today are under increasing pressure to assess and report on their students' performance, and the emerging new ideas about the relationships between pedagogies and assessment of learning. The articles in this issue shed light on testing and assessment topics in language learning contexts and make strong cases for further research and studies in the area.OverviewThe first article, by Mignette Garvida, presents the historical background of the Diplomas de Espanol como Lengua Extranjera (DELE). In addition, the author discusses the issues related to content and construct validation and the reliability of this internationally renowned assessment instrument.The second article is authored by three academics in an Iranian university. In their contribution, Bahman Gorjian, Alireza Jalilifar and Halimeh Mousavi determine the effect of redundant and consistent stems in multiple-choice vocabulary tests on pre-university students' performance. In an experimental study, the authors examined the impact of redundant stems in multiple-choice teachermade achievement tests on a group of English language learners. The authors found no statistical relationship between the performance of their sample groups on the two different types of tests rendering both tests equally useful in measuring pre-university students' English language ability.Hongli Li in article three investigates whether teachers are really teaching to the test in the case of a high-stakes test of English in China. The findings of Hongli's research indicate that the teachers are not as much influenced by the writing section of the test as they claimed. In other words, teachers are not really teaching to the test in the classical and extreme sense of the word. They list a series of reasons in relation to why teachers are not teaching strictly teaching to the test. Hongli suggests that rigorous teacher training must be in place to improve the efficiency of classroom teaching.In the fourth paper, Seyyed Abbas Mousavi examines the effect of the use of digital video in the development of a general proficiency of spoken English language test. His article is part of a larger study in which he developed and validated a computer-based general English proficiency test. Other than the usability and usefulness of videos in oral tests obtained from the administration of a post- test feedback questionnaire to his study sample, he highlights some of the technical issues in this respect and suggests a workable set of solutions. The post-test feedback as reported by the testtakers indicates the presence of a highly positive washback in the use of digital videos in testing oral language proficiency.In the fifth article the author, Shirley O'Neill, looks at the views of high school students on EFL pedagogy and investigates the reasons behind the differential perspectives of the students according to their English as a foreign language proficiency level. Comparing the performances of higher proficiency level students with those of lower proficiency, the higher proficiency students were found to have greater awareness of the kinds of language learning experiences that would best facilitate their acquisition of the language. In addition, their recommendations for pedagogical change concurred substantially with the gaps identified in the teachers' current practice. …

A Preliminary Study of Achievement, Attitudes toward Success in Mathematics, and Mathematics Anxiety with Technology-Based Instruction in Brief Calculus

This study was designed to compare achievement, attitudes toward success in mathematics, and mathematics anxiety of college students taught brief calculus using a graphic calculator, with the achievement and attitudes and anxiety of students taught using the computer algebra system Maple, using a technology based text book. 50 men and 50 women, students in three classes at a large public university in the southwestern United States, participated. Students' achievement in brief calculus was measured by performance on a teacher-made achievement test given at the end of the study. Analysis of variance showed no significant difference in achievement between the groups. To measure change in attitudes and anxiety, responses to paper-and-pencil inventories indicated significant differences in favor of students using the computer.

Assessment of achievement through portfolios and teacher-made tests

The present study attempted to establish whether portfolio assessment contributes to English as a foreign language (EFL) learners' achievement and their feeling of responsibility towards monitoring their progress. A further concern of this study was to address the probable correlation between the scores of portfolio assessment and those of teacher-made tests. The subjects were 60 Iranian 16-year-old female high-school sophomores. The instruments utilized were a Nelson English Language Proficiency Test , portfolio assessment, a teacher-made achievement test and a satisfaction questionnaire. The assessment of achievement was through both teacher-made tests and portfolios for the experimental group,while it was through teacher-made tests only for the control group. Procedures were designed for preparing portfolios and a number of relevant goals were set. On the basis of these goals, grading checklists were drawn up, to be used by the raters. The portfolio contents included core and optional items, as well as written and recorded tasks, selected by the students to display their bestwork. Reflective comments on aspects of learning demonstrated by each piece of work were attached. At the end of the experiment, a teacher-made test with reasonable psychometric indexes was administered to both groups. The participants were also asked to fill in the satisfaction questionnaire to show their attitudes towards their learning experiences. The findings indicate that portfolio assessment, which was received positively by the subjects, contributed to Iranian EFL learners' achievement and their feelings of responsibility towards monitoring their progress. The portfolio assessment scores correlated significantlywith those of the teacher-made achievement test, and high inter-rater reliability was also achieved. Therefore it is concluded that portfolio assessment, as a promising testing and teaching tool for teachers in EFL classes, can be used in conjunction with teacher-made tests to provide the continuous, ongoing measurement of students' growth needed for formative evaluation and for planning instructional programmes.

A PRELIMINARY STUDY OF ACHIEVEMENT, ATTITUDES TOWARD SUCCESS IN MATHEMATICS, AND MATHEMATICS ANXIETY WITH TECHNOLOGY-BASED INSTRUCTION IN BRIEF CALCULUS

This study was designed to compare achievement, attitudes toward success in mathematics, and mathematics anxiety of college students taught brief calculus using a graphic calculator, with the achievement and attitudes and anxiety of students taught using the computer algebra system Maple, using a technology-based text book. 50 men and 50 women, students in three classes at a large public university in the southwestern United States, participated. Students' achievement in brief calculus was measured by performance on a teacher-made achievement test given at the end of the study. Analysis of variance showed no significant difference in achievement between the groups. To measure change in attitudes and anxiety, responses to paper-and-pencil inventories indicated significant differences in favor of students using the computer.

Students’ Perception of a College Teacher as a Function of their Sex and Achievement Level

Sixty-seven male and seventy-three female undergraduates rated self, father, mother, and a male teacher on MARS. They also rated the teacher on a 17-item scale (RST) at the end of the course and took five teacher-made achievement tests during the semester. Students were divided into high and low achievement levels (AL), using the median as the cutoff. Two-way multivariate analysis of variance showed significant (p<.0001) differences in teacher ratings on MARS and RST factors between the sexes and between high and low AL Ss (p<.05) . Also, significant sex x AL interaction (p<.05) was found for the RST data.

Achievement as a Function of Teacher-Initiated Student-Teacher Personal Interactions

40 Ss enrolled in an undergraduate education course in audio-visual techniques were rank ordered by past grade point average. The median break technique was used to form two groups, a high-GPA and a low-GPA group. Ss within each of these groups were then randomly assigned to two treatments. Treatment I Ss were treated politely by the instructor but with no personal interest. Treatment II Ss were referred to by name, and the instructor initiated discussion with them. A 2 × 2 analysis of variance design was employed to analyze student performance on the first teacher-made achievement test. Treatment II Ss achieved significantly higher scores than did Treatment I Ss, and high-GPA Ss achieved significantly higher scores than did low-GPA Ss. The interaction was not significant although treatment appeared to have a greater effect on low-GPA Ss than on high-GPA Ss.