Performance Assessments With Microworlds and Their Difficulty
Journal
Applied Psychological Measurement
ISSN
0146-6216
ISSN-Digital
1552-3497
Type
journal article
Date Issued
2008-03-01
Author(s)
Abstract
The use of microworlds (MWs), or complex dynamic systems, in educational testing and personnel selection is hampered by systematic measurement errors because these new and innovative item formats are not adequately controlled for their difficulty. This empirical study introduces a way to operationalize an MW's difficulty and demonstrates the strong effects of variations in it. A rationale for predicting an MW's difficulty (number and quality of relationships between the same number of variables) is tested for difficulty's impact on assessed performance. As the number of relationships increases, control performance, acquired knowledge, and self-efficacy as moderating variables decrease. Analysis of knowledge types (qualitative and quantitative) shows that system difficulty affects quantitative knowledge more than it does qualitative knowledge.
Language
English
Keywords
microworlds
performance assessment
difficulty
control performance
knowledge
self-efficacy
HSG Classification
contribution to scientific community
Refereed
Yes
Publisher
Sage
Publisher place
Thousand Oaks, Calif. [u.a.]
Volume
32
Number
2
Start page
156
End page
180
Pages
25
Subject(s)
Division(s)
Eprints ID
43435