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Abstract: The Flexilevel Test is a form of Computerised Adaptive Testing that presents items in an objective test based on the performance of examinees. Previous studies by the authors provide support for the notion that the Flexilevel test provides comparable results to standard Computer Based Testing tests (CBT). Moreover, previous studies by the authors support the notion that this relationship exists when shorter Flexilevel Tests are presented. The work reported here represents a continuation of this work to investigate the extent to which shorter tests using the Flexilevel Tests are comparable to full length CBT tests. The motivation for using the Flexilevel test is to provide tests that are tailored to the performance of students in both formative and summative assessment contexts. The motivation for providing shorter tests is the potential they may offer for embedding formative assessments in a broader range of formative assessment contexts, in particular mobile assessment contexts. In the study reported here a summative assessment for a Level 4 Computer Science module, Platforms for Computing, was administered to 57 students. The test was comprised of two sections, one a Flexilevel Test section that contained 15 items and another, a standard Computer Based Test (CBT) section that contained 25 items. The sections were presented in random order and were not identified as being different sections. A Pearson's product moment correlation was performed on the data. The results of the calculation showed that the relationship between students' performance on the CBT and Flexilevel sections were correlated (R=0.6232) and that this was significant at p<0.01. This result is consistent with the notion that Computerised Adaptive Testing (CAT) can provide shorter tests without disadvantaging students and also with previous work conducted by the authors. The results provide support for the idea that the Flexilevel Test may be a good candidate for the provision of assessments in a broad range of educational contexts, but particularly mobile learning contexts.
Keywords: Flexilevel Test, e-assessment, computerised adaptive testing, mobile learning, mobile assessment
1. Introduction
The Flexilevel Test (Lord, 1970, Lord 1971) is form of Computerised Adaptive Testing (CAT), specifically a fixed branch approach that provides tests that are tailored to the performance of students taking them. Items in a test are ranked in terms of their difficulty...