COMPARATIVE EFFECT OF COMPUTERIZED FIXED-TEST AND COMPUTER-ADAPTIVE-TEST ON MATHEMATICS TEST CHARACTERISTICS OF SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN IMO STATE

Abstract

The study focused on the comparative effect of Computer-Fixed test and Computer-adaptive-test on mathematics test characteristics of senior secondary schools in Imo State. It adopted quasi-experimental pre-test post–test research design to compare the possible effect of CBT computerized-fixed-test and computer adaptive test on mathematics test characteristics of senior secondary schools, focusing on their difficulty index, discrimination index, distracter index, validity and reliability of items, among others. Three research questions and two null hypotheses guided the study. The population for the study comprise all 2017 JAMB candidates of the six educational zones of Imo State who earlier received special training on CBT’s Computerized –Fixed – Test and Computer-Adaptive test. Six secondary schools from across the six education zones of the state were selected. Purposive sampling technique was used to sample 261 students who sat for the 2017 JAMB exam based on strength of each zone. This instrument was a 15 – item questionnaire called Computerized-Fixed-Test and Computer-Adaptive- Test Questionnaire (CFT/CATQ). The test items in the instrument was validated by two experts in the field of Educational Measurement & Evaluation and one expert in the ICT Unit. To ascertain the reliability of the instrument, the Cronbach alpha reliability method was employed to determine its consistency and finally, a correlation coefficient of 0.79 was obtained. The researchers administered the instrument themselves and at last all the questionnaires were collected back ensuring a 100% return rate. The data collected were organized and then analyzed using mean and standard deviation for the research questions while the hypotheses were analyzed with the ANCOVA statistic. The findings show that CFT is more advantageous than CAT in JAMB UTME and that CFT& CAT models of CBT assessment differ significantly in influencing students performances in JAMB UTME Mathematics.