Examines the following study habits of postgraduate students who learn under the distance-education system of Madras University: learning patterns at home; kind of participation during the semester; learning habits before the examination; ways they answer during the examination; reasons for studying by distance education; and reasons for joining…

Assesses unique contributions of learning, study, and test-taking strategies; students' attitudes about college; and ACT scores, and linked them to college grade point average (GPA) and retention. Findings suggest that learning and study strategies and students' college attitudes affect attrition indirectly through GPA. (Author/MKA)

Subgroup differences are expected on traditional knowledge, skill, ability, and achievement tests. Considers actions to reduce differences and fairly assess individual attributes. Suggests that selection materials assess the full range of relevant attributes using a format that minimizes verbal content as much as is appropriate. Recommends using…

This research investigated factors affecting examination anxiety and aimed to increase schools' understanding of this topic. The study was a school-based initiative, evaluating intervention strategies to help secondary pupils with the self-management of their examination anxiety. The study compared the effects of a range of approaches on…

The attractiveness of computer-based tests (CBTs) is due largely to their capability to expand the ways we conduct testing. A relatively unexplored application, however, is actively using the computer to reduce construct-irrelevant variance while a test is being administered. This investigation introduces the effort-monitoring CBT, in which the…

Previous studies of washback (the influence of a test on teaching and learning) have provided insights into the complexity of educational systems and test use, especially in relation to the role of the teacher, but have given insufficient attention to the relationship between observed practices and test design features. In this article a washback…

Results from the Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test (OSSLT) indicate that English as a Second Language (ESL) and English Literacy Development (ELD) students have comparatively low success and high deferral rates. This study examined the 2002 and 2003 OSSLT test performances of ESL/ELD and non-ESL/ELD students in order to identify and…

Increased demand for accountability in the public schools has led to an increase in the number of testing situations for all students, including students with disabilities. The purpose of this project was to develop and validate an interactive hypermedia (IH) program to teach a test-taking strategy to secondary-level students with disabilities.…

THE FOLLOWING IS THE FULL TEXT OF THIS DOCUMENT: In general, coaching improves student scores on achievement and aptitude tests--including the SAT--but not very much. While the SAT is not invulnerable to coaching programs, only a few students have found impressive results. Coaching produces the following average gains: On the SAT, .15 standard…

Psychology students at the University of Minnesota were studied for the effects of different interventions on test anxiety and the academic performance of students with debilitating test anxiety. One group of students received peer tutoring and training in the use of study skills; a second group received training in cue-controlled desensitization…

Successful instructional strategies for enhancing the reading comprehension and comprehension test performance of learning disabled students are described. Students are taught to self-monitor their comprehension of expository materials and stories through recognition and analysis of recurrent elements and problem passages, content summarization,…

Describes a study of the effects of direct exposure to the reading selection topics of the New Jersey College Basic Skills Placement Test reading comprehension subtest on students' posttest scores. Finds that instruction in reading strategies helps student performance, but that background information on test topics did not affect scores. (AYC)

Although cognitive style affects test results, students of various cognitive styles are expected to perform equally well on standardized tests. Informal tests seem to be better for both impulsive and reflective style students. Perhaps a combination of standardized and informal testing is appropriate for making educational decisions about students.…

Reviews research dealing with test wiseness and concludes that teachers and others who administer tests and those who review results should consider the degree to which test wiseness characteristics might have been operative had a planned effort been undertaken to provide special instruction. (FL)

Reviews an investigation of the effects of problem format and the number of independent variables on the responses of students to a control of variables reasoning task. Results indicate that adding independent variables to a control of variables reasoning problem leads to an overload of working memory which affects performance. (ML)