Medical school curriculum integrates pre-clinical coursework with clinical experiences to impart understanding of pathophysiologic processes and requisite skills for future physicians. Evaluation through examinations measures students' knowledge and skills acquisition, while practice exam questions remain underexplored in studies on student study…

While the effect of reading strategies on L2 test performance has been extensively researched, the effect of test-taking strategies remains underexplored, with mixed results due to varying contextual factors. This study, therefore, investigated the latent structure of test-taking strategies and the relationships among test-taking strategies,…

Although the IELTS speaking test assesses English verbal-communication competence accurately and reliably, its traditional, retroactive scoring framework stops short of providing detailed diagnostic information about individual test-takers' specific domains of proficiency or deficiency. This study employed a cognitive diagnostic assessment (CDA)…

Achievement goal theory emphasizes the importance of achievement goals in learning behavior and performance, particularly in challenging tasks. However, little research has explored how achievement goals contribute to strategy use and integrated writing (IW) performance. The present study examined the relationship between achievement goals (task-,…

The measurement of test-taking strategies and practices, mostly studied through qualitative methods, has been an important aspect of language testing and assessment research. The current study examines the test-taking strategies of International English Language Testing System (IELTS) test-takers and reports the process of designing and validating…

This study used Latent Growth Curve Modeling (LGCM) to examine the overtime patterns of the score and test-taking strategy changes in an international high-stakes standardized proficiency test. To this end, the test records of 178 Iranian IELTS repeaters were analyzed, using close- and open-ended questionnaires to measure test scores as a function…

Test-taking strategies are discussed in the literature as an important factor affecting test scores and are recommended to be taken into consideration regarding the validity of tests. Although studies have been conducted for more than a quarter century, no agreement has been reached on the dimensions of test-taking strategies. The purpose of this…

Using a sample of 497 college students, we measured test-taking emotions (anger, worry, pride, enjoyment) after the first third, second third, and last third of a low-stakes cognitive test of sociocultural knowledge. We examined the simultaneous change in emotions and whether change in emotions predicted subsequent test-taking effort and test…

Despite the breadth of integrated writing assessment research, few studies have examined student perceptions of classroom-based integrated writing tasks or the instructional value of analytic rubrics. Adopting a case study methodology, this exploratory research investigated L2 learners' conceptualizations of integrated writing assessment and their…

This study aimed to investigate the test-taking strategies needed for successful completion of a lecture-based listening test by employing self-reported test-taking strategy use, actual strategy use measured via eye-tracking, and test scores. In this study, participants' gaze behavior (measured by fixation and visit duration and frequency) were…

Testwiseness may introduce construct-irrelevant variance to multiple-choice test scores. Presenting response options sequentially has been proposed as a potential solution to this problem. In an experimental validation, we determined the psychometric properties of a test based on the sequential presentation of response options. We created a strong…

A vast literature investigates academic disengagement among students, including its ultimate manifestation, dropping out of school. Research also shows that test disengagement can be a problem for many inferences educators and policymakers wish to draw from test scores. However, few studies consider whether academic and test disengagement are…

This study investigated the effects of two different planning time conditions (i.e., operational [20 s] and extended length [90 s]) for the lecture listening-into-speaking tasks of the "TOEFL iBT"® test for candidates at different proficiency levels. Seventy international students based in universities and language schools in the United…

This study, an 18-week comparative experiment, examined the effects of instruction in test-taking strategy in English as a foreign language reading class. It involved an experimental group (68 students) taught test-taking strategies and a control group (66 students) that did not receive the instruction. Various means were used to investigate the…

Listen-to-summarize cloze (LSC) tasks are not rare in high-stakes language tests; however, we know little about what test-takers do during the tasks. In our study, we examined 16 students' think-aloud protocols (TAPs) which were recorded while they were completing two LSC tasks. The analysis of the 16 TAPs indicated iterative cognitive processes…