This research investigated the relationships among test performance, anxiety, and the quality of interaction during collaborative testing of college students. It also explored which students are most likely to benefit from collaborative testing. It was randomly determined whether a student would take each of six examinations alone or with a…

Feedback to the test taker is a defining characteristic of diagnostic language testing (Alderson, 2005). This article reports on a study that investigated how much and in what ways students at a Taiwan university perceived the feedback to be useful on an online multiple-choice diagnostic English grammar test, both in general and by students of…

The test-taker is viewed as a hypothesis-generating organism who can become "testwise." Testwiseness is defined as a stable skill, acquired by test-taking experiences, by which an individual can make test responses conform to a desired response pattern. (Author/MV)

A causal-comparative analysis was made of college students' performance on a program of tests and retests. Gains in test scores, student response to testing and retesting, and characteristics of students who chose to be retested are discussed. (CJ)

Relationships between multiple-choice test answer changing and testwiseness skills, and between these two variables and examination performance were studied with 150 college business students. Answer-changing behavior was related to multiple-choice test performance but not to testwiseness or performance on the nonmultiple choice portion.…

The performance of college students on the adolescent-adult version of the Matching Familiar Figures (MFF) test was examined in three studies to determine the effects of strategies on performance. With the standard instructions for the MFF, performance was found to be unrelated to test anxiety or extraversion and was parallel in many respects to…

Results of research conducted to ascertain the effect on test grades of changing answer choices are presented. The main questions that were examined were: (1) Does the changing of responses to test items (presumably based upon item reconsideration) result in better test scores?; (2) Is the amount of changes related to the score a person receives…

An attempt to help college students who felt that they understood the subject matter but couldn't pass the tests was made. For purposes of this study, test-wiseness (TW) is defined as a cognitive factor, one which is measurable and subject to change either through specific test experience or training in a test-taking strategy. The specific purpose…

This study explored the relationship between time needed to complete multiple choice tests and college student test performance. Examination time and performance for midsemester and final exams were measured. Results indicated that the variables were relatively unrelated. Students tended to use a consistent test-taking tempo on relatively untimed…

A study examined the differences in the essay exam scores of college students who did no planning, some planning, or extensive planning before writing answers to questions on essay exams. Subjects, 100 undergraduate education students enrolled in reading methods classes and 37 graduate reading students enrolled in a psychology of reading class,…

Undergraduate students in sociology (N=59) and psychology (N=50) participated in a study at a large midwestern university to determine if the pattern of attributional assignment, expectancy, performance, and perceived success was different in these two groups of undergraduates. Prior to taking the first of three exams each student was asked how…

This paper offers college teachers guidelines for improving their teacher made tests. It notes that teachers may focus on how well students have learned course objectives while being unaware of how the testing process itself contributes to the results obtained. The paper reports the results of a test-taking workshop designed to improve college…