Instructors across disciplines continue to seek methods to improve students' retention of class material. One potential method for increasing retention is the use of collaborative, or group, testing. We tested the hypothesis that group testing would lead to greater retention than individual testing. Two instructors, teaching 2 sections of their…

The author urges the adoption of take-home exams, whether individual or group efforts, subjective or objective in nature, as they lead to much more reflective thinking, problem solving, and other forms of data analysis than do standard one-period exams. (AN)

Achievement tests may be either norm-referenced or criterion-referenced. The norm-referenced test indicates an individual's proficiency level with respect to other individuals. A criterion-referenced test measures an individual's performance with respect to a specific level along the continuum of attainment. Further, an achievement test may be…

Alternatives to a solitary testing format can involve students working in teams to arrive at the correct answer. We compared two group assessment methods, cooperative and competitive, to a solitary testing approach. In most comparisons examining the undergraduate respondents' (N = 77) performance, the two group-testing methods were equivalent.…

Administration of the BG in a group situation provided as much, and as reliable, information as did individual administration. Besides the economy, it provided an opportunity to observe the individual child's functioning as a member of a peer group, both in relation to it and in conjunction with it. (Author)

The assessment laboratory function is supplementary and subsequent to the usual mass testing procedures. It is designed to elicit information not furnished by older more traditional methods, e.g., assessment of personal attributes, communication skills, etc. The exam involved participation by the candidates in both individual and group exercises.…

Samples of entering first-grade students were used to examine the predictive validity of the group administered Metropolitan Readiness Test (MRT) and the individually administered Meeting Street School Screening Test (MSSST). The advantage of the latter was found to possibly outweigh the advantage of efficiency in group administration. (Author/GK)

A group of 120 older adults participated in group testing and 64 in individual testing of mental and physical health. Testing conditions made a difference for personality, perceived health, mental health, and recall of life events. Selection or setting bias was thought to have affected outcomes. (SK)

Instruments and methods are considered by many the nuts and bolts of school testing programs, for both individuals and groups. Too often, the individual is lost in the machinery of such a school program, and data collected becomes the end product of appraisal and assessment. Programs of student appraisal procedures should be developed around eight…

The goal of this research project was to investigate the use of dynamic assessment to increase equity, fairness, and accuracy in the testing of abilities and achievement. Dynamic tests have been found to reveal developing expertise in underrepresented minorities around the world that is not revealed by conventional static tests. The…

Prevalence rates of cognitive impairment in persons 75 to 85 years of age have been documented in the range of 10-15%, and exceeding 20% after age 85. A recent study has demonstrated even higher prevalence rates: 18.7% between the ages of 75-84 and 47% in persons over 85 years of age. Screening for dementia in persons 75 years of age and older…

This article investigates teacher use of the Developmental Test of Visual-Motor Integration (VMI) as a screening instrument with groups of young school-age children. Findings argue for some refinement in the scoring system in order to improve consistency in scoring. (Author)