Effects of item arrangement (easy-hard, uniform, and random), test anxiety, and sex on a 48-item multiple-choice mathematics test assembled from items of the American College Testing Program and taken by motivated upper level undergraduates and beginning graduate students were investigated. Four measures of anxiety were used: the Achievement Test…

The effectiveness of a strategy for improving performance on multiple choice items for examinees with different levels of test anxiety was assessed. Undergraduate measurement students responded to the Mandler-Sarason Test Anxiety Scale and to an objective test covering course content. Results indicated that, for most examinees, generation of an…

Prior research with the Professional and Career Administrative Examination (PACE), a multiple abilities test battery for federal candidates, demonstrated practice effects (score gains) on alternate forms of the test parts within one administration of the battery. These effects were largest for those abilities including item types constructed…

An investigation of self-statements, test anxiety and academic achievement studied 426 college students. Research methodology is defined, demographics and student profiles for both facilitative and debilitative test anxiety are presented, with the resulting findings for each testing component. The student profile for high facilitative test anxiety…

Providing examinees with advanced knowledge of the difficulty of an item led to an increase in test performance with no loss of reliability. This finding was consistent across several test formats. ( Author/JKS)

Advantages and disadvantages of no-penalty and penalty marking systems are discussed. Ways in which examiners have attempted to correct for guessing by students are reviewed, along with the use of "don't know" options and confidence-weighting for attempting to assess the degree of certainty that candidates attach to their answers. (Author/LBH)

Discusses college students' general disregard for factual information when writing political science examinations. Concludes that students should be taught to support answers with factual information. Suggests ways to construct examinations which require factual knowledge. (Author/DB)

Review procedures for examinations were investigated by questionnaire in a group of first-year pre-clinical medical students. Their own notes were the preferred source of review material, and lectures were the main source of those notes. It is concluded that the students have a functional rather than inquiring approach to learning. (LBH)

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)

A statistical comparison of scores on the previous and redesigned Medical College Admission Tests showed that neither was a powerful predictor of scores on the National Board of Medical Examiners Part III examination, a measure of clinical competence at the first-year resident level. Other subtest results were also found. (MSE)

The effects of violating four item construction principles were examined to assess the validity of the principles and the importance of students' test wiseness. While flawed items were significantly less difficult than sound items, differences in item discrimination, test reliability, and concurrent validity were not observed. (Author/BW)

Ninety-four college males completed a management trainees' selection test that had been developed by criterion-keying. They were instructed once to answer honestly, and once to answer as a highly motivated job applicant would. "Faking" instructions resulted in significantly higher scores. (Author/GDC)

The relationship among test anxiety, study skills, and academic performance was studied. It was found that, in addition to academic aptitude, a measure of effective test-taking skills and a measure of test anxiety contributed significantly to prediction of grade point average. (Author)

This study compared the effectiveness of systematic desensitization and the directed experience hypnotic technique in reducing self-reported test anxiety and increasing the academic performance of test-anxious undergraduates (N=36). The results are discussed as evidence for systematic desensitization as the more effective treatment in reducing…

Provides strategies designed to help both mainstream and underrepresented students meet the rhetorical demands of placement exams and gain control in these situations. Describes the University of California Santa Barbara's Preparatory Program which serves a large, culturally diverse student population, acknowledges the variables embedded in the…