Abstract
Automatic item generation represents a potential solution to the increased item development demands in this era of continuous testing. However, the use of test items that are automatically generated on-the-fly poses significant psychometric challenges for item calibration. The solution that has been suggested by a small but growing number of authors is to replace item calibration with item model (or family) calibration and to adopt a multilevel approach where items are nested within item models. Past research on the feasibility of this approach was limited to simulations or small-scale illustrations of its potential. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the results of a large-scale deployment of automatic item generation in a low-stakes adaptive testing context, with a large number of item models, and a very large number of randomly generated item instances.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Arendasy, M.E., Sommer, M.: Using automatic item generation to meet the increasing item demands of high-stakes educational and occupational assessment. Learn. Individ. Differ. 22(1), 112–117 (2012)
Arieli-Attali, M., Cayton-Hodges, G.A.: Expanding the CBALâ„¢ Competency Model for Mathematics Assessments and Developing a Rational Number Learning Progression. Educational Testing Service, Princeton (2014)
Attali, Y., Arieli-Attali, M.: Gamification in assessment: do points affect test performance? Comput. Educ. 83, 57–63 (2015)
Attali, Y., Arieli-Attali, M.: Validating predictions from learning progressions: framework and implementation. In: The Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association (AERA), San Antonio, TX (2017)
Attali, Y., Powers, D.: Immediate feedback and opportunity to revise answers to open-ended questions. Educ. Psychol. Meas. 70(1), 22–35 (2010)
Bartram, D., Hambleton, R.: Computer-Based Testing and the Internet: Issues and Advances. Wiley, New York (2005)
Bates, D., Mächler, M., Bolker, B., Walker, S.: Fitting linear mixed-effects models using lme4. J. Stat. Softw. 67(1), 1–48 (2015). https://doi.org/10.18637/jss.v067.i01
Bejar, I.I.; Generative testing: from conception to implementation. In: Irvine, S.H., Kyllonen, P.C. (eds.) Item Generation for Test Development, pp. 199–217. Erlbaum, Mahwah (2002)
Bennett, R.E.: CBAL: results from piloting innovative k–12 assessments. ETS Res. Rep. Ser. 2011(1) (2011)
Cho, S.-J., De Boeck, P., Embretson, S., Rabe-Hesketh, S.: Additive multilevel item structure models with random residuals: item modeling for explanation and item generation. Psychometrika 79(1), 84–104 (2014)
Downing, S.M., Haladyna, T.M.: Handbook of test development. Lawrence Erlbaum, Mahwah (2006)
Embretson, S.: Generating items during testing: psychometric issues and models. Psychometrika 64(4), 407–433 (1999)
Embretson, S., Yang, X.: Automatic item generation and cognitive psychology. Handb. Stat. 26, 747–768 (2006)
Geerlings, H., Glas, C.A., van der Linden, W.J.: Modeling rule-based item generation. Psychometrika 76(2), 337–359 (2011)
Geerlings, H., van der Linden, W.J., Glas, C.A.: Optimal test design with rule-based item generation. Appl. Psychol. Meas. 37(2), 140–161 (2013)
Gierl, M.J., Haladyna, T.M.: Automatic Item Generation: Theory and Practice. Routledge, New York (2013)
Glas, C.A., van der Linden, W.J.: Computerized adaptive testing with item cloning. Appl. Psychol. Meas. 27(4), 247–261 (2003)
Graf, A., Fife, J.H.: Difficulty modeling and automatic generation of quantitative items. In: Gierl, M.J., Haladyna, T.M. (eds.) Automatic Item Generation: Theory and Practice, pp. 157–179. Routledge, New York (2013)
Haladyna, T.M.: Automatic item generation: a historical perspective. In: Gierl, M.J., Haladyna, T.M. (eds.) Automatic Item Generation: Theory and Practice, pp. 13–25. Routledge, New York (2013)
Irvine, S.H., Kyllonen, P.C.: Item Generation for Test Development. Erlbaum, Mahwah (2002)
Janssen, R., Schepers, J., Peres, D.: Models with item and item group predictors. In: De Boeck, P., Wilson, M. (eds.) Explanatory Item Response Models, pp. 189–212. Springer, New York (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-3990-9_6
Janssen, R., Tuerlinckx, F., Meulders, M., De Boeck, P.: A hierarchical IRT model for criterion-referenced measurement. J. Educ. Behav. Stat. 25(3), 285–306 (2000)
Pintrich, P.R., Schunk, D.H.: Motivation in Education: Theory, Research, and Applications, 2nd edn. Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River (2002)
Shermis, M.D., Burstein, J.: Handbook of Automated Essay Evaluation: Current Applications and New Directions. Routledge, New York (2013)
Sinharay, S., Johnson, M.S.: Use of item models in a large-scale admissions test: a case study. Int. J. Test. 8(3), 209–236 (2008)
Sinharay, S., Johnson, M.S.: Statistical modeling of automatically generated items. In: Gierl, M.J., Haladyna, T.M. (eds.) Automatic Item Generation: Theory and Practice, pp. 183–195. Routledge, New York (2013)
Sireci, S.G., Zenisky, A.L.: Innovative item formats in computer-based testing: in pursuit of improved construct representation. In: Downing, S.M., Haladyna, T.M. (eds.) Handbook of Test Development, pp. 329–347. Lawrence Erlbaum, Mahwah (2006)
van der Linden, W.J., Glas, C.A.: Elements of Adaptive Testing. Springer, New York (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-85461-8
Whitely, S.E.: Construct validity: construct representation versus nomothetic span. Psychol. Bull. 93(1), 179 (1983)
Wright, B.D., Linacre, J.M.: Reasonable mean-square fit values. Rasch Meas. Trans. 8(3), 370 (1994)
Wright, B.D., Masters, G.N.: Rating Scale Analysis: Rasch Measurement. Mesa Press, Chicago (1982)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2018 Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature
About this paper
Cite this paper
Attali, Y. (2018). Automatic Item Generation Unleashed: An Evaluation of a Large-Scale Deployment of Item Models. In: Penstein Rosé, C., et al. Artificial Intelligence in Education. AIED 2018. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 10947. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-93843-1_2
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-93843-1_2
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-93842-4
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-93843-1
eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)