University of California at Davis students need to pass the Chemistry Placement Exam (CPE) before taking general chemistry. Those students who fail to obtain the qualifying score in the CPE are encouraged to take either a workload chemistry class (WLD 41C), taught by Sacramento City College faculty; or take the ALEKS Chemistry Preparatory Chemistry course. Students taking the WLD41C workload class learn chemical problem solving and writing skills using a guided inquiry format. The UC Davis students at the end of the course are given a final multiple choice question examination. This poster uses item response theory modeling to test the difficulty level and fairness of questions asked in this final exam. Answers to multiple choice questions were obtained from a random subset of students taking the final exam. A survey questionnaire had been given to the students at the beginning of the course. This questionnaire was used to group so-called ‘like’ students into subgroups. An overall item response analysis is conducted as well as individual subgroup analyses. The sub grouping can be based upon gender, expected grades, interest in subject, answering questions well or poorly, the time spent on homework etc. Simulated data was used to demonstrate the item response theory methodology and modeling. Item Characteristic Curves (ICCs) are presented for items with varying difficulty. Estimates of the item discrimination parameters are produced and recorded. Results are compared that examine the fairness and difficulty levels of the multiple choice questions asked. SYSTAT® and STATA® are used to perform the data analysis.

Assessment of final exam questions for a workload chemistry course: Item response theory modeling

ACS Fall 2020 Virtual Meeting

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.