Analysis of the difficulty index of item bank according to cognitive aspects during the Covid-19 pandemic

The Covid-19 pandemic is a major challenge for the education system. The face-to-face learning process shifted to online learning, including the school exams. In Aceh province, the school exams have changed from paper-based and computer-based. This research aims to analyze the difficulty index of an item bank based on cognitive aspects of Bloom’s Taxonomy. The study samples included 850 students. The data were the item bank of a final semester exam consisting of 200 multiple-choice items, answer keys, and students’ answer sheets. The empirical analysis of the item bank using classical test theory (CTT) found that 141 out of 200 items are valid based on content validity and computing data set using the Aiken’s V formula. Item tests have reliability of 0.983. The reliability is calculated using the Kuder-Richardson 21 formula. If the reliability coefficient is r11 ≥ 0.70, then the item is declared reliable. In addition, 62 out of 141 (43.97%) items from the item bank are classified with a moderate difficulty index, and 79 items (56.03%) are categorized with a high difficulty index. The cognitive aspects found in the items are remembering, understanding, applying, and analyzing. Students mostly found items with the cognitive aspects of remembering and understanding are difficult to solve.

Psychometric evaluation of the Relative Mastery Scale: An Occupational Adaptation instrument

This study evaluated the psychometric properties of the Relative Mastery Scale (RMS). Valid and reliable client-centered instruments support practice in value-based health care and community-based settings. Participants were 368 community-dwelling adults aged 18 to 95 years. Researchers conducted validity and reliability examinations of the RMS using classical test theory and Rasch measurement model. A partial credit model allowed exploration of individual scale properties. Spearman’s correlation coefficients between items were statistically significant at the .01 level. Cronbach’s alpha coefficient was .94 showing strong internal consistency. In exploratory factor analysis, Factor 1 accounted for 71% of variance with an eigenvalue of 4.26. In Rasch analysis, the 5-point rating scale demonstrated adequate functioning, confirmed unidimensionality, and person/item separation. The RMS instrument demonstrates sound psychometric characteristics. A valid and reliable measure of internal occupational adaptation supports application to monitor progress of internal occupational adaptation across a variety of individuals.

Karakteristik Butir Soal Penilaian Akhir Semester Mata Pelajaran Sejarah Kelas XI SMA Negeri 1 Pangkalpinang

This research is a study of quantitative descriptive. The purpose of this research is to describe the characteristics of final semester exam items for grade XI in the History subject at SMA Negeri 1 Pangkalpinang using the classical test theory approach. The research of the subject was 138 students of class XI in Social Sciences Major. The result of the research shows that final exam questions in the history subject class XI of SMA Negeri 1 Pangkalpinang are proper to use. This shows that from the validity of the items which there are 39 items of questions (97.5%) which are proven empirically valid with a 0.818 reliability coefficient. Other than that, there are 27 items of questions (67,5%) that can fulfill the criteria for the difficulty level, distinguishing power, and distractor function so it can be used directly to measure the student's ability without correction. While 12 items of questions (30%) need to be fixed and 1 item of question (2,5%) is declared to be invalid so it can't be used to measure the student's ability in History Subject. Permasalahan yang melatarbelakangi penelitian ini adalah pengembangan soal penilaian akhir semester mata pelajaran sejarah yang tidak melalui tahapan analisis butir soal sehingga kualitas butir soal tidak diketahui. Penelitian ini merupakan penelitian deskriptif kuantitatif. Tujuan penelitian ini adalah untuk mendeskripsikan karakteristik butir soal penilaian akhir semester mata pelajaran sejarah kelas XI SMA Negeri 1 Pangkalpinang menggunakan pendekatan teori tes klasik. Subjek penelitian berjumlah 138 peserta didik kelas XI jurusan IPS. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa soal PAS mata pelajaran sejarah kelas XI SMA Negeri 1 Pangkalpinang telah layak digunakan. Hal ini dibuktikan dari validitas butir soal yang mana terdapat 39 butir soal (97,5%) terbukti valid secara empirik dengan koefisien reliabilitas sebesar 0,818. Selain itu terdapat 27 butir soal (67,5%) yang memenuhi kriteria tingkat kesukaran, daya beda, dan keberfungsian distraktor sehingga dapat digunakan langsung untuk mengukur kemampuan peserta didik tanpa perbaikan. Sedangkan sebanyak 12 butir soal (30%) perlu dilakukan perbaikan dan 1 butir soal (2,5%) dinyatakan gugur sehingga tidak dapat digunakan untuk mengukur kemampuan peserta didik pada mata pelajaran sejarah.

The Unified Narcissism Scale: Moving towards an integrated measure of narcissism

Narcissism as a psychological construct has had a contentious past both in its conceptualization and measurement. There is an emerging consensus that narcissism consists of grandiose and vulnerable subtypes, which share a common core. In the present research (N = 1002), we constructed a new measure of unified narcissism that reflects these contemporary understandings using items from the most widely used measures of grandiose and vulnerable narcissism: the Narcissistic Personality Inventory (NPI; Raskin & Terry, 1988, https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.54.5.890), and the Pathological Narcissism Inventory (PNI; Pincus et al., 2009, https://doi-org/10.1037/a0016530). We used classical test theory and item response theory approaches to devise a 29-item Unified Narcissism Scale. The scale showed good internal consistency, and convergent and discriminant validity, and showed evidence of measurement invariance between men and women. This research gave strong support for the structure, reliability, and validity of the unified measure, which offers a promising avenue for further enhancing our knowledge of narcissism.

Validating Insomnia Severity Index (ISI) in a Bangladeshi Population: Using Classical Test Theory and Rasch Analysis

The COVID-19 outbreak is associated with sleep problems and mental health issues among individuals. Therefore, there is a need to assess sleep efficiency during this tough period. Unfortunately, the commonly used instrument on insomnia severity—the Insomnia Severity Index (ISI)—has never been translated and validated among Bangladeshis. Additionally, the ISI has never been validated during a major protracted disaster (such as the COVID-19 outbreak) when individuals encounter mental health problems. The present study aimed to translate the ISI into Bangla language (ISI-Bangla) and validate its psychometric properties. First, the linguistic validity of the ISI-Bangla was established. Then, 9790 Bangladeshis (mean age = 26.7 years; SD = 8.5; 5489 [56.1%] males) completed the Bangla versions of the following questionnaires: ISI, Fear of COVID-19 Scale (FCV-19S), and Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9). All the participants also answered an item on suicidal ideation. Classical test theory and Rasch analyses were conducted to evaluate the psychometric properties of the ISI-Bangla. Both classical test theory and Rasch analyses support a one-factor structure for the ISI-Bangla. Moreover, no substantial differential item functioning was observed across different subgroups (gender, depression status (determined using PHQ-9), and suicidal ideation). Additionally, concurrent validity of the ISI-Bangla was supported by significant and moderate correlations with FCV-19S and PHQ-9; known-group validity was established by the significant difference of the ISI-Bangla scores between participants who experienced suicidal ideation and those without. The present psychometric validation conducted during the COVID-19 outbreak suggests that the ISI-Bangla is a promising and operationally adequate instrument to assess insomnia in Bangladeshis.

A Robust Method for Detecting Item Misfit in Large Scale Assessments

Viable methods for the identification of item misfit or Differential Item Functioning (DIF) are central to scale construction and sound measurement. Many approaches rely on the derivation of a limiting distribution under the assumption that a certain model fits the data perfectly. Typical assumptions such as the monotonicity and population independence of item functions are present even in classical test theory but are more explicitly stated when using item response theory or other latent variable models for the assessment of item fit. The work presented here provides an alternative approach that does not assume perfect model data fit, but rather uses Tukey’s concept of contaminated distributions and proposes an application of robust outlier detection in order to flag items for which adequate model data fit cannot be established.

A Robust Method for Detecting Item Misfit in Large Scale Assessments

Viable methods for the identification of item misfit or Differential Item Functioning (DIF) are central to scale construction and sound measurement. Many approaches rely on the derivation of a limiting distribution under the assumption that a certain model fits the data perfectly. Typical assumptions such as the monotonicity and population independence of item functions are present even in classical test theory but are more explicitly stated when using item response theory or other latent variable models for the assessment of item fit. The work presented here provides an alternative approach that does not assume perfect model data fit, but rather uses Tukey’s concept of contaminated distributions and proposes an application of robust outlier detection in order to flag items for which adequate model data fit cannot be established.