Graphical software support to classical item and test analysis

MOLINA, J.G.; LEDESMA, R.; VALERO-MORA, P

Oviedo (Spain)

Congreso; III European Congress of Methodology; 2008

This work describes ViSta-CITA, a computer program implementing a set of classical item and test analysis methods, which can provide a useful tool for research and teaching purposes, ViSta-CITA is freely available, its code is open to modifications or additions by the user, and it incorporates innovative graphical methods oriented to support a better insight in the application of the analysis methods implemented in the program. ViSta-CITA allows analyzing some classical test proprieties (e.g., standard error of measurement, Cronbach’s alpha index, underlying test dimensionality, etc.) as well as some item proprieties (e.g., location/difficulty, discriminatory power, etc.). The program can also be used to compute several types of test sores. However, the most relevant feature of ViSta-CITA is the way some of these results are presented, that is, through the use of spreadplots (Ledesma, Molina & Young, 2005; Young, Valero-Mora, Faldowski & Bann, 2003), a graphical method consisting of a container window including linked list and plot windows that show different aspects of the statistical analysis results in a dynamic way, so that changes by the user in one window produce automatic changes in the other windows linked to it. This tool can be especially useful to practice of item/test analysis conceived as an exploratory, iterative process oriented to refine the metric proprieties of the test is being developed.