Publication Date

Fall 2016

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Department

Psychology

Advisor

Sean P. Laraway

Keywords

college-level, Computerized testing, educational technology, self-adapted testing, statistics education

Subject Areas

Educational technology; Educational tests & measurements; Psychology

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a computerized academic testing format. Centered on the motivating and stress-reducing aspects of personal control, a modified form of global self-adapted testing (GSAT) was explored to help students who are challenged by test anxiety or low academic motivation. Forty-two students completed multiple GSATs throughout one semester of college-level, online statistics. Of those students, 20 volunteered to complete an academic motivation questionnaire at the beginning of the semester. The relationships between scores on the motivation questionnaire, GSAT use characteristics, and statistics performance were analyzed. Students who used the GSATs correctly approached more challenging questions and performed better on exams than did students who used the GSATs incorrectly. However, the class that experienced the GSAT intervention did not differ significantly on exam scores when compared to a class that did not experience the GSAT intervention. We concluded that GSAT did not improve statistics performance. Confounds which could have limited the results of this study are discussed.

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