Libris Britannia 4/science library(b).zip/science library(b)/MEDICAL/0462A.ZIP/ICES2.ARC/SCREE.HLP

Text File | 1986-02-02 | 13KB | 293 lines

     SEQUENTIAL CRITERION REFERENCED EDUCATIONAL EVALUATION

                 INTRODUCTION TO SCREE TESTING


  The 'Sequential Criterion Referenced Educational Evaluation' or
SCREE  is based upon the use of a very simple and special form of
'test' that is referred to as a SCREE Test.  It is so  very  easy
to  construct  and use that each student can complete and score a
SCREE Test as many times as desired during a  semester  or  other
period of study or training.

  It should be recognized from the outset that a SCREE  Test  has
no  value whatsoever as a basis for rendering a grade or granting
a credential.  Yet, it appears to be a powerful assessment device
that nearly all students appreciate and make good use of once  it
is explained and made available to them.







  The  purpose  for  completing  a  SCREE  Test  on  a regular or
periodic basis is to obtain a set of scores that can  be  plotted
as  a  simple graph to give students information about their rate
of learning during the period of study.  Such simple methods  for
presenting  self-assessed information about the students' rate of
learning provides a powerful basis for students  and  instructors
to  approach  many  important decisions, and some of the benefits
and weaknesses of SCREE Testing will be described later.

  The following screen presents an example of a set of SCREE Test
scores plotted for one student.







SCREE Score     HIS-3401: Introduction to European History

 50 +
    |                                            *       *
    |
 40 +
    |                                     *
    |                             *
 30 +
    |
    |                      *
 20 +
    |
    |              *
 10 +
    |      *
    |
  0 +--^---^---^---^---^---^---^---^---^---^---^---^---^---^---^
       1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9  10  11  12  13  14  15
                          Week of Training



WHAT IS A SCREE TEST?

  A SCREE Test,  as  an  evaluative  tool,  is  the  ultimate  in
simplicity.   It  is  not a traditional test in which the student
demonstrate by the correctness of their responses that they  have
mastered  the  knowledge  or  skills  that are represented by the
items  on  the  test.   Instead,  it  is   a   self-administered,
self-report test that asks students to report their judgements as
to whether they have mastered the knowledge or skills represented
by the items on the test.

  A  SCREE Test is perhaps the 'world's easiest test' because the
student is asked to indicate for  each  item  'Yes,  I  know  the
correct  answer' or 'No, I do not know the correct answer'.  This
is illustrated by a few sample items for a SCREE  Test  that  one
might use, for example, in an introductory statistics course.




 1. Do you know how to compute an arithmetic mean?
 2. Can you compute a standard deviation?
 3. Can you write the formula for the 'variance'?
 4. Can you find the semi-interquartile range?
 5. Can you prepare a frequency polygon?
 6. Do you know when to use an histogram?
 7. Can you define a random variable?
 8. Do you understand the 'central limit theorem'?
 9. Do you know the meaning of 'covariation'?
10. Can you compute the 'covariance'?
11. Can you compute a 'Phi' coefficient?
12. Can you compute a Pearson product moment correlation?
13. Can you prepare a scattergram?
14. Can you use a t-table?
15. Can you compute an F-ratio for a one-way ANOVA?


SCREE TEST UNIQUENESS

  It  is  important  to  recognize  that  each SCREE Test must be
unique to each particular course or body of training.   There  is
no  such  thing  as  'the' SCREE Test.  Rather, a SCREE Test is a
battery of items which is designed to cover the entire  range  of
material  or  content  that  will  be  taught  during  a specific
training period.  It also  can  consist  of  a  series  of  skill
performance  items  which  a  trainer  or  supervisor  rates with
respect to specific  skills  that  are  to  be  mastered  by  the
learner.

  The uniqueness of each SCREE Test  will  become  more  apparent
when  you  examine  the instructions for creating a SCREE Test by
choosing option 'B' in the instructional menu of the program.


BENEFITS OF SCREE TESTING

  The  principal  benefit of developing and using a SCREE Test is
one of providing  students  evaluative  information  about  their
progress  in  a  manner that will help them to adequately prepare
for credential testing.

  A second benefit arises from the fact that use of a SCREE  Test
produces  a  marked  tendency  for  students to render an overall
improved quality of work and level of mastery of the material  to
be covered during the course of study.

  A  third  benefit  is one that arises for both the students and
the instructor.  In order to prepare a SCREE Test, the instructor
must have a very clear idea of the entire scope  of  the  course.
That  is,  the  instructor must know from the outset exactly what
materials are to be presented and which of them the students will
be expected to master.  Thus, preparation of a SCREE  Test  often
serves  as an excellent tool for helping the instructor to design
and plan the entire course.

  The benefit for students is that they can see from the items on
the SCREE Test the precise range of materials they must study and
learn.  Thus, completion of a SCREE  Test  often  gives  students
much  better  information  about  the  course  than does a course
syllabus.

  The instructor can also complete the SCREE Test in order to use
it  as  a  planning  tool.  The instructor can complete the SCREE
Test by scoring as '1' each item that has  been  covered  in  the
course  as  of  the  date  of  testing; items not yet covered are
scored as '0'.   Thus,  the  instructor's  'score'  represents  a
criterion  of  achievement  for  the entire class (hence the term
'criterion  referenced'  in  the  name  of  the   system).    The
instructor's score serves as a quick reference criterion for each
student as to the level of mastery that should have been achieved
as of the date of testing.

  In addition, inspection of the items scored as '0' can serve as
a  quick  planning guide in helping the instructor to decide what
next to cover during the training period or class.

  The  instructor  can  compute the mean SCREE Test score for the
class  and  plot  those  on  a  graph  exactly  like   the   ones
individually  used  by the students.  If the instructor will then
make such a graph available to the students, they can at a glance
determine whether they are below, above, or close to the  overall
performance  of  their  student colleagues.  Such comparisons are
often very useful in helping the students  to  plan  their  study
hours   during  the  next  week.   Moreover,  students  who  find
themselves far below the class as a whole may  be  stimulated  to
seek  help  from  the  instructor  or classmates or to make other
efforts to remedy what appears to be a substandard performance.

  Perhaps  more  important,  the  instructor  can easily identify
those students who should be called  in  for  consultation  about
their work in the course.

  A final benefit is clearly evident for the students.  The SCREE
Test serves as a powerful review and study guide.  For example, a
student might complete an item over several weeks  by  indicating
'Yes,  I  do know the answer to this question' or 'Yes, I do know
how to perform this task'.  Then, on the next  administration  of
the SCREE Test the student might have to respond to the same item
as 'No, I do not know the answer to this question'.

  When that occurs, and it does happen, the student then  has  an
important  cue that he or she needs to review or perhaps re-learn
the content or material that is represented by that item.


LIMITATIONS OF SCREE TESTING

  The principal limitation of using a SCREE Test has already been
mentioned.  Because it is a self-administered,  self-report  test
of knowledge or skill performance it can never be used as a basis
for  assigning  a  grade or awarding any other credential.  It is
useless as a credential testing device.

  The  second  limitation  of  using a SCREE Test consists of the
fact that it does represent  and  additional  imposition  of  the
students  and  the  instructor.   It  takes  time  and  effort to
develop, administer, score, and report the  results  of  a  SCREE
Test.   Many  instructors  and  nearly all students have learned,
however, that the benefits clearly outweigh this limitation.

  If  you  would like written material concerning the SCREE Test,
you may want to consult the following articles.

Hudson, W.  W.  (1981).  'Sequential-Criterion Referenced
  Educational Evaluation: A Student/Teacher Assessment System',
  Journal of Education for Social Work, 17 (1), pp. 53-58.

Corcoran, Kevin J.  (1985).  'Student Self-Assessment as a
  Teaching Tool: A Pilot Study of the Sequential Criterion-
  Referenced Educational Evaluation System,'  Journal of Social
  Work Education, 21 (2), pp. 54-59.



                  CONSTRUCTING A SCREE TEST

  Construction  of a SCREE Test is not difficult, but there are a
few important guidelines that should be followed.   As  indicated
earlier,  any  SCREE  Test  is unique to the particular course or
program of training in which  the  test  will  be  used.   It  is
therefore  essential  that  each instructor create his or her own
SCREE Test.


LENGTH AND SCOPE OF A SCREE TEST

  It  is  not  necessary  to  use  a lengthy SCREE Test but it is
essential that the test  will  contain  enough  items  to  fairly
represent  the  total content of the course.  The use of 20 items
is likely  to  be  an  acceptable  minimum  and  it  is  probably
unnecessary to ever use more than 50 items.  However, you may use
as  many  items  as you like in constructing a SCREE Test for any
course.

  It  is  not  necessary  for a SCREE Test to contain an item for
each and every idea, concept, or technique that  will  be  taught
during  the  course.   The  main idea is to insure that the SCREE
Test items are representative of the course content.   The  major
problem  that  should  be avoided at all cost is the exclusion of
one or more content areas that will definitely be included in the
course of instruction.


WRITING SCREE TEST ITEMS

  The hallmark of a SCREE Test is that none of the items  require
the  students to demonstrate their knowledge or skill through the
'correctness' of their responses.  Each item must be written in a
manner that permits students to self determine whether they  know
the  correct  answer  or  can  perform  the  indicated task.  The
simplest way to do that is to write each item in the  form  of  a
question.   The  item should consist of a question about an idea,
construct, or technique to  which  the  student  can  respond  by
stating:

  'Yes, I know the answer to this question',
  'Yes, I can perform this task',
  'No, I do not know the answer to this question', or
  'No, I cannot perform this task'.


  It is apparent from all the foregoing  discussions  that  SCREE
Test  items  are very different from traditional test items.  For
example, a traditional test item in a history course might  read,
'List  five  major  political  or  social  events that led to the
Crimean war'.  A SCREE Test item covering the same content  might
read,  'Can  you  list five major political or social events that
led to the Crimean war?'

  In an introductory social work course a traditional  test  item
might  read,  'Identify  the  first person who referred to social
work as a profession' or 'List four major reasons for taking  and
recording  social  histories'.   Parallel  SCREE Test items might
read, 'Can you identify the first person who referred  to  social
work  as  a  profession' and 'Can you list four major reasons for
taking and recording social histories?'.

  There's little more that you need to know in order to construct
a  SCREE  Test  for any course or training program.  When you are
ready to construct a SCREE Test you may write out  the  items  in
advance  and  then  enter them using the option in the 'Setup'
menu to create a SREE Test.

Press the space bar to return to the instructional menu.