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Abstract Title: Comparing item response curves of matched pre-/post-FCI respondents
Abstract: We use a quantitative measure to compare item response curves of matched pre-/post-instruction Force Concept Inventory data.  The approach makes use of treating an item response curve as an N-dimensional vector where N is the number of possible scores (i.e., N=31 for the FCI).  The approach thus enables a comparison of the same item response curves for two populations by taking a dot product.  The value of a weighted and normalized dot product provides a measure of how close the pre-instruction and post-instruction item response curves are to each other.  While we focus our attention on one particular item on the Force Concept Inventory, we find for items that have an answer choice functioning as a distractor that the pre-instruction and post-instruction item response curves are at times substantially different.
Abstract Type: Contributed Poster Presentation
Session Time: Poster Session II
Poster Number: 2.F4

Author/Organizer Information

Primary Contact: Paul J. Walter
St. Edward's University
Austin, TX 78704
Phone: 512-364-3158