Investigating the Impact of an Interactive Diagnostic Assessment Instrument on Classroom Instruction

• In Event: Current Research on the Use of Learning Progressions in Mathematics Formative Assessment: Explorations and Synthesis

Abstract

This paper reports on the specific use of a learning trajectory for equipartitioning (Confrey, Rupp, Maloney, & Nguyen, in review; Confrey et al., 2008) in creating a prototype of an Interactive Diagnostic Assessment System (IDAS) (Confrey et al., 2011) called LPPSync for use in classroom formative assessment. An IDAS is built around the principles of formative assessment (Black & Wiliam, 1998; Heritage, 2010) and is designed to provide teachers and students immediate feedback on student progress through a learning trajectory. An IDAS is grounded in empirical evidence of diagnostic patterns of how students learn. LPPSync is designed to work on smart phones, tablets, and computers and consists of seven packets targeting key constructs in the equipartitioning learning trajectory (sharing collections, sharing single wholes, reallocation, composition of splits, properties of equipartitioning, covariation, and sharing multiple wholes). LPPSync allows students to work with dynamic manipulatives, practice individually or in groups (with social networking and the ability to share), and take formative assessments that are scored in real-time and reported back to teachers via a web-based reporting system.
The underlying cognitive model for LPPSync is a learning trajectory for equipartitioning that was built on extensive literature synthesis and cross-grade clinical interviews (Confrey, 2008; Confrey et al., in review). A paper-and-pencil field test of 116 items spanning the 16 levels of the equipartitioning learning trajectory was conducted and analyzed using Rasch IRT analysis to provide validation. Results showed that children in lower grades performed, on average, lower than children in higher grades and that the average difficulty of items monotonically increased, reflecting the ordering of the proficiency levels. This study provided partial validation of the assessment items but did not explore the use and consequences of using LPPSync within ongoing instructional practice. Hence, this paper will also report on two studies that will be conducted in the summer and fall of 2011. The summer study is a two-week teaching experiment with 15 third-grade students from an inner-city community organization. The students will work with equipartitioning curricular materials and LPPSync will be used to provide formative assessment during the teaching experiment. The fall study will be a half-year study of a third classroom where LPPSync will be used as a formative assessment instrument during regular classroom instruction. Our research team will work closely with the classroom teacher and investigate the impact of LPPSync and its reporting system on classroom instruction.
This research is timely in that it uses current technological innovations in networked technology to administer formative and diagnostic assessments in real time producing data that can be analyzed automatically and reported to teachers. The diagnostic items are generated in generated item environments designed from validated paper-and-pencil assessment items. Although results from the two studies will be preliminary to a larger field test of LPPSync, the results will be of interest to researchers and policy makers who want to measure student growth over time while providing careful instructional guidance to teachers on their students’ progress through a learning trajectory.

Author

• Kenny Huy Nguyen, North Carolina State University