Validating an Immersive Virtual Environment–Based Assessment in Diverse Student Populations Using Traditional Measures of Performance

• In Event: Poster Session 10
  In Poster Session: Learning in Immersive Environments: Science, Statistics, Assessments, and Learner Characteristics

Abstract

Student achievement is typically measured through standardized assessments, which are inequitable to students from different socio-economic and ethnic backgrounds. By contextualizing questions in an authentic context, alternative assessments, such as those situated in immersive virtual environments (IVE), may provide a more equitable assessment for students with varied SES and ethnic backgrounds (Nelson & Ketelhut, 2007). If authentic assessments are to supplement or replace standardized assessment formats, they must be validated; typically, alternative assessments are validated using traditional measures, such as multiple choice scores (Clarke-Midura, Dede, & Norton, 2011). In this study, we investigated how student demographics related to the dominant culture impact success on measures of validity for an alternative assessment designed to minimize differences based on culture.

Authors

• Ashley Coon, University of Maryland

• Kelly Mills, University of Maryland - College Park

• Diane Jass Ketelhut, University of Maryland - College Park

• Xiaoyang Gong, University of Maryland - College Park

• Brian C. Nelson, Arizona State University