Impact of Item Administration in Writing Thought Process: Determining Group Differences in Keystroke Logging

• In Event: The Use of Process Data in Educational Assessment

Abstract

Keystroke information for four pilot administrations of their computer administered writing assessment was collected for over 900 6th and 8th grade U.S. students across several states. Each administration had important differences in how the passages and other aspects of the item were revealed. This study used multi-dimensional scaling and cluster analysis to determine if differences in administration had any impact on the keystroke data collected. In the end, there was not a significant difference in group administration, and the study suggests that administration type added no predictive qualities to the keystroke logging data nor did it impact writing thought processes.

Authors

• Frank Padellaro, University of Massachusetts - Amherst

• Hongyu Diao, University of Massachusetts - Amherst

• Lisa A. Keller, University of Massachusetts - Amherst