The Proximal Item: A New, Domain-Specific Language–Inspired Item Type, Contextualized Within a "Technologically Enhanced" Continuum

• In Event: 45.029 - Technologically Enhanced Items: New Approaches to Assessment Design

Abstract

After establishing a need for new item types that are new in the sense that they have not been seen before in classrooms, and a need for technologically enhanced items that are so termed because they would be largely impossible without technology, i.e., they are not classroom items adapted to large scale testing, this paper goes on to posit a continuum of the affordances of technology as a way to judge the level of “enhancement” that computer-based items possess. A new item type, the proximity item, is introduced, classified, and explained through an example made with a domain specific language designed for educational app development by math teachers for select targeted interventions for their students.

Authors

• Amy R Semerjian, Boston College

• Susan Denese Lauer, Wingate University