Student Motivation and Reactions During Low-Stakes Tests for Institutional Accountability: Issues and Potential Solutions

Session Type: Symposium

Abstract

Educational program assessment in higher education is often based on data from low-stakes tests. The quality of scores from low-stakes tests is a function of student effort when completing such tests. In turn, evidence of program quality, in the form of test scores, may be questionable. Four empirical studies address the issue of examinee motivation by 1) examining emotional reactions to accountability tests and their relationship to test-taking effort; 2) summarizing the impact of test-session interventions on test-taking effort and test scores via meta-analysis; 3) assessing the efficacy of a computer-based platform that encourages students to expend effort throughout the test; and 4) investigating an inexpensive behavioral priming invention that can be employed with both computer-based and paper-and-pencil tests.

Sub Unit

• SIG-Measurement and Assessment in Higher Education

Chair

• Sara J. Finney, James Madison University

Papers

• Going Beyond Test-Taking Motivation: Students' Emotional Reactions When Completing Tests for Institutional Accountability Mandates - Paulius Satkus, James Madison University; Sara J. Finney, James Madison University; Beth Perkins, James Madison University

• Improving Test-Taking Effort in Low-Stakes Group-Based Educational Testing: A Meta-Analysis of Interventions - Joseph A. Rios, Educational Testing Service; Ou Lydia Liu, ETS

• The Effects of Administering Alerts at Fixed Points during a Low-Stakes Test - Thai Ong, James Madison University; Dena A. Pastor, James Madison University; David Shengta Yang

• Does It Matter When Examinee Motivation Is Measured? A Moderated Mediation Analysis - Aaron Myers, James Madison University; Sara J. Finney, James Madison University

Discussant

• Natasha Alexis Jankowski, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign