| Placement tests are given to university or college students to help assign them to the proper courses. These examinations are sometimes little-regarded but can be invaluable in advising students and in structuring courses. They are particularly useful in chemistry because of the cumulative nature of the material.;Despite the immediate improvement of the chemistry placement examination, it is believed that the CAT design offers greater depth and more predictive value than any traditional paper-and-pencil examination. This thesis examines obstacles to broad adoption of the CAT format and outlines ways to overcome misconceptions about the CAT design. A working, reduced-scale microcomputer CAT is developed to demonstrate chemistry placement applications of this test design.;;Technological advance has made a new type of placement examination possible. This is the computerized adaptive test (CAT). This thesis lays the ground-work for the eventual installation of CAT placement in chemistry both at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) and in the wider national arena. It includes: (1)~A telephone survey of 50 diverse U.S. universities and colleges to explore the current status of placement testing in chemistry nationally. (2)~A study of the chemistry placement practices at UIC. This includes the evaluation of the pre-existing placement examination to determine its congruence with accepted standards of test construction, and revision of the examination (placed into use in March, 1987). In addition, a follow-up study of the revised placement examination was conducted through an item analysis. (3)~A reduced-scale CAT placement examination (based on a hierarchical flow chart for the chemistry placement examination) to demonstrate the CAT format. Some salient observations can be given here: (1)~Placement examinations are not even in use in about two-thirds of the survey group. When used, they tend to stay in use without revision for many years. (2)~About a third of the items on the UIC chemistry placement examination required replacement; another third required some revision. The order of test items was undesirable. (3)~Greater uniformity in the revised test's construction was evident in the increased average item difficulty factor, increased average item correlation value, and increased student success rate. |
