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Chapter 1 - Assessment Systems Corporation

1. Script Westem which is accessed from the button or by selecting Font on the Format menu After you specify your font preferences open the Format menu and select Set Current Font as Default Format Insert Tools Font Paragraph Ruler i Set Current Font 43 Default w Use Default Font for New Items Click the Use Default Font for New Items entry to place a check next to it All new items created will then start out using this default font configuration for the item text It is recommended that the same font and paragraph settings be used for all items that may appear in a single test otherwise reformatting will be required to get the printed test to appear in a uniform font Checking spelling The Item Editor includes a spelling checker and tools to create your own spell check dictionaries or to select one or more operational dictionaries The spell checker can be v run from the button in the Item Editor or from the Tools pulldown menu See below for detailed information on using the spell checker _ 30 Chapter 2 Item Banking Adding Graphics to Your Items Your test items can include graphic images pictures as well as text FastTEST allows you to insert JPEG Image Files JPG and JPEG extensions Bitmaps BMP Icons ICO Enhanced Metafiles EMF and Windows Metafiles WMF Graphics in FastTEST are in line graphics 1 e they function as paragraphs To insert a graphic
2. 74 ogl Intro MsmtiRelability CA FastTEsT Pro 2 0 Dave s Banks and Tests fdb Index vs coefficient compare Multiple Choice True 2 3 Parameter a 80 Chapter 3 Assembling Tests This report is in RTF format with each item separated by a line of asterisks Use the Print or Save options on the File menu to save and or print the report You can use this report to obtain a listing of information in the item fields for portions of your item bank by creating a temporary test with those items obtaining this report for the fields that you desire then deleting the test To easily create a test with whole sections of your item bank 1 use the Search for Items option under Items on the Navigation Panel 2 in the search window select the portions of the bank that you want in your report and 3 check All Items Within Selected Folders Copying Tests to a Different Workspace If you create a test in one workspace and want to move it to another use the Export Import options on the Workspace menu i fa FastTEST Testing System or Workspaces File Workspace Banks Items Workspaces Close Workspace Export Bank Change Password gt Sorel EE Import Bank Import Bank Esport Test Import Test Import Test from the Workspaces section of the Navigation Panel First select Export and the test you want to export Then save the exported file in a folder you select Next open the ne
3. Test Description Final Exam for Measurement Fall 2003 H Start a 3J Exploring C Fas gt Daily FastTEST Te W7 Microsoft Word W 8 23PM Sr untitled Paint Norton Antivirus Rep ae Pa ie The lower panel of the Test Assembler Window is the Item Preview Panel that again allows you to view all the information on your items including the text in the context of the test you have created You move through the test by selecting items in the test list or by using the green arrows at the top of the Preview Panel To delete an item from the test select the item in the top panel and click the red minus sign 4 at the top 58 Chapter 3 Assembling Tests of the Preview Panel Items and item information can be edited while you are in the Test Assembler Open an item by double clicking its identifier or description You can also easily add to your test all the items in a selected category of the item bank After selecting the category open the Items pulldown menu and select either Select All or Select All Excluding Items in Test The items will be selected as shown by the highlight Then click the green sign at the top of the Item Preview Panel to add the items to your test If you Select All and one or more items is already in the test a dialog box will inform you of potential duplicate items and give you the opportunity to include or exclude the duplicate items You
4. Choose the data type that best describes your data f Delimited Characters commas tabs etc separate each field C Fired Width Fields are aligned in columns Start Import at Aow fi Data Preview 5 0 364 0 793 26 0 202 0 945 73 0 208 0 910 22 0 016 0 973 49 0 550 0 700 23 0 041 0 935 6 Ual O 850 nl Cancel Previous Next Emer In Figure 2 18 the Wizard correctly determined that the file was a CSV file with commas separating the numerical entries Such a file might have been exported from statistical software or a spreadsheet using an item analysis program such as Lertap If your file was not correctly identified by the Wizard you can of course select the appropriate file type Data in Columns If the Wizard does not find any delimiters it will suggest that the data are approximately in columns and show a screen like Figure 2 19 note that the data in this 44 Chapter 2 Item Banking example could have been imported as a space delimited file but for purposes of the example it has been treated as data that are approximately in columns Figure 2 19 Step 1 of the Item Import Wizard for Files with Data in Columns Import Statistics Wizard Step 1 of 4 Choose Data Type Import Data Type Choose the data type that best describes your data f Delimited Characters cormmas tabs etc separate each field f Fired Width Fields are aligned in columns Start Impor
5. TJ DEMOMULT JJM RCS In this example the workspace will be stored in the FT2Share folder on the M drive It will then be accessible to anyone on the network that has access to that drive and knows the password for that workspace To access the workspace from any workstation for the first time the local user must use the More files option in the workspace window to locate the drive and folder in which the workspace has been stored Once the workspace has been opened in this manner on a given workstation the workspace will then be listed among available workspaces and its path will be displayed FastTEST 2 0 Manual Page 13 FastT EST Test Development System Workspaces A workspace is where you keep your tem banks and tests 4A workspace can be used for a project a department a course an individual user or a group of users Each workspace can have multiple item banks and multiple tests created from those banks Each workspace can also have its own password To create a new workspace select New or select an existing workspace Workspace C New Workspace f Open Existing Workspace i ore Files Emi ren ers iC paces Dave s Banks and Tests i a ri ape Dave s Banks and Tests fdb a x Cancel If a workspace has been developed on a workstation but not on a network drive it can be shared on the network by moving it to a network drive Once moved it can then initially be accessed from any workstation
6. 3 will search the entire Intro Msmt bank and select all items with keywords of essay that were authored by djw the date will not be searched because it is not checked s62 x Chapter 3 Assembling Tests Figure 3 3 An Example Search for Items Folders to search CO All items Within Selected Folders Entire Workspace M Cancel eee ene ee C item With the Following Unique ID f items Matching the Following Criteria ltem Identifier ee Inst Const Classical meth Empirical cal IRT CAT Seine Keywords We essay Likert ae Pair comparis Description 5 Types of inst r bility Author e ci personality Reliability S OUNCE Generalizabil Internal consis Date Created between E Bf 5 03 and Bf 5 03 Inclusive Methods sali cc lterm T otal Correlations betweerr E 0 00 and 0 00 inclusive pha oat P Value between E 0 00 and 0 00 inclusive See IAT a parameter discrimination between 7 0 00 and 0 00 inclusive Correl None IAT b parameter difficulty between E 0 00 and 0 00 Inclusive Theories l l Domain s IAT c parameter guessing between E 0 00 and 0 00 inclusive IFT Parallell te Max item info falls between theta of E 0 00 and 0 00 Inclusive inter rater u Maximum item information values between 7 0 00 and 0 00 inclusive tabilty all User 1 between 0 00 and 0 00 inclusive W Include subfolders User 2 between E 0 00 and 0 00 Inclusive
7. User s Manual for FastTEST 2 0 Item Banking and Test Development System Assessment Systems Corporation a www assess com Contact Information Assessment Systems Corporation 2233 University Avenue Suite 200 St Paul Minnesota 55114 Voice 651 647 9220 Fax 651 647 0412 E Mail support assess com www assess com Table of Contents To view the Table of Contents for this manual select the Bookmark tab on the left side of the Acrobat window The bookmark entries are hyperlinks that will take you directly to any section of the manual that you select License Unless you have purchased multiple licenses for FastTEST 2 your license is a single user license You may install FastTEST 2 on a single computer and one additional computer provided that there is no possibility that both copies will be in use simultaneously Technical Assistance If you need technical assistance using FastTEST 2 please visit the Support section of our Web site www assess com If the answer to your question is not posted please email us at support assess com Technical assistance for FastTEST 2 is provided for as long as you maintain the then current version Please provide us with the invoice number for your license purchase when you request technical assistance Citation Weiss D J 2010 User s Manual for FastTEST 2 0 St Paul MN Assessment Systems Corporation No part of this publication may be reproduced stored i
8. and vertical line I If used in the bank path the forward slash will be replaced with a backslash o Leading spaces are also not allowed and will be removed o Ordinarily the colon can be used in a bank or folder name However because the ID separator uses the colon to separate the Bank Path from the Item Identifier do not use the colon in the bank path because anything beyond the colon will be considered to be the Item Identifier If the bank path that you provide already exists in the workspace that you import to that bank path will be used Otherwise the bank path will be created e If the Item Identifier provided already exists in the workspace it will not be overwritten but a new item will be created with the same name The Begin and End Text Separators The second required separator lines identify the text of each item Because the Item Text field will likely contain more than one line of text two separators are needed These separator lines enclose the text of each item The required format beginning in column 1 is the Begin Text separator BT This marks the beginning of the item text and ET When the item text is complete use the End Text separator Place the End Text separator on a separate line following the item text Any blank lines between the Begin Text and End Text separators will be included in the Item Text field Do not place any separator or information lines used by this im
9. 05 intervals from 0 3 0 to O 3 0 The files for these two functions are space delimited text files that are easily imported into spreadsheets and other graphics software 36 Chapter 2 Item Banking Figure 2 14 The Item Statistics Tab of an Open Item with the Item Response Function Displayed fA FastTEST Item Editor Intro Msmt Inst Const Notes Tab The Notes tab is a large open window in which you can keep any additional information you want about an item In the example in Figure 2 15 the Notes tab includes information about when the item was last used since in this case the test that used that item was not assembled in FastTEST 2 This item was a short answer item so a sample answer is also stored in the Notes tab Limited editing capability is provided copy cut paste and undo to facilitate use of the information stored in Notes Font formatting capability is also provided The Notes tab is not searchable 207 lt Chapter 2 Item Banking Figure 2 15 The Notes Tab of an Open Item with Prior Usage Information and a Sample Answer FastTEST Item Editor Intro Msmt ReliabilityS ltem View SKC oo ees Identifier Text Information Statistics Notes A te Used F 99 The reliability coefficient is the proportion of observed score variance that is accounted for by true score variance It can be computed by a number of different formulas each of which computes the error variance in a diffe
10. If the Item Type information line is not provided not one of the above or otherwise cannot be interpreted the default value will be used 98 Appendix A Importing Items Default Value MC Score Item The Score Item information line 1s SC Place the following characters after the equals sign Y or y for Yes or N or n for No Example SC Y The Free Response and Instructional Item Types are not allow to be scored so providing any value other than N or n will cause it to be rejected If the Score Item information line is not provided not one of the above incorrectly specified for that Item Type or otherwise invalid the default value will be used Default Value by Item Type MC Y MR Y TF Y FR N IN N SU Y Number of Answers The Number of Answers information line 1s NA Place a single number character after the equals sign The Free Response and Instructional Item Types do not allow for any answers so providing any value will cause it to be rejected The True False Item Type allows for only 2 answers any other value will be rejected Multiple Choice Multiple Response and Survey Item Types must be in the range of 2 to 9 If the Number of Answers information line is not provided not a single digit number incorrectly specified for that Item Type or otherwise invalid the default value will be used Default Value by Item Type MC 4 MR 4 TE 2 FR 0 99 Appendix A Importing
11. Item Ban ker r T a dis E timination CCT v m Intro Ms rit ine to Fa IRT vs CTT ea O03 emprical vs homogen Intra Marnthlnet be Oe 004 CAT vs conventional Intro Mamt iInst 6 20 02 O06 IRT vs CTT Intro Msrothlnst B1302 006 IRT vs CTT Intro MamtsInst BT S702 IRT CTT coring ma Intro herothinst B02 Intra Memothnst columns for the Item Identifier Item Description Bank Path and Dat reated An additional field can be made visible by grabbing the last column separator on the right with the mouse and moving it further right This column then displays a unique item identification number within the FastTEST database than can be used to quickly locate and display an item using FastTEST s extensive search capabilities Moving and Copying Items Items created in one section of a bank can easily be copied or moved to any other section of the same bank or to any section of any other bank in the same workspace To move an item select the item with the mouse and hold down the left button Then drag the item to its new location in any bank that is active in the Banks Panel of the Main Screen After moving an item you might want to make sure that its Item Identifier is unique in the new location in your bank since an identifier you used in one part of the bank might already exist in the new section of the bank into which the item has been moved If the Item Identifier is a duplicate simply chan
12. Save Graphic Test Information Function Test Name Max Info Test 10 items Workspace C FastTEST Version 2 0Dave s Banks and Tests fdb Information This search identified 10 items that had their maximum information between 0 of 1 25 and 1 75 You might want to restrict your item search to only items that provide a minimum amount of information within a specified range of 0 to see if there is a smaller number of items that provides almost the same information function This would be equivalent to selecting items that have a difficulty in the specified range of O and that have high discriminations a Table 3 1 shows the maximum information values associated with the given values of the IRT discrimination parameter these values are lower for the given levels of a if the c parameter is greater than 0 0 68 Chapter 3 Assembling Tests Table 3 1 Values of Maximum Information for Various Values of the a Parameter Assuming c 0 0 pe a Parameter Information The following search would in effect select items with their difficulties in a range of 25 0 units around 9 1 50 and discriminations above about 1 5 Max item info falls between theta of a 1 25 and 1 75 inclusive Masimurn item information values between W 1 62 and r00 inclusive thus selecting the subset of items that provide maximum information in the specified range of 9 Figure 3 8 shows the resulting test information for the six items that m
13. To save your test as an RTF file select _ 87 Chapter 4 Printing Tests E Fast TEST Test Formatter Fi File Edit Mew Reformat Test Save o External File Print Ctrl F Print Preview Fage Setup Close from the File menu in the Test Formatter window You will also be offered the opportunity to save your test as an external file if you select Reformat Test from this menu or select the Format Printed Test button E mE l Format Printed Test in either the Test Formatter or the Test Assembler If you do not save your test to an external file the formatting changes that you made in the Test Formatter will be lost and the formatted test will be refreshed with the items as they are in the database It 1s therefore a good idea to be consistent with the fonts and paragraph settings in an item bank so that a limited amount of changes will need to be made in the Test Formatter to create a printed test with a consistent appearance It is not necessary for you to save the test as an external file unless you want to further format it in your word processor or keep it in electronic form for other purposes If you then further format the test in your word processor note that it is not a good idea to change the text of the items since the items in your test will then be different items than the items in your bank Protecting Locking a Test FastTEST provides an option for you to protect or lock or finalize a test Th
14. View oS ln Identifier Text Information Statistics Notes ltem Identifier ooz Description IAT vs CTT Keywords compare essay 12 Tests In Which Item Is Used Date Added Final Exam F OS Final Exam for Measurement Fall 2003 925 02 False 14 B60 Max Info 4 Max Info Test With Minimum Info 5715 03 False 515 03 Max Info Test 3 Test Based on Maximum Information Search BT 5 05 False 2 R 15 03 New Test Sample new test 4 75 05 False 2 4 15 03 p aUe e a auae e Oe Item Text The Text tab holds the text of your items FastTEST s text editor is a standard Windows word processing editor with the functions you need to create items with whatever format you desire When you create a test from your items they will appear exactly as they are entered including all special characters formatting and graphics All of the buttons on the Item Editor s toolbar control standard editing functions and each has an explanation attached to it that can be accessed by pointing at the button Many of the same functions are available through the pulldown menus 28 Chapter 2 Item Banking You can of course enter and format your text directly in FastTEST s Item Editor You can also import text from RTF files created by another application by selecting Import from the File menu opening the Insert menu and selecting File or by selecting the button You can also copy and paste item text through the Windows clipboard To sav
15. validity true score define Hoyt vs Cronbach factors affecting kinds of parallel tests Spearman Browr define Hoyt versus Cronbach eror term methods Hoyt error G coefficient WNIVerse score love O study factors affecting reliability Bank Path Intro Msrot Reliability Intro Msrot Reliability Intro MamthAehability nternal Intro Msrot Relability nterrial Intro Mernot Aelability nterrial Intro Merot Relability nterrial Intro MamtyAehability nternal Intro Msrot Relability nterrial Intro Merot Relability nterrial Intro MamtyAehability nternal Intro Msroit Aelability terra Intro Merot Aelability nterrial Intro Merot Relability nterrial Intro MamtyAehability s nternal Intro Memt R elability lntermal Intro Merot Relability Genera Intro Mamt Aehability Genera Intro Memt R elability Genera Intro Memt A elability Proble Found 62 ttem s that match search criteria Selecting Items by Searching You can also select items for your test by having FastTEST search your item banks for Date Created bf 20 02 Bragh 6 1202 6718 02 Brag Dz 6720 02 Brag Dz Brrr iz Ergi B41 3 02 B 13 02 Brag Dz 6713702 672002 b 24 02 bf fee B41 3 02 B 20 02 B 13 02 items meeting criteria that you specify You can access the search criteria screen by selecting Search for Items from the Items menu or from the Navigation Panel Items options F
16. FastTEST s Navigation Panel This allows you to access Workspaces Item Banks Items Tests and Utilities Other panels FastTEST 2 0 Manual Page 8 open on the Main Window for performing different functions in FastTEST All panels are sizable within limits and the Main Window is always accessible from the View menu at the top of any window by selecting Item Banker or Test Assembler or by using one of these buttons Ea FastTEST File Workspaces Workspaces are where you keep your banks tests and items You can have as many workspaces as you like You can create separate workspaces for different users different projects different classes or different applications And for security purposes you can have a separate password on each workspace How you define your workspaces is entirely up to you In creating your workspaces keep in mind that you can freely move items across banks within a workspace and move entire sections of banks categories and or subcategories both within and between banks So if you have related banks you might want to keep them in a common workspace in case you decide to transfer items or item sets among those banks You will also want to keep banks together within a workspace if you plan to draw items from those banks to put into the same test or tests If you later determine that you want to move item banks or tests that you have created from those banks between workspaces export import utilities ar
17. Item After selecting an existing item in the Item List you can open it for editing in any of four ways 1 Double click on the item identifier in the Item List 2 Select Edit Item from the Items menu 3 Select Edit Item from the Navigation Panel 4 Click the button in the toolbar of the Item Preview Panel Note that FastTEST has an option for protecting or locking tests and their items The purpose of this option to is ensure that a final version of a test cannot be changed including all of the items in the test This protects the future integrity of the test and its items If an item is locked the phrase Item Protected appears when the item is opened fa FastTEST Item Editor Intro Msmt ReliabilityS tema consis 003 ltem Whew lt 4 lt zK HEH E tem Protected Identifier Text Information Statistics Notes ltem Identifier jong Description SEM limitations and interpretation Keywords Jessay 10 When a test is protected all of the items in that test are also protected from further substantive changes That is the text of the item cannot be changed but changes can be 296 Chapter 2 Item Banking made to character and paragraph formatting and blank lines can be added and deleted using the following two buttons on the toolbar of the Text Tab of the Item Editor To make a substantive change to a protected locked item so that you can use a modificatio
18. Items IN O SU 4 Keyed Answer The Keyed Correct Answer information line is KA Keyed answers are not allowable for the Free Response Instructional and Survey Item Types A single value is allowed for the Multiple Choice and True False Item Types The Multiple Response Item Type allows for multiple keyed answers For Numeric answers place a single number between the range of 1 to number of answers following the equals sign For example if NA 4 for that particular item the KA value must be between 1 and 4 inclusive KA 3 would be acceptable KA 6 would be outside of the acceptable range For Alphabetic answers place a single letter between the range of A to the letter of the alphabet corresponding to the number of answers following the equals sign For example if NA 4 for that particular item the KA value must be between A and D inclusive D being the fourth letter of the alphabet KA C would be acceptable KA F would be outside of the acceptable range For the Multiple Response Item Type you may provide more than one correct answer Place the string of acceptable answers separated by commas or spaces following the equal sign As before the values must be in the range of 1 to the number of answers for numeric answers or between A and the letter of the alphabet corresponding to the number of answers for alphabetic answers Values outside of the acceptable range will be i
19. Likert Pair comparis Types of inst ability Author personality Reliability SOLUCE Generalizabil Internal consis Date Created between E 4 29 03 49 03 Inclusive Methods seis CE ltem T otal Correlations between E 0 00 0 00 Inclusive pha ANDY om 0 00 inclusi KP Me P value between E i inclusive ies IRAT a parameter discrimination between M 0 00 0 00 Inclusive Correl sone IAT b parameter difficulty between 0 00 0 00 inclusive Theories Domain zz IAT c parameter guessing between E 0 00 0 00 inclusive IFT Farallell te Max item info falls between theta of 0 00 0 00 inclusive inter rater Problems Mavinnum item information values between 0 00 0 00 inclusive Stability d User between E 0 00 0 00 inclusive T Include subfolders User 2 between 0 00 0 00 inclusive keywords Description Item searches are described in more detail in Chapter 3 Importing Item Statistics Item statistics output from item analysis software can easily be imported into Fast TEST using the Item Statistics Import Wizard from a variety of file formats including space delimited files comma separated values CSV files tab separated values files and files with semicolon separators Item statistics files with data that are in fixed width columns can also be easily imported Your item statistics file can include any combination of classical item statistics proportion correct and item total biseria
20. RTF file and then import each item s RTF file directly into an open FastTEST item by using the following button on the Item Editor toolbar Importing Multiple Items From a Word Processor or Text File If you have a large number of items in one or more word processor or text files it would be quickest to use FastTEST s Item Text Import Utility The Item Text Import Utility will import RTF files saved from a word processor and ASCII text files into FastTEST 2 item banks Item text and optionally other data is entered by the import program into the appropriate location in your item banks If the bank structure already exists items will be placed in the appropriate locations in the structure If the bank structure or elements of it does not exist the import program will create the item bank structure required The Item Text Import Utility is accessed from the Utilities menu Utilities View Statistics License H Compact Database Import Old FastTEST Bank Import Old FastTEST Tests Utiliti Import Multiple Items From File sE Make Custom Dictionary or from the Utilities section of the Navigation Panel To import your items the import utility must know where each item begins and ends and where the next item begins It also lets you specify where you want each item placed in your bank structure both the name of the bank and each item s location in the subcategories of your bank The import program also g
21. Statistics License New Test Open Test Close Test Add Test to Current Test Delete Test Save Test Ag Delete ltem From Test Edit Test Properties Scramble Test hems Update est Protect Test Format Printed Test Preview Printed Test Printed Test Options PrintSave Test List Print Save Selected Fields For Test The following field selection window will then open allowing you to easily select all the fields for the items in your test or any subset that you desire Note that in most cases you will likely want to include at least the Item Identifier field to identify your item and possibly the Bank Path and Workspace fields as well _ 79 Chapter 3 Assembling Tests Choose Fields For Items Report lf Select All Fields 4 Unique ID ltem Identifier Bank Path 4 al xl workspace x Description x Keywords Author Source Date Created a 1 ft ltem Response ltem Scored x Number of Answers z Corect Anawe IRT Model 4 xl IAT Parameters q Max Info xl ltem Total Correlation User 1 User 2 lt i a Notes ltem Test x Cancel x After you select OK in this window a report like the following will open in a new window A ltem Report File Unique ID Item Identifier Item Path Workspace Description Keywords Item Response Item Scored Number of Answers Correct Answer IRT Model
22. a a a a aa 90 Compactimne Databases scscossecsscissavscevscanssccad wccovectvssesdaededesbaasececbaswaceasetseceusecsacesasevedavsaeseseaseevars 90 Importing FastTEST Item Banks from Earlier Versions of Fast TEST ccccccccssssees 90 Importing FastTEST Tests from Earlier Versions of FastTEST cccccccccccsssseseeees 91 Appendix A Preparing Your File With Item Text for TMmpor ting cccccccccccscsssccceeees 92 KR GGUITER Separators cerniere aain EE E aa 93 Th Item Identifier Separator essers er re E EEEE a E r 93 Whe Be ein and End Text Sepia OS a a a A S wal N A 94 Additional Optional Lines of Information eesosssssscecccccsssscecococcssssecoccossssececosossssssecesssso 96 EEE AEA EEEE EE A EAE T E ETE AEA N AEA AAE A AAA AE AT EAE TAT TP 96 O Satara a taaeadeces ane wants taka cenit sete ce ca seaa wate cata rence anid sce cae ema eee nad Ace tuasuaaes 97 SOUE Sashes sate closeted pe seeet E E catredenseucentee 97 Ble Keluie ale lameeneeeevene rrr me ret E rn VER e Te yetyecnn vane rier ern ene eee Tat ees nr eer rn cent st cere ere Conn reer 97 E Ake 06 eer ee ntnnee tees eratet on rman menee eter eater Traber nr manta a erne Te yene Te mene ter Verse ea tee err Loney Ter anTe en wen ee ree er 97 DAC AG eae Ooh ctor te EEE A ate de ome E EEE E E EI E PE T A AE EE E EE EE nodes E N 98 EE eaa a a a a E 98 EEA S a ETT E E E SEERE E EEA EE EE ET E AE EE EN socio EE A EE EEEE ET E 99 NUD OFANS WEIS enera a
23. between items E 4newer Kep Additional Fields W Bank Path M Item s Unique ID M Output Key File lt testname gt fky for use with analysis programs Kevtile Directory Footer Page lt PFAGE of lt PAGETOTALH lt TESTNAME gt lt TESTOATE FAGE H lt PAGETOTALH lt DATE gt lt TIME Alignmen C Let Center Right A Choose Font x Cancel The settings in this window are universal and will affect all printed tests until you change them This window allows you to select the entries you want to have in your headers and footers TESTNAME TESTDATE etc and to place whatever text you want to use between or in place of these entries The buttons below the initially blank header and footer boxes insert the indicated variable entries in the header footer at the current cursor position The variable entries will be replaced with the appropriate information when the printed test is formatted You can add blank spaces and or text between or in place of these entries In the example in Figure 4 1 the lt TESTNAME gt button was selected for the header Midsemester Exam was entered and the lt Date gt button was selected with appropriate spacing added between these entries Then the entire header was designated to be centered on the page by selecting Center for the header in the Alignment options The _ BA Chapter 4 Printing Tests footer resulting from the options in Figure 4 1 wi
24. for that item You accomplish this by clicking on the button above each column of data and selecting from the pull down list that appears the descriptor that is appropriate for each column of data in your import file In the example in Figure 2 22 the first column of the data file includes the unique identifier for each item so UniquelID is selected for that column edie Chapter 2 Item Banking Figure 2 22 Assigning Field Names to Your Import Data in Step 3 of the Item Statistics Import Wizard Import Statistics Wizard Step 3 of 4 Assign the fields in your data file to the matching fields in FastTEST 2 Click on the button below the Field Humber and choose the corect field name to match to The Unique Identifier field must be chosen for one of the fields in your data file When done click the Next button Field 1 Field 2 Field 3 Field 4 Field 5 Field 6 Field 7 Field 5 none anane Hone gnane ane orate lt hOrie none IRT IR T b IR T c ltraT torr P value User 1 User 2 Cancel Previous Repeat this process for the remainder of the fields in your data file The only constraints in this process are 1 there must be a unique ID for each import file and 2 each type of field can be selected only once If the file includes extraneous columns of information these columns can be skipped by leaving them identified as lt none gt The result for this data file
25. item That string appears to the right of the Add button To insert a string of multiple special characters continue selecting characters from the selected font and adding them to the string until you have completed the string you want to insert In the example above seven characters were selected When you have completed the string select OK and string of characters will be inserted into your item at the current cursor location Once the characters are inserted into your item they can be formatted and edited like any other characters to meet your needs Information Tab The Information tab Figure 2 11 allows you to enter the item s Author and Source Author is limited to 40 characters and Source is limited to 80 characters The Date that the item was originally created is supplied by FastTEST its format depends on the date format settings in Windows All three of these fields are searchable either in the Item Editor or the Test Assembler The Information tab also is where you specify the type of item response whether the item is to be scored the number of answers to the item the correct or keyed answers and whether the answer is alphabetic A B C or numeric 1 2 3 Multiple choice multiple response and survey items can have up to 9 responses A multiple choice item requires a single response and has only one correct answer a multiple response item can meer Chapter 2 Item Banking have more than one response and
26. of items is shown in the upper panel of the Test Assembler Window FastTEST Testing System Yersion 2 0 Dave s Banks and Tests Fie Workspace Banks Items Tests Utilities View Statistics Help Saak egr Item Banks Test Assembler Final Exam F 03 CoE ae ES eee E E ate Added O03 vs D study Intro Msmt Reliability Generalizabils 10 1 02 Mann and Variance SAMPLESSTATISTICSSDESCRIPTIYVES 12 26 02 3 002 error term methods Intro Msmt Reliability Internal consis Methods Inter 10 1 02 4 004 test information Intro Msmt Inst Const IRT 10 9 02 I 5 008 IRT CTT homogeneous unidimensional validity Intro Msmt Inst Const 9 26 02 6 DESCO5 mean calculation SAMPLESSTATISTICS DESCRIPTIVES 12 26 02 rote Fi 001 kinds of parallel tests Intro Msmt Reliability Internal consis Theories Paral 10 9 02 8 001 problems with ability type variables Intro Msmt Inst Const Types of instability 10 29 02 R 9 011 empirical vs homgeneous validity Intro Msmt Inst Const 9 26 02 10 005 IRT vs CTT Intro Msmt Inst Const 9 26 02 11 001 Rasch Intro Msmt Inst Const IRT 10 9 02 Open Test 12 001 G coefficient Intro Msmt Reliability Generalizabil 12 19 02 N 13 001 true score validity Intro Msmt Reliability nternal consis Theories 10 9 02 x M ovoant vee eA DEH Ge Poet Fei Identifier Text Information Statistics Notes ltemidentiie 003 Description G vs D study Keywords compare
27. open the Insert menu and select Image or select the Insert Picture button from the Item Editor toolbar When you select your file you will see a preview of the graphic to help insure that you have selected the correct file Insert Picture Look ir E FastTEST 2 0 ca at item 001 brop J Tests Shortcut to FastTEST 2 0 _ Workspaces a Test assembler bmp graphic bmp a graphic bmp Mi ltem banklser window bmp File name itemO01 brm Files of type All pg jpeg bmp ica em wmf Cancel You can see a larger version of your picture by selecting the amp button in the upper right hand corner of this window After you have inserted a picture into your item right clicking on the picture gives you the following options Copy Alignment d Edit Picture ae Chapter 2 Item Banking To make a copy of the picture select Copy Then place the cursor where you want it in the same item or in another item and press Ctrl and V simultaneously on the keyboard If you select Alignment you will be given the choice of Centered or Baseline Selecting Edit Picture opens the following window Original 35 557 pimels Informatic Intro MlsrmtiF Workspace C FastTEstT 211 a 100 b fae 557 W Maintain Aspect Ratio a oF T E D L cL ff OF Using the options on this window you can resize your picture or select a new picture Inserting Special Characters Fas
28. question Would you like to unlock FastTEST now This screen can also be reached by opening the License menu and selecting Unlock when FastTEST is running FastTEST 2 0 Manual Page 1 From the following screen you will need to send the two blue Computer ID and Session ID numbers To unlock FastTEST 2 0 e mail the blue codes below along with payment information to Salesa assess com or fax to 651 647 0412 When you receive a reply re open this window and carefully enter the unlock code in the box below and click OR Computer ID 2842825 Session ID 306376137 Copy ID s to Clipboard Unlock Code x Cancel For your convenience click on the Copy ID s to Clipboard button This will copy both IDs to the Windows clipboard along with a brief message and the e mail address to which to send your payment information This can then be pasted into an e mail message filled in and sent to sales assess com If you have already paid for your FastTEST license please send your invoice number and customer number in your email message When we receive these codes from you we will respond with a numeric Unlock Code that you will need to enter into this same window from which you obtained your IDs FastTEST 2 0 should be run in administrator mode while entering the Unlock Code Otherwise the program may not fully unlock There are two different methods for this To run FastTEST 2 0 as Administrator Windows XP
29. to obtain the information that you want Once you have created a test with the appropriate portions of an item bank if you have IRT item parameters for that test you can also then examine the information and response functions for those portions of a bank 76 Chapter 3 Assembling Tests Reordering the Items in Your Test and Creating Alternate Forms There are two ways to reorder the items in your test randomly and manually Either method can be used to make scrambled alternate forms of a test When assembling a test the items that you add and delete are automatically saved in the database as you add or delete them When scrambling or reordering test items however you must manually update the test After you have the items in the order you want them for one form of the test save that test under another name of your choice e g My Test Form B To do this from the Tests menu select Save Test As Then reorder the items by either method and update the test Repeat this process as many times as you like for any test to create any number of scrambled alternate forms You can then later open these tests format and print them and optionally save them as RTF files see Chapter 4 To randomly scramble the item order for a test from the Tests menu select Scramble Test Items This will result in a randomly scrambled reordering of your test items To manually reorder your test items select an item in the upper pa
30. using the more files option as described above After accessing the workspace initially in this manner it will then be listed along with its path as an Existing Workspace and can be selected directly Moving Item Banks and Tests Between Workspaces FastTEST provides a way to move item banks and tests from one workspace to another thus allowing you to restructure your workspaces relatively easily This process uses an Export Import procedure to make a copy of the bank or test first writing the contents of the bank test into a temporary file then reading that file and writing its contents into the new workspace Moving an Item Bank To move an item bank open the Workspace pulldown menu and select Export Bank Or select Export Bank from the Navigation Panel Then select the name of the bank that you want to move to anew workspace You will then be asked to provide a folder and name for the exported item bank The file will then be written in the designated folder with the extension BEX FastTEST 2 0 Manual Page 14 To import that bank into a new workspace open the workspace into which you want to move the bank Then select Import Bank from the Workspace menu or Import Bank from the Navigation Panel A message will inform you when the import is complete Finally if you do not want to have the bank in two different workspaces when you are sure that the bank has been properly and completely copied to the new workspac
31. 1 Oo ve O 4700 Oo 5400 2 0000 1 2500 O 2000 O 35 0 55 soe 0 85100 0 4700 1 5000 0 0250 0 1700 O 12 0 76 bla GE 0 2200 Oo 4700 1 0000 1 2500 O 1s00 O 76 0 67 O51 oO 4700 O 4400 5000 1 7500 0 2100 0 62 0 26 3 02 0 5100 0 5500 1 5000 1 2900 O 1600 0 87 0 77S 1 20 0 6500 O 4600 1 0000 1 0000 0 4000 0 37 0 73 0 33 0 7l0 0 3400 1 0000 1 4400 0 0000 0 63 0 36 Oa Fz O 4700 O 2200 1 6600 1 3300 oO 1000 O 56 0 65 1 64 oO 3700 Oo 5400 3000 2200 0 z200 0 72 G22 ZEL oO 7400 o 4700 1 5000 1 2700 0 1700 0 47 Oo v4 i lage a 0 85100 Oo 5600 1 0000 1 6000 0 18500 0 65 0 56 0 51 0 2700 O 6100 1100 1 2100 0 2100 0 77 0 66 2 15 0 1750 0 4500 1 7500 1 7500 0 1750 0 45 0 45 1 55 0 2500 Oo 5200 1 0000 0 2500 0 2600 O 76 O 54 O 44 0 1750 0 1750 1 7500 1 7500 O 1750 0 17 U L Less 0 7500 0 7500 3 0000 1 6000 0 00i TE 0 66 6 50 0 4500 0 440d 2 5000 1 4000 0 000i Peel l 20 4 5z 0 1750 0 1750 1 0000 2200 O 0000 O 12 1 20 0 85100 0 7500 3 0000 1 7500 O 4000 120 0 77S 0 4889 0 4697 1 6706 0 6636 0 1561 O 61 O 44 0 2175 H l3Ll5 0 6z45 I 23r O 1043 0 26 0 45 5 D On occasion you might want to obtain a listing of all of the items in a bank or given portions of a bank along with all their statistical data This can easily be accomplished by creating a new test that includes all the items in the relevant portion s of the bank using the options on FastTEST s Item Search window then using the List Item Statistics option
32. 5 O 2461 oe 0 7269 0 8305 0 2520 49 0 8024 O 4112 0 2379 ed 0 6962 0 1783 O 2512 E A o 5197A 1 95573 no PSSA Cancel Previous Next You can delete any vertical separator line by double clicking while pointing at or just to the right of the line and create a new line by pointing at the location you desire and clicking the mouse as shown in the Figure 2 21 46 Chapter 2 Item Banking Figure 2 21 Step 2 of the Item Statistics Import Wizard for Data in Columns After the Column Separators are Reset Import Statistics Wizard Step 2 of 4 Set where the column breaks are that separate the fields To create a break line click at the desired position To delete a break line double click on the line When finished click the Hest button Data Preview ae 10 20 30 lI Il I I lE l Il l I I l l I l I l I E I I I I I I l I gJ 0 6891 0 6062 Osara ei O 5204 O 535 60 O 2451 Fa O 612 O 450 3 O 2461 ae 0 7209 0 2308 0 2520 49 0 8024 O 4112 0 2379 z3 0 6962 O 1763 O 251 24 E A n 517A 1 95573 no PSSA Cancel To be sure that all values are properly in columns you should scroll through the data file and check the placement of the lines Step 3 Assigning Identifiers to Your Data Step 3 is the same for delimited data and for data in columns In Step 3 you assign names to the fields of your data file so FastTEST knows where in the item record for each item to store the data
33. 6 20 02 OO unidimensional ws MOS Intro Memt inet Const S calng Bf foe scaling and IAT Intro Marnmklnst Const S calng Br 12 02 OOS Likert vs Thurstone re validity Intro Memt inst Const S calling Be 1 302 O04 scaling IAT Intro Memtsinst Const S caling BOO Thurstone vs Likert Intro Mernt Inst Const S calling 620 02 DDG scale vale vs summated score Intra MernotInst Const S caling B24 02 Oo pair comparison vs Likert Thurstone Intro Memtslnet Const S caling B40 scale value Intro Memt inst Const S calin Be Oe CAT vs conventional Intro Marnothinst ConetylAT SC B 12 02 O01 factors affecting rehability Intro Memt sAehability Proble 61 3 02 O01 reliability versus agreement Intro Mams A ehability nter rat B12 Oe i g z GE vs agreement Intro Mams A ehability s nter rat Bra rOz O01 problems with ability type variables Intra MemtsiInet Const Types 613 02 O01 problems with ability type variables Intra Memtsinet Const Types arar Oz i O04 response set Intra Memtsinet Const T ypes 6 13 02 O01 problems reliability validity Intro Memt inet Const T ypes BY 20 02 O01 circular triad Intro Memtslnst Const S calin Bb 20 02 tit lt Found 95 item s that match search criteria e Identifier Text Information Statistics Notes ltem Identifier joo Description Problems with ability type variables K
34. 8 0 2451 0 2451 Ho IRT a 3 8 7612 H 7612 Ho IRT b 73 0 4503 0 4503 No IRT c 73 6 2461 6 2461 No xx UniguelID 522 not found IRT a 49 0 8024 0 8024 Yes IRT b 49 0 4112 0 4112 Yes IRT c 49 0 2379 0 2379 Yes IRT a 2a 8 6982 8 698 Ho IRT b 23 0 1783 0 1783 No IRT c 23 8 2512 8 2512 No xx alue 4 5178 is outside of allowable range of 6 6601 to 4 Line 7 Field 2 IRT b 99 1 8573 1 8573 Ho IRT c 99 0 2550 0 2550 No xx alue 1 2424 15 outside of allowable range of 6 to 6 9999 Line amp Field 4 IRT a 9 4 63388 8 63388 Ho IRT b 92 0 5234 0 5234 No IRT a 41 0 377 8 6377 Yes IRT b 41 0 8940 0 8940 Yes IRT c 41 0 2555 0 2555 Yes IRT a 68 1 6716 1 6716 No IRT b 68 1 6268 1 6266 No If after importing an item statistics file you would like to access a specific item in the bank use the Search for Items option in the Items section of the Navigation Panel or select Search for Items from the Items menu Enter the unique ID of the item after selecting the appropriate option and click on OK The item will then be viewable in the Search Results browser Folders to search C Allltems Within Selected Folders x Penmaes 7 Entire Workspace u i f item With the Following Unique ID 1234 EF hd ork Pi 52 Chapter 2 Item Banking If the statistics that you imported pertain to a test created in FastTEST you can open the test in the Test Assembler and view all the changes for the individual items in the test brows
35. 86 0 945 0 508 1 868 0 910 0 347 8 612 0 973 0 167 0 278 H 7 68 8 561 8 661 0 935 0 029 8 856 0 850 0 282 0 432 0 850 0 472 0 722 0 47 0 47 4 665 0 565 0 490 8 618 0 970 0 289 0 725 0 928 0 354 4 666 0 865 8 466 8 639 As indicated at the top of the file the blank spaces on the left of each line must be filled in with the Unique ID for each item so that FastTEST can properly import them If your test was originally created in FastTEST 2 0 you can optionally save the KEY file that includes the Unique ID for each item When running ITEMSTAT to extract the item Statistics from the ITEMAN PAR file you have the option of selecting the FastTEST 2 0 KEY file for a test analyzed by ITEMAN the KEY file can be created for a test in _ 54 Chapter 2 Item Banking FastTEST as an option in the Printed Test Options window When you use the FastTEST option in ITEMSTAT the resulting output file from ITEMSTAT includes the Unique ID for each item The output file from ITEMSTAT is ready for import into FastTEST Simply specify in Step 1 of the Import Wizard that the indicated number of rows lines are to be skipped 18 in this example A portion of a sample output file from this option in ITEMSTAT is shown in Figure 2 29 Figure 2 29 A Portion of an Output File From ITEMSTAT When the FastTEST 2 0 Option is Used ie samplel 2 16 0UT Notepad ON File Edt Search Help Program ITEMSTAT Date 1 11 64 at 8 58 18 PH ITEMAN statisti
36. Bank Options Available on the Dropdown Menu Fy FastTEST Test Development System Yersio File Workspace Banks Items Tests Utilities VI a a Show All Banks Show Bank workspaces Close All Banks Item Banks New Bank EqitBank Propenies Delete Bank Show All Wet ategann Edit tateq Hapenties Pelete Ibateqanin Show Bank Print Save Folder Structure Them Banks Selecting Item Banks on the Navigation Panel results in the bank Silat Al options shown in Figure 2 1 the same options are available on the Banks pulldown menu If you select Show All a display E of all of the banks that you have in the selected workspace will Show Bank appear in the Banks Panel as shown in Figure 2 2 Mew Bank Mew Category 16 Chapter 2 Item Banking Figure 2 2 The Banks Panel of the Main FastTEST Window with Three Banks Shown Psy 6114 81175 Analysis of Peychological D ata If you have a large number of banks in your workspace with many categories and subcategories it might be less confusing if you work with just a single bank showing Selecting Show Bank will display a dialog box that lists all the banks available in the workspace from which you can select a single bank to open To create a new bank select Hew Bank from either the Navigation Panel or the toolbar at the top of the Item Banker Preview window or Select New Bank from the Banks pulldown menu A dialog box
37. EAE ENE A 14 Move cece cote secre a E A A T 15 Chapter 3 Creating and Working with Item BAnKS ssssseeeeeeeoeoosssssnsssseseeeeeeeeeeeooososo 16 Creating Structured Item Banks eccecsossssscecccccssssscceccosssscceccccssssseeecocosssssccecsossssseeecosssssseee 16 Creating Your Bank Structure cccccccsesssseeeeccceeeeeeeeaaaeeesesseeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeesaaaeeeessseeeeeeeeeeeeeseaaaaeaeaeenses 18 Adding Items to Your Banik Sccesccssesiscescetecasessicsseteescesassacescetessessssssescceseesseesvssceoceseosesvessscessesess 20 Creating Items Directly in FastTEST s Item Editor cccccccccsssssseseseseseeeeeceeeeeeeeeeeaaeeeeenees 20 Importing Items by Copy and Paste ccccccccssssssssseseseeeecceeeceeeeeeeeeeeeaeeesesseeeeeeeeeeeseeeeeeaaaeegagenses 21 Importing Single Items as RTF Files 2 0 0 cccsssssssseseseseeecceeeeeeeeeeeeaaaeeesssseeeeeeeeeeeeeeeseeaaeegaganses 21 Importing Multiple Items From a Word Processor or Text File c c cc ceeeessseeeeeceeeeeeeeeeeaaeeeeeeeseeees sl Creatine and Editing MOIS isisssscccsscccsscitsdscsescacsevexvescoyescssnswiveataesecsssecwavesseccedccsssevecsecwesencteeesues 22 Creating a New Item With the Item Editot nnnnnossssseoeeeenenessssssssssssseeeeereesssssssssssssseereereeeeressssssss 22 Moving and Copying HOTS asa discentrstaceenstatdoninncicenaniesrontapatsabesiidwiantiscicans bit decutuoudaeinedandaesinanantedscninowauieces 25 Derw wE a E E A E EE ree neers 26 P maa ae e l
38. Figure 2 9 Using that panel you can preview but not edit the item text and all other information on the selected item except its usage history in previous tests by clicking on the tabs for the various categories of information Figure 2 9 The Item Preview Panel for an Item With the Identifier Tab Active Item Banker Item Identifier Bank Path Di O01 homogeneous Intro Mennt Relability Internal consis OU SEM limitations and interpretation Intro MamthAehability Internal consis Intro Mernt Aelability Internal consis HO hH AL tft Identifier Text Information Statistics Notes ltem Identifier B0 Description SEM purpose procedures keywords Jessay 10 You can browse through the items in the Item List by selecting their identifier or description in the Item List with the mouse or by using the arrow keys on your keyboard You can also use the green arrows above the Item Preview Panel to move up and down through the Item List If you have a test open the green can be used to add the selected item to the current open test If multiple items are selected using ctrl click or shift click they all will be added to the test when the green is selected Items can also be added to your test using the Add Selected Items s to Test option on the Items menu 294 2 Chapter 2 Item Banking The list of items in a bank shown above the Preview Panel in Figure 2 9 includes
39. Method 1 Login to an administrator account run FastTEST 2 0 Windows XP Method 2 Right click on FastTEST 2 0 or the short cut to it and select Run As ere Open FTE Then enter or select an Administrator account FastTEST 2 0 Manual Page 2 y AN Which user account do you want to use to run this program Current user DSUPPORT Ell The following user User name Password Windows Vista or 7 e Right click on FastTEST 2 0 or shortcut to FastTEST e Select Run As Administrator Then a User Account Control window will open e Click on Allow in the User Account Control Window Once you enter the code that we send you your copy will be unlocked with all your banks items and tests intact Transferring a FastTEST 2 0 License to Another Computer If you find that you need to use FastTEST 2 0 on a different computer than the one on which it was originally installed you can transfer the license to another computer This can be done between computers running the same or different versions of FastTEST 2 0 Both instances of FastTEST 2 0 should be run in administrator mode see above to fully complete the license transfer A transfer can be done by carefully following these steps e Step 1 Install FastTEST 2 0 on the new computer The license transfer will begin on the new installation computer e Step 2 Insert a USB flash drive or thumb drive into th
40. TEST 2 0 is shipped for use with left to right languages such as English Spanish French and German but can optionally be used with right to left languages such as Arabic and Hebrew To use FastTEST 2 0 with these latter languages select the B1 Directional Mode option from the File menu of the Main Window at any time Fd FastTEST Test Development System Yersion 2 0 File Workspace Banks leme esta Utilities View Statistics License Help w Bi Directonal Mode E xit When this option is selected and the appropriate language fonts are also selected keyboard input will result in right to left entry of text but left to right entry of numbers Once Bi Directional mode has been selected to return to left to right language entry uncheck the Bi Directional Mode option 105 Appendix A Importing Items
41. There are two kinds of or disjunctive searches For the five search fields that allow text input as shown below Iter Identifier a Keywords z ESSE e Description a Author oo S Ounce 63 Chapter 3 Assembling Tests you can search for items that have one term or another by separating the terms by the word or For example the search above will find all items that have either essay or compare entered in their Keywords field To do an or type disjunctive search that uses two or more separate fields on the search window do successive searches with single search criteria To select items that either have keywords of essay or were authored by djw do separate searches for essay followed by an additional search for djw To add new items to the results of a previous search select Additional Search from the Search menu in the Search Results window The result of your search will be a list of items that meet your criteria in a format similar to the Item List Panel of the Item Banker with a preview panel Figure 3 4 including the number of items that met your search criteria If you have a test open you can then browse the item list and insert items into your test using the green To insert multiple noncontiguous items in your test hold down Ctrl as you select the items in the search list then insert them all with the green To select multiple contiguous items s
42. and the headers and footers by selecting Preview from the Tests menu or by selecting the TA Button in either the Test Assembler or the Test Formatter All selections you make in the Printed Test Options window will remain set as you specified them until you change them Refining the Appearance of Your Test The following buttons on the Test Formatter toolbar allow you to further format your test The first button inserts a page break at the current cursor location the second button removes a page break if there is one in the current cursor location The third button inserts a blank line at the cursor location and the fourth button deletes a blank line You can also change the font for all or part of your test and or change the paragraph formatting using the following buttons 85 Chapter 4 Printing Tests A i The first button changes the font It 1s activated by selecting some or all of the items in your test When selected this button opens a standard font dialog box allowing you to select font style size color and other font characteristics The second button allows you to format one or more paragraphs Previewing Your Test and Changing Page Layout To preview your printed test in the Test Formatter select the Preview button from the toolbar aa 0 You will then be able to page through the preview of your printed test showing all the items complete with headers footers and page numbers You can furt
43. ant to undo that action you can delete the test and once again all the items that were in it will become editable If you still want the test but do not want it to be protected first use the Save Test As option to save the test under a different test name the copy will not be protected then delete the protected test Obtaining a List of the Items in a Test You can obtain a list of the items in your test either as a file or printed by selecting from the Tests menu Tests Utilities View Statistics Hew Test Open Test Close Teszt Add Test to Current Test Delete Test Save Test As Delete ltem From Test Edit Test Properties Scramble Test terns Update lest Protect Test Format Printed Test Preview Printed Test Printed Test Options Print Save Test List _ 78 Chapter 3 Assembling Tests The test list includes test and bank identification and for each item the item number in the test the item identifier the item description you entered for each item the date the item was added to the test its full path in the item bank and its unique item number in the bank Obtaining a Listing of Information in the Item Bank Fields for the Items in a Test You can obtain a list of the information in selected or all fields for the items in any open test This list can be saved as a file or printed To obtain this list select Print Save Selected Fields from the Test menu Tests Ulbiittie iew
44. bs of the Item Editor are Identifier Text Information Statistics Notes Item Identifier The Identifier tab for each item is used to provide an item identifier for the item a brief description and keywords relating to that particular item The item identifier is typically an item number 15 characters maximum which is nested within the full bank path of the item to identify the item in the bank However alphanumeric strings can be used as item identifiers in addition to numbers Although duplicate item identifiers are allowed it is recommended that you keep item identifiers unique within a workspace The 207 lt Chapter 2 Item Banking description 80 characters maximum can hold any information you desire to describe the contents of the item The keyword field can be used to specify specific topics that relate to that particular item The item identifier description and keyword fields can be searched in the process of building tests As Figure 2 10 shows when the Identifier tab is open for editing it also includes a complete list of the use of the item in existing tests This includes Test Name Test Description the date the test was created whether the test is protected 1 e locked from further modification the item number of the item in the test Test Order and the date the item was added to the test Figure 2 10 The Identifier Tab of an Open Item FastTEST ltem Editor Intro Memtiinst Consti 002 ltem
45. bution displays Open the Statistics menu while in the Test Assembler Window and choose Select Frequency Intervals Statistics Help IAT Information Conventional Frequencies IAT Frequencies User Frequencies Set Frequency Intervals The following window will be displayed aa n Chapter 3 Assembling Tests Set Frequency Intervals For Statistics Charts Y anable Interval Yalue Hange a lt n aa Difficulty MMA 0 02 to 0 50 x Cancel Discrimination 0 10 0 04 to 1 00 a Parameter 0 40 0 08 to 2 00 b Farameter 1 00 0 20 to 4 00 c Parameter 0 05 0 02 to 0 50 User 0 05 Users 0 05 The intervals for each variable can be in the ranges shown Once you close this window with your frequency preferences entered they will be used for all item statistics summaries you display until you change them to new values If you change these interval values while a statistics display is open the display will be automatically updated To view statistical data on the items in your test at any point in the process of assembling your test use the following buttons on the Test Assembler toolbar ul tall hh 20 Items in Test or their corresponding entries on the Statistics menu The first button discussed above displays IRT test functions The second green button displays conventional classical item statistics These include both graphic and tabular frequency distributions and descriptive statistics for bot
46. c parameters also one item per line To prepare these files for import into FastTEST simply add the Fastest Unique ID for each item to the file following its item parameters If the test was created in FastTEST open the FastTEST 55 Chapter 2 Item Banking Key file and copy the column of Unique IDs then paste them into the item parameter file following the parameter estimates To copy a column in Microsoft Word click at the upper left of the column to be copied leave a few blank spaces before the Unique ID to separate the columns and hold down the Alt key while dragging the cursor over the columns of data you want to copy When the highlight covers the entire set of columns release the mouse button and either select the copy button on the Word toolbar or press Ctrl C on the keyboard To paste the copied column into the item parameter file press Ctrl V Then be sure to save the file as a text file Moving a Bank from One Workspace to Another If you decide that an item bank that you created should be in another workspace use the Bank Import Export facility described in Chapter 1 56 Chapter 2 Item Banking Chapter 4 Assembling Tests Selecting Items for a Test Selecting Items by Browsing You can assemble a test using any of the banks in an open workspace by selecting items from any of the categories in those banks First select a category of a bank in the Banks Panel Then select from the Navigation Panel Next se
47. can also select all the items in a given category of the item bank or any subset of contiguous items by selecting the first item in the Item List then selecting the last item while holding down the Shift key Similarly you can select a non contiguous subset of items in the Item List by selecting the items with the mouse while holding down the Ctrl key In either case after selecting the subset of items you want to include in the test click the green sign to insert the items into the test Selecting Items Randomly In addition to selecting items individually or in subsets you can also randomly select items for your test within any category Open the Items pulldown menu and choose Select Random Excluding Items in Test You will be asked how many items you want to randomly select and the appropriate number will be randomly selected if a sufficient number of new items is available in the selected portion of the bank You can of course repeat random item selection in as many sections of the bank as you like to create a test that has specified numbers of randomly selected items within a number of bank categories The item search capability of FastTEST also provides a method for randomly selecting items from larger subsets of one or more item banks rather than just a single category This 1s a two step process 1 First open the Items menu and select Search for Items or select Search For Items from the Navigation Panel The It
48. can contain up to 80 characters Text past 80 characters will be truncated to 80 characters Example DE Intermediate algebra with prime number Default Value Blank Keywords The Keywords information line is 97 Appendix A Importing Items KW Place the keywords text after the equal sign in the Keywords information line The Keywords field can contain up to 80 characters Text past 80 characters will be truncated to 80 characters You may separate keywords with either commas or spaces The keywords will be imported as they appear following the equals sign Example KW addition subtraction prime number division Default Value Blank Date Created The Date Created information line 1s DT Place the date you want entered into the Date Created field following the equals sign Use the date format as chosen under Regional Settings in the Windows Control Panel If the date used in the Date Created information line is invalid or cannot be interpreted the default value will be used Examples DT 06 13 04 U S format DT 13 06 04 European format Default Value The date the file is imported Item Type The Item Type information line is TY Place the two letter item type following the equals sign The following six two letter types are allowed MC Multiple Choice MR Multiple Response TF True False FR Free Response IN Instructional SU Survey Example TY TF
49. categories Added Methods 1 Internal comes He AN OWA Lae K A Methods cf Parallel Forms 1 Split H alf ak Correlational fy Hon correlation J Theories Domain sampling a IPT ef Validity IAT Course F Statistics Adding Items to Your Banks FastTEST 2 provides four ways for you to enter items into your banks 1 directly though the Item Editor 2 by copy and paste from word processor or text files 3 from single item RTF files or 4 by importing multiple item files of items using the item import utility Creating Items Directly in FastTEST s Item Editor The Item Editor is a full featured word processor that gives you complete control over the layout and font characteristics of your test items You can select a default font configuration that will be used for all items that you create Details on direct entry of item text and other item characteristics are in the next section of this chapter 20 Chapter 2 Item Banking Importing Items by Copy and Paste Item text including graphics can be copied and pasted from your word processor or text editor using the Windows clipboard Open your document with test items in one window and your FastTEST 2 bank in another and use the copy and paste functions in each window to transfer your items into your FastTEST 2 banks Importing Single Items as RTF Files If you have a small number of items in a word processor file you can save each item as an
50. ccssseeseeseeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaas 43 Sep 2 Speciy ColunTiS serine g OA AO EE E EAE EEEa ERSA 45 Step 3 Assigning Identifiers to Your Data cccccccccccsssssensesssesseeececceeeeeeseeaaaesseseseeeeeeeeeseeeeeeneaas 47 Oe INS EE E A AETA A EN EE I A AOE AE EE 50 Itiport Results REPOTI sccasanssnssvaainncineennocondesnonssnessacnsesstaonsonmanduanebaneteadennoneeasteaawboaveueaboeriansnmobenditaiadeesaas 51 Importing Item Statistics from ITEMAN RASCAL and XCALIBRE cc ccceeeeeeeeeeeeees 53 Moving a Bank from One Workspace to Another esssessssseccecccccsssssceococsssssceecoossssseeesososoo 56 Chapter T ASS CIV I OSIS acts cou cucssangusevesnsseinscsscopracuosasvensnueivecveseinsanecetvanecnaceetnsaeinseseets 57 Selecting Items for a Test sissies ceesstccscanicscwaneasetecanecccceredsesacetucuceuuesveincntuecveseussseiavscieveseueseasaontes 57 DECC UNO Nens By TOW SIO eraa treater dacaune a a 57 De CCUM Mens Rindoniy err porne hisnenieiesuanie tnvanter gncaaie a 59 De lecu Mens yz Se abe MN en Kismesiaesudsictdnvanterescs a E 61 mssemouliire Tests Usine IRT Criteria cassis tren o E Wau heamantes abode at doviniels 67 Inserting Instructions into Your Tests sssssssscccccssssssssssccccccccsssssssscccscssesssssssccosssssees 71 Examining the Statistical Characteristics Of Your Test sssssssssssccccccssssssssscccssseeees 72 Graphic and Tabular Summaries of Item Statistics cc ceecseesssseeeecceeeeeee
51. ceptable range or are otherwise invalid the default values will be used Default Values p value 0 0 item total correlation 0 0 User Statistics The User Statistics information line 1s US Place the User 1 and User 2 statistics separated by a comma after the equals sign Skip a statistic by leaving it blank If only one statistic 1s present it will be presumed to be the User statistic Examples US 5 63 4 52 US 4 52 US 5 63 If the User 1 and User 2 statistics are not provided are not a number or are otherwise invalid the default values will be used 102 Appendix A Importing Items Default Values User 1 0 0 User 2 0 0 Multi Item Examples Example 4 The following example is for two items with no additional information other than the item identifier D math gradel l algebra intro item 200 BT This is the text of Item 200 from the Intro subsection of the algebra part for grade 11 of the math item bank Following are the answers to the question a Answer 1 b Answer 2 c Answer 3 d Answer 4 ET D math gradel l algebra intro item 201 BT This 1s item 201 from the same bank and here are its answers a Answer 1 b Answer 2 c Answer 3 d Answer 4 Any blank lines or other text between BT and ET will be imported as part of the item ET Example 5 The following example is for two the same two items with some additional information in addition to the item identifie
52. cs file C DelphiS Projects Itemstat sample1 2 16 par Type of items Dichotomous FastTEST 2 0 key file C DelphiS Projects Itemstat Final Exam F 83 key Output file for FastTEST 2 6 import C DelphiS Projects temstat sample1 2 16 0UT Number of items 16 The FastTEsT 2 8 unique ID for each item is in columns 1 6 of this file The following statistics are in this file in the following order Columns 16 14 Discrimination index High proportion minus low proportion Import as User 1 or User 2 Columns 18 22 Total group proportion correct P Value Columns 26 30 Point biserial correlation Item Total Correlation Columns 34 38 Biserial correlation Item Total Correlation To import this file into FastTEST 2 6 skip 18 rows lines at the beginning of the file fa 8 364 0 793 8 363 0 515 68 8 685 8 685 8 681 H 86 65 8 282 0 945 0 508 1 888 fd 4 268 0 910 0 347 8 612 TH 8 616 0 973 0 107 0 278 a be 8 558 H 7 88 8 581 6 661 29 8 641 0 935 8 829 8 856 69 8 21 0 850 0 282 0 432 96 4 369 0 850 0 472 0 722 of 0 595 8 647 8 478 8 685 a1 8 657 8 565 8 498 8 618 23 0 085 0 970 0 289 0 725 5 0 193 0 928 0 354 8 666 RASCAL and XCALIBRE RASCAL and XCALIBRE both have options to create an external statistics file For RASCAL the external statistics file is a text file with the only the difficulty parameter estimate for each item one item per line For XCALIBRE the file 1s also a text file with the IRT a b and optionally
53. d or toolbar Fd FastTEST Test Formatter Final Exam F O03 File Edit lew Hae xX o AR BMIBESIEBEBIDE EE 22 Chapter 4 Printing Tests Adding Headers and Footers and Other Formatting To further prepare your test for printing you might want to add headers and footers space between items or page breaks You can access these functions by selecting the Printed Test Options button from the Test Formatter toolbar Ed FastTEST Test Formatter Final Exam F 03 File Edit Milew HASO X As ROES SEDO SR or by opening the Edit menu in the Test Formatter and selecting Printed Test Options Printed Test Options can also be accessed by selecting Printed Test Options from the Tests menu in the Test Assembler Tests Utilities View Statistics Hew Test Open Test Close Test Add Test to Current Test Delete Test Save Test As Delete ltem From Test Edit Test Properties Scramble Test terns Gate Test Protect Test Format Printed Test Preview Printed Test Printed Test Options Print Save Test List Selecting Printed Test Options will open the window in Figure 4 1 oo n Chapter 4 Printing Tests Figure 4 1 The Printed Test Options Windows Printed Test Options Header KTESTNAME gt lt TESTNAME gt lt TESTDATE gt lt PAGEH gt lt PAGETOTALH lt DATE gt lt TIME gt Alignmen C Left Center Right A Choose Font Number of blank lines
54. diskette to a computer that has a valid license and use the Transfer This License option to transfer that license to the transfer If file on the drive diskette e Step 4 Safely eject the USB flash thumb drive from the NEW computer Insert USB flash thumb drive into the OLD computer that has a valid license Open FastTEST on the OLD computer as Administrator see above From the FastTEST License menu choose the Transfer This License option under the Transfer License submenu and follow the instruction screens Please note that the OLD computer will revert to a trial version and FastTEST 2 0 will show an alert about this The following pictures illustrate this flow in Windows Vista License Help Transfer License Instructions Transfer This License Wes Mo Connect Drive or Insert Disk E j Please connect the driwe or insert the diskette for license transfer FastTEST 2 0 Manual Page 5 Ohare drive containing file transfer f E Removable A See OS C sae RECOVERY D H Removable F Cancel If applicable eject the diskette or external drive P Connect the drive or diskette containing the file transfer If to the computer that the transfer was started on Choose the Complete Transfer option to complete the license transfer e Step 5 Insert the USB flash drive or thumb drive back into the NEW computer From the License menu choose the Comp
55. e To prepare your item statistics for import add this unique identifying number to each line of the item statistics file in a separate column or following the appropriate separator Figure 2 17 Unique ID Numbers for Items in a Portion of the Bank Item Banker ltem Identifier Description Bank Path Date Created UniquelD Rasch Intra Memnt Inst Const lAT BT 3D Information discrimination Intra Mearothlnet Const lA BrT 3 02 tem information Intro Mennt Inst ConstIAT B1302 test information Intro Memt Inst Const AT bf OO maet Statistics License Help To begin the import process open the Statistics menu and select Import Item Statistics A standard file dialog box will then request the name of the file with your item statistics to be Corrventional Frecuencia imported The Import Statistics Wizard that will guide you IAT Frecuencia through the process will then open IFA aforniration Ser Frequencies Set Frequency Intervals Step 1 Specifying the Type of Statistics File to be Imported SE The Wizard attempts to evaluate the structure of your file and selects the file AEM ns uSu sles accordingly sae Chapter 2 Item Banking Delimited Files If the Wizard determines that the file is a delimited file the Step 1 screen will look like Figure 2 18 Figure 2 18 Step 1 of the Item Import Wizard for Delimited Data Files Import Statistics Wizard Step 1 of 4 Choose Data Type Import Data Type
56. e computer to which you want to transfer the license 1 e the NEW computer e Step 3 Open FastTEST on the NEW computer as Administrator see above and on the License menu choose the Start Transfer option under the Transfer License submenu Follow instructions to start the transfer and select USB flash thumb drive The following pictures illustrate this flow in Windows XP FastTEST 2 0 Manual Page 3 License Help Unlock Start Transter Complete Transfer To transfer a license begin on the computer that you want to transfer the license to This program should be run in administrator mode while transferring the license See the manual or the transfer instrucions for instructions on running in administrator mode The transfer procedure requires a separate drive such as an external removable drive such as a USB flash drive a blank formatted diskette any other connected or networked hard drive Do you wish to start the license transfer process Start Transfer 1 i Flease connect a drive or insert a blank formatted diskette for license transfer USB flashithumb drive will have different drive letters on different computers but usually not A They are always removable Cancel FastTEST 2 0 Manual Page 4 Step One of Three Completed The license transfer drive or diskette now contains the file transfer lf Connect the drive or take the
57. e import process The first option informs the Wizard as to how you want to handle upgrading of IRT models which are separately maintained for each item by FastTEST The second option allows you to control the updating of item statistics for items that are protected 1 e locked to further changes in their item text item statistics and other fields Select do not change values if you want item statistics for these items to remain unchanged 50 Chapter 2 Item Banking Figure 2 25 Step 4 of the Item Statistics Import Wizard Import Statistics Wizard Step 4 of 4 Import options The following option will upgrade the IAT Model if necessary For esample When importing a b and c values for an item and the IAT Model is currently None 1 parameter or parameter the following option will upgrade the IAT Model to 3 parameter The IAT Model will never be downgraded If itis curently set at 2 parameter and only the a value is imported the IAT Model will not be changed M Upgrade IAT Model if necessary Protected lteme Options C Do Not Change Values for Protected Items C Ask Before Changing Yalues for Each Protected Item f Change Values for Protected Items Without Asking When all your choices have been made click the Finish button to start the import Cancel Previous Hert Finish Once you have completed these options and selected finish the import process will proceed Imp
58. e item or the information ao eee associated with the item you will be given the opportunity a to save those changes You will then be returned to the item aa x Base E list as shown in Figure 2 9 Saving or Printing All the Information on an Item You might want to obtain a complete printed record of all the information available on an item for archival or other Fa FastTEST Item Editor Intro Ms purposes FastTEST allows you to print or save as a file all ltem iew the information on all the tabs for an item in a concise i Update fetes formatted document To do this open an item Then with the Tae rirleN Item Editor open select the Item menu and then select either Delete of the last two options on that menu The Print option sends the report on that item directly to the printer The Save Entire a Erint Item to File option allows you to save the report as either an RTF file or a text file This file can then be opened in your word processor reformatted as desired and saved and or printed for archival purposes Save Entire term to File Checking Spelling FastTEST comes with several spell checker dictionaries on the installation CD in the Dictionaries folder including American English British English Moby English a general purpose English dictionary excluding proper names acronyms and compound words and phrases but including archaic words and spelling variations Dutch German Italian Frenc
59. e provided that accomplish this see the Navigation Panel in Figure 1 1 To create a workspace or open an existing workspace select the workspace icon Workspaces or select Workspaces from the Workspace pull down menu FastTEST 2 0 Manual Page 9 F4 FastTEST Test Developme You will then be presented with the Window in Figure 1 2 Figure 1 2 Opening a Workspace FastTEstT Test Development System Workspaces oO More Files Cc FastTEST 2 04Dave s Banks and Tests fdb Ci FastTEST 2 047 ry banker fdb If you choose Open Existing Workspace the displayed list shows all workspaces that have previously been opened in FastTEST that are still available Figure 1 3 The default extension for a workspace is FDB FastTEST 2 0 Manual Page 10 Figure 1 3 Selecting an Existing Workspace from the Default Folder Fast TEST Test Development System Workspaces A workspace is where you keep your tem banks and tests 4 workspace can be used for a project a department a course an individual user or a group of users Each workspace can have multiple item banks and multiple tests created from those banks Each workspace can also have its own password To create a new workspace select New or select an existing workspace workspace C New Workspace Open Existing Workspace More Files Pee oO NFastlE ST 2 O Dave s Banks and Tests fdb Co FastTEST 2 047 ry banker fdb x Cancel If
60. e return to the original workspace from which the bank was copied Open the bank you copied select the bank in the Banks panel and select Delete Bank from the Banks pulldown menu To insure that you have not accidentally requested deletion of a bank you will be asked to confirm this action Note however that you cannot delete a bank if there are any tests in the workspace that use items from that bank If such tests exist you will have to either delete all items from the bank from each test or delete the tests that use items from the bank Moving a Test To move a test you must first make a copy of the bank s that are used in the test in the workspace into which you want to move the test You make a copy of the bank s by exporting the bank s into the new workspace as described above Once the relevant banks have been copied to the new workspace open the Workspace pulldown menu and select Export Test or select Export Test from the Navigation Panel Then select the name of the test that you want to move to anew workspace You will then be asked to provide a folder and name for the exported test The file will then be written in the designated folder with the extension TEX To import that test into a new workspace open the workspace into which you want to move the test Then select Import Test from the Workspace menu or select Import Test from the Navigation Panel then select the TEX file for your test A message will info
61. e the text of an item as an external RTF file select in the Text tab of the Item Editor window or select the File menu on the editing toolbar of the item Text tab followed by Save As In either case in the dialog box that appears select the folder for your file and provide a name for it The RTF file for that item then can be used in your word processing software Three entries on the File menu of the Item Editor are used for printing the printed version of the item that is currently open Print Print Preview and Page Setup File Edit Find Format Ins Import Save As Print Ctrl F Print Preview Page Setup Note that these are used only for printing a single item Chapter 4 describes how tests are prepared for printing Setting a default set of font preferences You can instruct FastTEST to use a particular set of font characteristics for all of your items and easily change those default values at any time With any item open in the Item Times New Roman f2 e Editor select the Text tab Select the item font characteristics that you want to use as the defaults either from the toolbar in the Text Editor BABI U A or from the font dialog box which also allows you to change font color _ 29 Chapter 2 Item Banking Font Ed Font Font style Size Tempus Sane ITC Terminal F Times New Roman F verdana F Webdings F Westminster M Underline Color EE Blue
62. eeeeeaseeeesseseeeeeeeeeeeeseeeeeeeaaas 2 Viewing Item Statistics for All the Items in Your TeSt ccccccccccccccecasssseseeeeeeeceeeeeeeeeseeeaaaeeeeenees 75 Reordering the Items in Your Test and Creating Alternate Forms ssscseeceeceeecccososssssooe 77 Deleting Items from Your Test eeren es e E EE Ei a 77 Protectine TOCkIng a POSE ssscccesecavavecs sets cacatavevestdetccncesevasast detavscotescucskcaravesevexevocnseteuecstesevanseasse 78 Obtaining a List of the Items in a TeSl cssssssssccsccccccsssssscsccccscccsssssssccccssccesssssscssccoses 78 Obtaining a Listing of Information in the Item Bank Fields for the Items in a Test 79 Copying Tests to a Different Workspace ccccccssssssscccccsssssssscsccccccscsssscssccccsssesesssseess 81 Chapter 5 Preparing Tests for Printing cccccccccscsssssssssssssssssscccccccccccccccccccccsscssssssssseees 82 Adding Headers and Footers and Other Formatting sssssscececcscsssseccccccssssseeccosssssseeeoosssso 83 Refining the Appearance of Your Test ccccccsssssssssscccccsssssssssscccccccssssscsccccssccssssssssccssoses 85 Previewing Your Test and Changing Page Layout ssssssccccccosssscceecocssossssceecoossssseceossssso 86 Savne Your Lest asa Filesenrarn n TAE 87 Protec n Lockmo a TES nisinsin Ni 88 Navigating to Other FastTEST Windows ssssseecccccsssseececocsssecccocoosssssccoocoosssececoccossssseceseoso 89 Chapter 0 UANI OS seinninn a
63. elect the first item then hold down the shift key as you select the last item 64 Chapter 3 Assembling Tests Figure 3 4 Results of the Search Specified in Figure 3 3 fa FastTEST Search Results Search Select Whew HE Hl O01 CAT vs conventional Intro Mamt iInst ConethlATSOAT B12 scaling and IAT Intra Memt inst Const Scaling ltem Identifier Bank Path Date Created 6 12 02 O01 types of entries in matris Intro Memt aldit Methods bAT hh 4 612 0 O01 canonical correlation Intro Mert alidis Methods Critenon relyM ultivariate bl 202 O01 problems Intro Mert alicdity Bl 202 O01 reliability versus agreement Intro Marmot Aehabilitynter rater 612702 00S IRT vs CTT Intro Memt lnst Const BT 3 02 00E IRT vs CTT Intro Memt Inst Const 6 13 02 O01 factors affecting reliability Intro Mert Aehability sProblerns BT S02 O01 problems with ability type variables Intro Mernthinst Const Types of instability 6 13 02 O03 Item information Intro Meamt lnst Const A T 67 13 02 OO Likert vs Thurstone re validity Intra Memthinst Const Scaling 613 02 OO number of factors Intra Mem aliditysMethods Content Factor Anal 613 02 O01 Hot versus Cronbach Intro Mert Aehability Internal consis Methods Internal consis BT S02 O01 problems with ability type variables Intro Merothinst Const Types of instability Ofer Le tit lt Found 15 ttem s that match search criteria Identifier Text Information S
64. em information in your item bank To prepare your items for import open your file of item text in your word processor or text editor if it is a text file Insert the required separator lines and optional item information lines into your file at the start and end of each item then save your file If you are using a word processor e g Word or WordPerfect save the file as an RTF file If you are using a text editor e g Notepad or Wordpad save the file as a TXT file Inserting the separator information lines is easiest by repeatedly pasting a set of basic separator information lines at the beginning of each item then editing those lines accordingly for each item All text input on the separator information lines is case insensitive 1 e it can be lower case or upper case or mixed Items imported from RTF files will be imported with the same font configuration they had in the RTF file If you want to change the font configuration for all the items in your RTF file format the item text the way you want it to appear in the item bank before you save the file as an RTF file When you import a TXT file you will be given the opportunity to use the default font configuration you have previously selected for your item banks or you can specify other font characteristics for your items before the import process begins using a standard font dialog window The item text import program has the following additional characteristics e Blank line
65. em Search window shown in Figure 3 1 will appear Select All Items Within ji Selected Folders Then select from the left hand Folders to Search MEU MET panel the portions of the bank from which you want to select items In Figure 3 1 both Reliability and Validity have been selected as the pii portions of the bank from which to retrieve items Note also that the Edit Item option at the bottom of the bank structure panel is checked specifying that the search should Include Subfolders By using this option and the All Items Within Selected Folders option Fast TEST will retrieve all items in the Reliability and Validity portions of the bank including all items in all subfolders under those bank headings In this case the result was a Search List of 62 items Figure 3 2 Delete Item 2 Search For Items _ 59 Chapter 3 Assembling Tests Folders to search T Entire Workspace Pair comparis Types of inst ability personalit Reliability Generalizabil Internal consis Methods Intermal cc Alpha AHOY K A Me Parallel Fo Split H alf Corela Morn ce Theories Domain sz IPT Parallel te Inter rater Problems Stabilit Validity Construct wal Logic of ment Methods Content Clustering Factor An Criterion rel o W Include subfolders Figure 3 1 FastTEST s Item Search Fields ltem Identifier Kepmorda Description Author Source S o 0 00 rl ooo 0 00 IAT a parameter disc
66. ems in a separate section of your item bank to make it easy to access them When you create instructions on the Information tab for each instruction screen designate the Item Response as Instructional Fd FastTEST Item Editor Intro Memt instructions ltem wiew y E Identifier Text Information Statistics Motes Author S Ounce Date Created fi 2f 1 03 ltem Response C Multiple Choice C Multiple Response C TruesFalse Store thts ltem NZWETE _ I Humber of Answers 0 Ta eped Corect Answer JAE p Ap OO OA A 2 B g e Numeric 45 amp 0D E F GH Alphabetic This designation informs FastTEST that this item is not a test question that is to be numbered and scored Therefore when the test 1s formatted instructions will not be numbered as test questions Instructions can be entered into the test like any other item and moved to whatever location in the test you desire You can also have as many instructional items in your tests as you like If you want to start a new page before an instructional item simply _ 71 Chapter 3 Assembling Tests insert a page break at the appropriate location when viewing your test in the Test Formatter This approach can also be applied to test items that consist of a passage of information followed by a number of questions about that passage such as reading comprehension items For this t
67. en recognize the fact that the resulting answer is a prime number EN Do not place any separator or information lines between BN and EN because any combination of characters will result in any Notes text beyond this combination of characters to be ignored On the extremely rare occasions that you need to use two Commercial At characters together between the Begin Notes and End Notes separators place a space between them and make a note to yourself to use the FastTEST 2 0 Item Editor to remove the space after the item has been imported 96 Appendix A Importing Items Default Value Blank Author The Author information line is AU Place the author text after the equal sign in the Author information line The Author field may contain up to 40 characters Text past 40 characters will be truncated to 40 characters Example AU John Jones Default Value Blank Source The Source information line 1s SO Place the source text after the equal sign in the Source information line The Source field can contain up to 80 characters Text past 80 characters will be truncated to 80 characters e Example SO This question was taken from page 27 of the textbook Intro to algebra Third Edition Default Value Blank Description The Description information line is DE Place the description text after the equal sign in the Description information line The Description field
68. er or view the test information and response functions and distributions of IRT item parameters to see how the updated statistics have affected your test Importing Item Statistics from ITEMAN RASCAL and XCALIBRE ITEMAN Item statistics can be imported from Version 3 x of ITEMAN and earlier versions after extracting the relevant data from the I TEMAN item statistics output file a new version of ITEMAN currently under development will simplify this process ITEMAN optionally creates a PAR file with the item statistics for a test it analyzes Because this file includes a considerable amount of information in a format that would be difficult to use by the FastTEST Item Statistics Import Wizard a utility program is provided that extracts the relevant data from the ITEMAN PAR file and formats it for import into the FastTEST item bank This program I TEMSTAT EXE is installed in your main FastTEST folder Double click on ITEMSTAT EXE and the window shown in Figure 2 27 will open Figure 2 27 The ITEMSTAT Window ITEMStat Import of ITEMAH Statistics into FastlEST 2 0 ITEM Stat extracts tem statistics from an tem statistics file PAR output from ITE MAN version 3 7 and below and prepares those statistics for import inta FastTEST 2 0 S lect the ITERIAN item statistics file C Dichotomous items Multipoint items l Test was developed in FastTEST 2 0 Key file is x Name a new file for output of the item statistics for impor
69. est bank the item record and all its information still resides in the database but it is inactivated so it cannot be accessed After deleting a number of items you might want to reduce the size of your item banks by compacting them To compact the banks in your database from the Navigation Panel select Utilities then Compact Database Utilities i Compact Database or Compact Database from the Utilities pulldown menu in the Item Banker The compacting utility will compact the database for the currently open workspace and will create a backup in the same folder with the same name and the extension bak Importing FastTEST Item Banks from Earlier Versions of FastTEST If you have created item banks in earlier versions of FastTEST they are easily imported into FastTEST First open the FastTEST workspace into which you want to import the item bank from the earlier version of FastTEST Next open the pulldown Utilities menu and select Import Old FastTEST Item Bank or select Import FT1 Bank from the Navigation Panel Then go the main folder of the earlier version of FastTEST and select the bnk file you want to Utilities import Note that when the import process is complete the bank Tmoort FT sank categories might be in a different order in FastTEST 2 0 than in the earlier version of FastTEST This is because FastTEST 2 0 EKG alphabetizes bank categories and subcategories whereas in the earlier version categories
70. et these criteria Note that only a small amount of information was lost by reducing the test length from nine to six items since items with low discrimination information were not included in the second test 69 Chapter 3 Assembling Tests Figure 3 8 Test Information Function for 6 Items With Maximum Information of 1 62 or Higher in the 0 Interval From 1 25 to 1 75 Fa Test Information You can build a test to approximate any given information function you desire assuming that you have a sufficient number of items with appropriate parameter values in your bank by doing successive searches of this type from your item bank To add new items to the results of a previous search select Additional Search from the Search menu in the Search Results window fa FastTEST Search Results Additional Search 70 Chapter 3 Assembling Tests You can then add the new items from the search to the currently open test by selecting them using either the mouse or the entries on the Select menu then clicking the green A green check mark will appear next to each item to indicate that it has been added to the test As you add new items to the test or delete them the IRT functions and associated files are automatically updated as are the test statistics see below Inserting Instructions into Your Tests FastTEST makes it easy to insert pages or paragraphs of instructions into your tests First create your instructions as it
71. ge it to a new identifier You can also make copies of items either in the same section of a bank or in a different section of the same or a different bank One reason for making a copy of an item would be to create a variation of the item by making some changes in it without having to retype the text and other information on the item To copy the complete item record 1 e make a duplicate of the item text statistics keywords and other information select the item s with the mouse in the item list in the Item Banker window and then right click on the item s A menu will appear with Copy and Paste options Select Copy Then go to the section of the item bank in which you want to create a copy Click anywhere in the item list for that portion of the bank then right click and select Paste from the popup menu Note that the Item Identifier of the new item might duplicate that of an existing item in that part of the bank if it does it should be changed so that it is unique within that portion of the bank ee Chapter 2 Item Banking Deleting an Existing Item An item can be deleted only if it does not appear in any tests If you want to delete an item and it appears in one or more tests you will first have to either delete the test s or delete that item from the tests in which it appears A list of tests in which an item appears can be seen on the Identifier tab in the Item Editor when the item is opened for editing Editing an Existing
72. gnored If the Keyed Answer information line is not provided the value is not in acceptable range is incorrectly specified for the Item Type or otherwise invalid the default value will be used Default Value none IRT Model and a b c Parameters The IRT Model information line 1s IR Place the IRT model specifier following the equals sign and follow it with the a b and c parameters The IRT model specifier consists of one of the following 100 Appendix A Importing Items 1P parameter Rasch model 2P 2 parameter model 3P 3 parameter model Follow the IRT model specifier with a comma followed by the a b and c parameters separated by commas The IRT Model information line should follow the format IR lt IRT Model specifier gt lt a Parameter gt lt b Parameter gt lt c Parameter gt You may also skip the unnecessary a b or c parameters that are not required for that particular model The 1 parameter model only allows for the b parameter to be entered You can supply only the necessary b parameter value or you may leave the unused values blank For instance the following example for the 1 parameter model may be entered as either IR I1P 1 2 or IR IP 1 2 The 2 parameter model allows for the a and b parameters to be entered You may supply only the necessary a and b parameter values or you may leave the unused c value blank For instance the following example for the 2 paramete
73. h Spanish and Czech Also provided are Legal and Medical dictionaries in English As additional specialized dictionaries become available they will be announced on and made available from the FastTEST page of our Web site www assess com You can also create your own dictionaries Selecting One or More Operational Dictionaries You can have multiple dictionaries open FastTEST will check words in all open dictionaries To open a dictionary on the Text tab of any item open the Tools pulldown menu and select Dictionaries The following window will appear Spell Checker Dichonares Dictionaries Available Dichionanes To Use FENGLISH OCT See X Cancel X Cancel french det Add p french det g Remove Select the dictionaries you want to use on the left side and click Add To remove a dictionary select it in the right hand list and click Remove The dictionaries that you have listed in the right hand list will remain active until you change them To install additional dictionaries copy the dictionary files from the CD into the main FastTEST installation directory Those dictionaries will then be listed under Dictionaries Available Running the Spell Checker To check spelling in an item with the Text tab active open the Tools pulldown menu and select Spell Checker or select ka from the toolbar The following window will appear if there are any words in your item that are not in the open dictionaries Spell C
74. h a text editor such as Notepad or Wordpad and delete the entire line for each word that you want to delete If your user dictionary text file gets large you can improve the performance of the spell checker by creating your own dictionary following the instructions above and using USERDCT TXT as your input file You then will need to select your new dictionary as an active dictionary using the option on the Tools menus in the Item Editor Text tab Searching for Items FastTEST 2 0 has extensive item search capabilities You can search for items that you want to find for editing purposes or if you have a test open you can search for items to be added to a test The item search options are accessed from the pulldown Items menu or from the Items options on the Navigation Panel System Yersion 2 0 Dave s Banks and Tests ltem Tests Database View Help Mew Item New ltem Edit ltem pi Delete ltem Edit Item Select All Crl 4 Select All Excluding Items In Test Chrl E Select Random Excluding Items In Test Chrl A Delete Item Add Selected fens th lest Search For Items Sel ow shown in Figure 31 sssiebuel Soils Se Figure 2 16 _A Chapter 2 Item Banking The Item Search Window Folders to search C All items Within Selected Folders W Entire Workspace C tem With the Following Unique ID Intra Mamt Inat Const Classical meth Empirical scal ltem Identifier IRT l CAT Scaling
75. h item difficulty and item discrimination All displays can be saved as files or printed Figure 3 9 shows the tabbed window that displays the conventional item statistics summary Note that at the bottom of the frequency graphic FastTEST displays summary Statistics for the items in your test The same information displayed in the graphic 1s also available in tabular form by selecting the Table tab for the appropriate statistic soe Chapter 3 Assembling Tests Figure 3 9 Graphic Display of Conventional Item Difficulties for a Test i a i i a a el a eis i rh m i rh al mmg ara The third red button displays distributions and descriptive statistics for IRT item parameters These include both graphic and tabular frequency distributions and descriptive statistics for the a b and c parameters Finally the fourth purple button displays statistical data for the entries in FastTEST s User 1 and User 2 fields _ 74 Chapter 3 Assembling Tests Viewing Item Statistics for All the Items in Your Test In addition to viewing distributions and summary statistics for classical IRT or User data you can also list all statistical data for all the items on your tests The List Item Statistics option on the statistics menu Statistics Help IRT Information Conventional Frequencies IAT Frequencies User Frequencies Set Frequency Intervals List Item Statistic
76. he item in the test list and then click on the red minus sign below the test list To be sure that you wanted to delete that item you will be asked to confirm the deletion You can also delete an item by selecting the item in the test list then selecting Delete Item From Test on the Tests menu s y 2 Chapter 3 Assembling Tests Protecting Locking a Test When you have the final version of a test including all of the items that you want in the test in the order that you want them and are ready to print the final test you might want to protect or lock the test so that it can no longer be modified Protecting locking a test makes it impossible to further modify the items in the test and their order When a test is locked all items in the test are also locked and can no longer be changed This includes all item information as well as the item text The only way to modify a locked item 1s to make a copy of it and then edit the copy If you do this you would want to change the identifier of the item but identify the copy as related to the original item For example if your locked item identifier is Item 1 the copy you make might be named Item 1 rev 1 A test and its constituent items can be locked by selecting Protect Test from the Tests menu or by selecting from the Test Assembler toolbar You will asked to confirm your request since locking or protecting a test and its items is irreversible If you unintentionally protect a test and w
77. hecker x Not in Dictionary eieuta Replace With ecules i S uogestions circula ir gg circula ye Change ee Change AlI circulars circularly Ac a uggest circulator u99 circular circularity g lgnore p Ignore All cincularize circulating circulation circulai X Cancel Use the buttons on the right side of this window to make your spelling selection for each word that is not found in the dictionaries Creating Dictionaries for the Spell Checker FastTEST includes a utility called MAKEDAWG EXE that allows you to create your own dictionaries To create a dictionary enter the words that you want in your dictionary into a text file created with a text editor such as Notepad or Wordpad one word per line you may also use a word processor such as Microsoft Word but be sure to save the file as a Text file When you have completed your word list submit the file to makedawg exe and save the new dictionary in your FastTEST main folder It will then appear in the list of dictionaries from which you can select when you configure the spell checker _ AQ Chapter 2 Item Banking User Dictionaries When you add words to the dictionary while you are checking spelling those words are written into a text file named USERDCT TXT one line per word This dictionary file is automatically searched by FastTEST when you run the spell checker If you later want to delete a word from USERDCT TXT edit it wit
78. her refine the printed format of your test by selecting the Page Setup button from the Test Formatter toolbar Ba eo i or Page Setup from the File menu The resulting window Figure 4 2 will allow you to set overall margins paper size and print orientation portrait or landscape It will also let you select your printer and printer options 86 Chapter 4 Printing Tests Figure 4 2 The Page Setup Window Page Setup Ei Letter 81 2 x11 in SOLUCE Upper tray al Onentation Margins inches Lett li asl Right li na Top lll Bottom pE Cancel Printer When you have completed all the editing that you want to do on your test you can then print your test by selecting File Print or the printer button on the toolbar f Portrait Landscape while your test is viewable in the Test Formatter Saving Your Test as a File When you finish formatting your test for printing and subsequently print it it will be printed exactly as you have formatted it FastTEST automatically saves your test in its database so that you can recreate it at a later date but it does not save any final formatting that you might have done in the Test Formatter Although FastTEST provides you with extensive control over the printed format of your test there might be situations in which you might want to save your test as an RTF file for further formatting in your word processor or for other purposes
79. igures 3 1 and 3 3 shows the fields on which FastTEST can search your banks _ 6l Chapter 3 Assembling Tests Selecting the portion of the bank to search The Folders to Search panel on the left hand side of the search screen allows you to select the range of the search You can search an entire workspace which might include several unrelated banks by checking the box at the top of the panel If that box is unchecked you can limit the range of the search by selecting the portions of the bank you want to search To select an entire bank click on the top level bank name and then check the box at the bottom of the panel to include subfolders You can similarly select whole sections of the bank at any level by selecting the highest level descriptor for that section and checking the include subfolders box To select contiguous sections of a bank click on the first section then hold down the Shift key while clicking on the last section you want to search To select non contiguous sections of a bank or of more than one bank select one section then hold down the Ctrl key while you select other sections of the same or other banks Structuring your search To structure your search select the search variables you want to use and enter the search values in the spaces provided Your search will return all items that meet the combination of criteria selected a conjunctive search For example the criteria specified in Figure 3
80. imum information between 0 1 25 and 0 1 75 To review the resulting test information function and the associated test standard error functions and response functions select IRT Information from the Statistics pulldown menu Statistics Help IRT Information Conventional Frequencies IAT Frequencies User Frequencies Set Frequency Intervals or select the View IRT Functions button OERE from the Test Assembler toolbar Figure 3 7 shows the window that results FastTEST provides the test information function the test standard error of measurement function and the test response function as both expected number correct and expected proportion correct For each of these four sl Chapter 3 Assembling Tests functions you can save the graphic as a file or print it You can also save the numerical values from which the graphic is plotted as a file or print them These values are computed at 121 levels of 8 from 3 0 to 3 0 in intervals of 05 The files are in a form that can easily be imported into other software for further analysis or plotting Figure 3 7 Test Information Function for 9 Items With Their Maximum Value of Information Between Oof 1 25 and 1 75 Fa Test Information fel ES Test Information Sum Walues Test SEM Values Test Probability Sum alues Test Probability Average Values Test Information Sum Graph Test SEM Graph Test Probability Sum Graph Test Probability Average Graph Print Graphic
81. is Figure 2 23 in which each column of data has been assigned a FastTEST item statistics identifier _ Ag Chapter 2 Item Banking Figure 2 23 Step 3 of the Item Statistics Import Wizard With Field Names Assigned Import Statistics Wizard hie hie SALE betes hie yr E lpi Figure 2 24 shows the results of Step 3 for the Data File with Item Statistics in Columns _ AQ Chapter 2 Item Banking Figure 2 24 Results of Step 3 for the Data File with Item Statistics in Columns Import Statistics Wizard Step 3 of 4 Assign the fields in your data file to the matching fields in FastTEST 2 Click on the button below the Field Number and choose the correct field name to match to The Unique Identifier field must be chosen for one of the elds in your data file When done Field 6 Field 7 Field 5 8 LE Fate hihel hihea Field 1 Field 2 Field 3 Field 5 Unique ID IRT a IAT b HE 8 LE Fete 0 689 0 6062 0 2374 0 5204 0 5360 0 2451 0 7612 0 4503 0 2461 0 7269 0 8308 0 2520 0 8024 0 4112 0 2379 Cancel Previous Next Eimer Note that each column of the data file is now identified with the name of the statistic to be imported You should again scroll through the file to be sure that all data values are correctly displayed Step 4 Options Step 4 is also the same for both types of import files Step 4 shown in Figure 2 25 provides some options that affect th
82. is option is accessed from the Protect Test button on the Test Assembler toolbar oR A m w wi or from the Tests menu When you protect lock a test all the items in the test are protected locked so that they cannot be changed The test is also protected locked and cannot be further edited in FastTEST This allows you to have a permanent record of exactly what comprised your test in case you need to refer back to it at a later time It also creates a subset of items that cannot be changed after they have been administered in the test _ 88 Chapter 4 Printing Tests Although items cannot be edited when they are Tests Utilities View Statistics protected locked they can be copied in case you want to modify any of the items that had been used in a i protected test for possible use in another test To copy RISE Ted an item right click on the item identifier in the Item S a ee List panel of the Item Banker and select Copy then Delete Test place the cursor in the Item List of the section of the Save Test As bank in which you want the copy this can be the same section of the bank or a different section then right click and select Paste Delete ltem From Test Edit Test Properties Scramble Test Items Update est The copy of a protected item can then be freely modified Note that the copy will initially have the same identifier fees les as the original item so it would be appropriate to change Format Prin
83. ives you the opportunity to provide an item identifier for each item and to import all the Import FT1 Tests additional information on each item that is stored in the Fast TEST a 2 item bank There is no limit to the number of items that can be ir imported from a single import file Import Items Import FTl Bank 291 2 Chapter 2 Item Banking Detailed instructions for preparing your item text file for import are in Appendix A Creating and Editing Items Creating a New Item With the Item Editor You can add items to your bank at any level of the bank structure Select the section of the bank where you want your item to be Then select Items from the Navigation Panel and then New Item or select from the Item Banker toolbar or New Item from the Items pulldown menu This will open the Item Editor shown in Figure 2 7 which is an editable full screen version of the Item Preview Panel on FastTEST s Main Window Figure 2 7 The Item Editor Window for a New Item Ea FastTEST Item Editor Intro Memt inst Consti Tests In Which Item Is Used Create Date Protected Test Or Date Added Similar to bank and category names item identifiers can be a maximum of 15 characters item descriptions can be up to 80 characters Keywords can be used to locate items using the Search for Items option on the Items menu and on the Navigation Panel You can search for items when you are working on your ba
84. kepmords Jessay 6 9 Uu Chapter 3 Assembling Tests Assembling Tests Using IRT Criteria If your items have IRT parameter estimates you can use the search capabilities of FastTEST to assemble a test with a desired test information function TIF The TIF shows the precision information for a test as a function of the IRT 0 trait variable Test information is the sum conditional on 0 of the item information functions for all items in the test Suppose you wanted to create a test that was to be used to make a dichotomous classification of examinees Such a test might be used to measure mastery in an educational environment or to select applicants in a personnel selection environment In IRT terms such a test should have its highest information at the mastery selection point on the O continuum The item search capabilities of FastTEST allow you to easily identify those items Using the item search window Figure 3 3 first select the portion s of the item bank from which you want to select items Then specify a narrow range of 0 around your O mastery selection value For example suppose you wanted to specify 0 1 5 as your mastery selection value You might specify your first search range as Max item info falls between theta of a ea and 1 75 inclusive blasimum item information values between 7 0 00 and 0 00 inclusive This search will extract from the selected portions of the item bank all items that have their max
85. l or point biserial correlations IRT item parameter estimates discrimination difficulty pseudo guessing and two user defined T a Chapter 2 Item Banking statistics All statistics to be imported for a given item must appear on a single line of the data file from which they are to be imported although they may be in any order In addition to the item statistics to be imported each line must include the unique item identifier Unique ID assigned by FastTEST to each item The Unique ID is different than the item path in the FastTEST item bank The Unique ID is a sequential number of from one to five or six digits depending on the number of items in the bank assigned to each item by FastTEST You can see the Unique ID for your items in the item list panel of the Item Banker window or in the item list panel of the Test Assembler The Unique ID also is written to the KEY files that can be created for a test as an option in the Printed Test Options window If your tests were analyzed by ITEMAN a special utility program will create the item statistics file to be imported into FastTEST In Figure 2 17 the last column displays the unique identifiers 30 31 38 and 65 for the four items shown If the column is not visible hold down the mouse button to grab the vertical separator following date created you will see a double sided arrow with a double vertical bar and pull it to the right to make the column of unique identifiers visibl
86. lect J Mew Tesk and in the dialog box that appears provide a test name 50 characters maximum and a description for your test maximum 80 characters Once you have named your test you are ready to select the items Click Items on the Navigation Panel or click the Items pulldown menu or select the View Item Banker icon from the toolbar fa FastTEST Testing System File Workspace Banks ltems N JoeL to return to the Item Banker Window Select any item in the Item List Panel and examine its text and other information in the Preview Panel To add the item to the test click the green at the top of the Preview Panel H Ht A tt Identifier Text Information Statistics Notes A green check mark will appear in the item list and the item will be inserted into your test You can then continue navigating your banks and select additional items When you 57 Chapter 3 Assembling Tests are in a section of a bank you can move through the items in order by using the green arrows at the top of the Preview Panel in the Item Banker Window You can view the test list at any point by selecting Tests from the Navigation Panel selecting the Tests pulldown menu selecting the View Test Assembler button B FastTEST Testing System File Worksmace Banks ltem fN from the toolbar or by pressing Ctrl F6 on the keyboard until the Test Assembler appears When a test is opened the numbered list
87. lete Transfer option from the Transfer License submenu and follow the instruction screens The following pictures illustrate this flow in Windows XP License Help Unlock Instructions Transfer License Start Transfer Complete Transfer step Three of Three Connect drive or insert diskette for license transfer cone FastTEST 2 0 Manual Page 6 Choose drive containing file transfer A Removable A See C sa F a Removable G Cancel Information Ed i Transfer succeeded Transfer of the license should now be complete Once the license transfer 1s complete you can move your item banks and tests All item banks and tests are stored in the workspace databases Go to the Workspaces folder of your original FastTEST installation and copy all the files in that folder they should have an FDB extension If you have stored other workspaces in other locations you will want to find them and move them as well For easiest access in your new FastTEST installation you should copy all the FBD files into the Workspaces folder on the new computer If you have created any external Key files they will be in the Keys folder and any tests you have saved as RTF files will be in the Tests folder Security for Your Item Banks and Tests FastTEST 2 0 stores your items and tests in its workspace databases Two security features are designed to protect your items and tests 1 Each wo
88. ll also be centered and will include the page number and total number of pages on each page of the printed test You can specify the font of the headers and footers by selecting the Choose Font buttons In addition the options selected in this window will place three blank lines between each item and will output a key file for use with future versions of our Item and Test Analysis Package The key file will contain the full path defining each item s location in the bank the scoring key for each item and the unique item identifier that is assigned to each item by FastTEST this unique identifier is an identifier for each item that 1s maintained by the system it allows you to move items within or between banks and change their identifiers yet still have a means of uniquely identifying each item By selecting the Keyfile Directory button you can save these keyfiles wherever you like If you do not make a selection they will be saved in the Keys folder in your FastTEST folder The answer key printed at the end of the test can be used for scoring the printed test In this example it will contain the full path defining each item s location in the bank because it is checked but not the unique item identifier that 1s assigned to each item by FastTEST because it is unchecked The option of whether you want an answer key can be changed individually for each test by the Edit Test Properties option under the Tests menu You can preview your test
89. mi daledweiuttuses 99 ICY CO AN WO oana a tad aniandaeteecite sande Mueeiota cakaaimastanans 100 IRT Mode anda D6 Parameters cancun A T EA ATA 100 Classical Test Dhcory Paramete iS n A E E 102 ERES E E E EE EE I E E E A E E A A EE AE EE A NEEE 102 M lli em Examples ssrouecsiione sa aE a aa 103 Appendix B Using FastTEST 2 0 with Right to Left LANUAZES cccccccceeeeeeeeees 105 Chapter 1 Preliminaries Your FastTEST 2 0 License and Unlocking Your Copy Unless you have purchased a network or multiple computer license your license for FastTEST is a single computer license If you would like to use FastTEST on a network or on more than one computer please contact us to arrange for the appropriate number of additional licenses FastTEST 2 0 is shipped as a 30 day trial copy Using the trial copy you can create item banks create items and create printed tests from those items for 30 days from the date of installation The number of days left in your trial period will be displayed each time you start FastTEST We can permanently unlock your trial copy by e mail or fax To unlock your copy we will need a valid credit card number and expiration date an institutional purchase order in the U S or payment by wire transfer or a check in advance In addition we will need two numeric codes that are unique to your copy of FastTEST 2 0 To obtain these two codes when FastTEST 2 0 starts click on the Yes button in answer to the
90. more than one can be correct Survey items e g a Likert type of item free response items and instructional items do not have correct keyed responses Figure 2 11 The Item Information Tab of the Item Editor fa FastTEST Item Editor Intro Memt inst Const ScalingsLikert ltem Whew g xX HAH Identifier Text Information Statistics Notes Author SOUE flecture Date Created gB rfl ltem Response C Multiple Choice f Multiple Response C True False Free Response W Score This Item ANSIIEIS El El Number of Answers 5 keped Corect Answer MITI ME EET E Instructional 1239465 6 g f Numeric C Survey Yoo amp 6 COEF GH f Alphabetic For example the item shown in Figure 2 11 is a multiple correct response item with five alternatives and alphanumeric correct answers of a and e Statistics Tab The Statistics tab is where you record item statistics on your item Figure 2 12 There are fields for e Classical item difficulty proportion correct and item discrimination item total point biserial or biserial correlations e Item response theory IRT parameter estimates for the 1 2 or 3 parameter dichotomous IRT models e Two fields for other user defined statistics All fields are searchable in ranges 232 Chapter 2 Item Banking When an IRT model is selected and parameter estimates are entered the point of maximum information fo
91. n a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic mechanical photocopying recording or otherwise without the prior written consent of the publisher Copyright 2010 by Assessment Systems Corporation All Rights Reserved ill Table of Contents Chapler 1 Preliminaries sosisini EE EEE ER I Your FastTEST 2 0 License and Unlocking Your Copy ccececcceeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeees l Transferring a FastTEST 2 0 License to Another Computer ccccccccccccsssssessseeeeeecceeeeeeeeeeeaaeaeeeenees 3 Security for Your Item Banks and Tests cccicccccciesssscsssscssessescssessessasesssseseessessssessassseessesssesssssesseseaes 7 Chapter 2 WOFKSIOCES caccusarurssecsrecresiesaucsetinauteupesstevensnakensdepatusetivastausupsavnonsniuctesaversdissutnetes 8 The Fast TEST Main Window ie ssiesevessses5020050005s00e0e0 0siese020050000sseiessesestesetessssedesstessvessceanteseteases 8 WY OL SAC CS EEPE res sadist TE E E TETT E T E A E E T T TATT 9 lE AE sane T E ee ee E TA A T 11 The Item Banker WiINIOW wcc nenoseranenenerenanosevansinenctenanetetainnadnatanannd deanthananadalannnametannnaddanenmilawncntavaleatondees 12 Using Fast TEST 2 0 on a Network wesscsisiscsciiseciscessessscssscecsssiedecesessdecssdacdeceesssdenssssedesedsscdecsteses 12 Moving Item Banks and Tests between Workspaces sessssssscceecccsssssececcossssseeeoocosssseecesoooo 14 Mo ying an Heni Bank sssusa E N
92. n of the protected item in a new test use the copy an item procedure described above to create a new item and then make the changes to the new item If you do this you might want to use a similar identifier to keep the item related to the original item For example if your original item was item 002 you might want to name the new item 002 1 The Item Editor The Item Editor allows you to enter item text and other information on your items The Item Editor has two menus and up to eight active buttons Fd FastTEST Item Editor Intro Memt lem Wiew y ALK EBARA The Item menu includes options to open a New item and to Update save but leave open Close or Delete the currently open item The first three buttons on the toolbar respectively perform the update create a new item and delete the current item functions The x button closes the Item Editor If the item has been modified you will be asked if you would like to update the item before the window closes Two additional options on the Item menu allow you to print or save all the information on the open item These options are described in more detail below The View menu of the Item Editor allows you to navigate to the following FastTEST windows 1f they are active Item Banker Test Assembler Test Formatter and Item Search The remaining four buttons on the Item Editor toolbar access these same functions respectively As shown in Figure 2 7 and 2 9 the five ta
93. nel of the Test Assembler window and hold down the left mouse button Drag the item to another location in the test list and point the arrow at the item that you want to follow the item that you are moving that item will be highlighted in blue When you release the mouse button the moved item will appear above the item that you pointed at when you released the mouse button If you have a long test you can expand the item list part of the Test Assembler window by grabbing the separator bar at the bottom of that window with the left mouse button and dragging it downward to display more items If you need to move an item to the top or bottom of the list or above or below the visible portion of the list grab the item with the mouse and pull the cursor above the top of the list or below the bottom The list will scroll and you can stop the scroll by moving the cursor back onto the list Then point at the location in the list to which you want to move the item To move an item to the top of the list scroll to the top and then place the point of the cursor arrow just above the top item and release the mouse button To move an item to the bottom of the list scroll the list to the bottom and release the cursor when the point of the pointer is just below the last item Deleting Items from Your Test As you assemble and refine your test you might decide to delete an item from your test To delete an item from a test while in the Test Assembler select t
94. nks to locate specific items or subsets of items or you can search for items in the process of creating tests See below for more information about searching for items The toolbar in the Item Editor implements a number of functions The buttons respectively update the current item create a new item and delete the currently open item in the Item Editor These functions can also be performed using the pulldown Items menu in the Item Editor Two buttons help you navigate to other FastTEST functions The button displays the Item Banker window and the button opens the Test Assembler window These two functions can also be accessed from the View menu You can also toggle among the open windows by using CTRL F6 on your keyboard As each item is saved it appears in the Item List panel of the Item Banker window as shown in Figure 2 8 Figure 2 8 The Item List for the Reliability Calculations Section of the Intro Meas Bank ltem Identifier Bank Path Date Lr Alpha dichot Calculation of alpha for dichotomously Intro Ment Rehabil 64 02 Alpha poly Coetficent alpha with polwtormous data Intra Mert Relabilit 64 02 KR 20 kuder Richard on Formula 20 Intro MamthAelabilit 67402 Hoyt Hopt s ANOYA based relability Intro Memt Relabilt 64 02 gt oer Chapter 2 Item Banking When you select an item in the Item List a complete preview of the item is available in the Item Preview Panel immediately below the Item List
95. orkspace Banks tems Teste Utilities View Help See le BS Item Banker ltem Identifier Description Bank Path Item List R Show Bank 4 ONAE gia New Bank Identifier Tert Information Statistics Notes in 3 5 Banks Panel Item Preview Panel The Banks Panel can be expanded from left to right up to a limit by dragging its right border The border between the Item List and the Item Preview Panel can similarly be moved vertically within limits by dragging Using FastTEST 2 0 on a Network FastTEST is designed to be used either on standalone computers or on a network To use it on a network you must first install the software on each workstation Then when you create a workspace you can create it on a networked drive by first selecting New Workspace as shown in Figure 1 2 FastTEST 2 0 Manual Page 12 A standard file dialog box will open and allow you to select the location for the workspace Then select the drive and folder in which you want to store the workspace on the network For example Hew Fast EST Workspace ki E4 Save in S M DRIVE on SERVER M H E Al e YI COPYDATA C DEMOTEST J LETTERS E T DA TJEMAILHUMOR I MICROCAT re TJ DATABASE SJ EVERLOCK J MYDOCUME T TRANSFE TJ DAVE YJ FatTEST20 CI NETWORKA CI TREEPR TJ DEMDADHM T FT2Share J PRODUCT J UPSNET VISMAM Bi File name Eis Save as Ippe FastTEST Workspaces fdb Cancel 2
96. ort Results Report When the import process is complete you will have the option of viewing a report on the importing of your item statistics This report provides an item by item report based on each line of your item statistics file The report is written to a file that is named by appending Import results txt to the name of your item statistics file If the import for a given item was successfully completed the report shows for each item statistic the original value in the item bank and the new value This information is provided so that you have a record of the values that were replaced in case an error was made in your import file e g an incorrect unique item ID If the Import Wizard detects any errors in the import file for example missing IDs blank numerical fields values that are out of the allowed range for a given statistic a message is provided in the report describing the nature of the problem 25 z Chapter 2 Item Banking A portion of a sample report is shown in Figure 2 26 Figure 2 26 A Portion of a Sample Report from the Item Statistics Import Wizard EIRT Import1_txt Import Results txt Notepad el Es File Edit Search Help Report of Item Statistics Import From File C FastTEsST 2 6 final version IRT Importt txt Field Unigue ID Changed From To Protected IRT a 9 8 6896 6 6891 Yes IRT b 9 4 6862 8 6862 Yes IRT c 9 0 2374 0 2374 Yes IRT a 28 0 5204 0 5204 No IRT b 28 0 5360 6 5368 No IRT c 2
97. port utility between BT and ET because any combination of characters will result in any item text beyond this combination of characters to be ignored On the extremely rare occasions that you need to use two Commercial At characters together between the Begin Text and End Text separators place a space between them and make a note to yourself to use the FastTEST 2 0 Item Editor to remove the space after the item has been imported 94 Appendix A Importing Items Example 1 D bank2 BT Item text appears here any number of lines ET This will create an item identified as lt none gt in the top level of Bank2 because there is no followed by an item identifier Example 2 D math gradel 1 algebra intro BT Item text appears here any number of lines ET Because there is no with an identifier following it this will create item lt none gt in the intro algebra grade11 subsection of the Math item bank Example 3 D bank I level2 level33 level444 1tem1 BT This is the text of Item 1 It can have as many lines as required and can include graphics in addition to item text All blank spaces and formatting will be imported as it appears in your import file ET This will place the item text between the BT and ET lines as Item 1 in the subcategory level2 level33 level444 of bank1 If the complete bank structure you specify does not exist it will be created by the impor
98. r D math gradel l algebra intro item 200 BN This is a very difficult item It was used in last year s exam and only 10 of the class answered it correctly But it s very useful for sorting out the high ability kids in the class EN KA c SO taken from the textbook page 312 103 Appendix A Importing Items IR 3p 1 6 2 75 22 TY mc SC y BT This is the text of Item 200 from the Intro subsection of the algebra part for grade 11 of the math item bank Following are the answers to the question a Answer 1 b Answer 2 c Answer 3 d Answer 4 ET D math gradel l algebra intro item 201 KA a SO tfrom class assignment third week of the semester IR 3p 1 0 1 6 20 TY mc SC y BN A moderately easy item Maybe they just remembered the solution to it Maybe next time we use this in an exam we should change the numbers a bit to see if they are remembering the answer or if they are really learning how to solve this type of problem EN BT This 1s item 201 from the same bank and here are its answers a Answer 1 b Answer 2 c Answer 3 d Answer 4 Any blank lines or other text between BT and ET will be imported as part of the item ET Each file to be imported continues with as many items as necessary each beginning with an ID line 104 Appendix A Importing Items Appendix B Using FastTEST 2 0 with Right to Left Languages Fast
99. r just ID o If ID is used with no information following it e the bank path or even a bank name is not included then all items using only ID will be placed in a Bank named Imported e g ID If the ID line includes just a bank name the items will be placed in the main section of the bank and their item identifiers will all be lt none gt e g ID MyBank In either of these situations you can then later change these item identifiers and can drag and drop items into the full bank structure once you create it If you provide an item identifier as shown above the item identifier follows the bank path separated by a colon e g ID MyBank Item 13 You can specify the specific location of an item in your bank structure on the ID line by specifying the complete path of the item in the hierarchical Structure o The Bank Path can consist of a series of bank name and sub folder names separated by the backslash character In FastTEST 2 0 the bank name is considered to be the folder before the first backslash E g ID MyBank Category subcategory 3 item 37 FastTEST 2 0 limits bank sub folder and item identifiers to 15 characters in length Bank and folder names longer than 15 characters will be truncated to 15 characters without warning _ 93 Appendix A Importing Items o The following characters are not allowed in bank and folder name asterisk percent forward slash
100. r model may be entered as either R 2P 2 2 1 2 or R 2P 2 2 1 2 For the 3 parameter model the a b and c parameters must be entered The following is an example for the 3 parameter model IR 3P 2 2 1 2 0 25 For all IRT Models the a b and c parameters must be in the proper ranges The a parameter must be in the range 0 0001 to 4 000 The b parameter must be in the range 5 000 to 5 000 The c parameter must be in the range 0 to 0 9999 If the IRT Model information line is not provided the values are not in acceptable range are incorrectly specified or otherwise invalid the default values will be used Default Values IRT Model None a Parameter 1 0 101 Appendix A Importing Items b Parameter 0 0 c Parameter 0 0 Classical Test Theory Parameters The Classical Test Theory Statistics information line 1s CT Place the classical test theory statistics in the order p value and item total correlation separated by a comma after the equals sign Skip a parameter by leaving it blank If only one parameter 1s included it will be presumed to be the p value Examples CT 0 83 0 23 CT 0 83 CT 0 23 The p value and item total correlation must be in the correct ranges The range for the p value must be between 0 and 1 inclusive The range for the item total correlation must be between 1 and 1 inclusive If the classical test theory statistics are not provided the values are not in ac
101. r the item is calculated and displayed below the IRT Parameters Panel To display or update that information click the calculator icon below the IRT Parameters Panel see Figure 2 12 This information is updated when the item is closed if you save the changes made to the item but it should be updated any time you change the parameter estimates Figure 2 12 The Item Statistics Tab for an Open Item with IRT Parameter Estimates Entered GAA el g Also when an IRT model is selected the View IRT Item Functions button in the right hand panel is activated Clicking this button results in graphic displays of the IRT item information function Figure 2 13 and the item response function Figure 2 14 If you have just changed or entered IRT parameter estimates be sure to update the calculations to ensure that the graphs are correct Once the View IRT Item Functions button is ee Chapter 2 Item Banking toggled it will remain on as you move from item to item until the Hide Graphics button in the graphics panel is clicked Figure 2 13 The Item Statistics Tab of an Open Item With the Item Information Function Displayed fA FastTEST Item Editor Intro Msmt Inst Const As Figures 2 13 and 2 14 show both the item information and item response functions can be printed or saved as files In addition the computed values for both functions can be printed or saved as files These values are computed at 121 values of 0 in
102. remained in the order in which they were created Import FTL Tests 90 Chapter 4 Utilities Importing FastTEST Tests from Earlier Versions of FastTEST If you have created tests in earlier versions of FastTEST they are easily imported into FastTEST 2 0 First open the FastTEST 2 0 workspace into which you want to import the test from the earlier version of FastTEST Next open the pulldown Utilities menu and select Import Old FastTEST Tests or select Import FT1 Tests from the Navigation Panel Then go the main folder of the earlier version of FastTEST and select the ts file you want to import All FastTEST Version 1 tests of the same name e g Test ts1 Test ts2 Test ts3 that can be found will be imported simultaneously Because of the way FastTEST 1 stored the items the item banks for these tests will also be imported at this same time After the test file has been imported and you have made any changes you would like to make create a new printed test using the option on the Tests pulldown menu or on the Test Formatter toolbar _ Q Chapter 4 Utilities Item Banks Items Utilities Compact Database Import FT1 Bank ika e Import FT11 Tests Appendix A Preparing Your File With Item Text for Importing The Item Text Import Program uses separator lines to tell 1t when each item begins and ends and to provide the information necessary to locate the item and the optional it
103. rent way The reliability index is the square root of the reliability coefficient and it is the correlation between true and observed score scores The reliability coefficient is used to obtain an estimate of the standard error of measurement The index of reliability is used to obtain an estimate of the true score based on an observed score Modified Astar EX ERCP Webmail Log gt Daily O Exploring E Brie FastTEST Tes fJuntitied Pait Microsoft Word EZAIWA 8 47 PM Fd Fasti TEST ltem Editor Sample Business Marketing WMARKETO1 Quantile Plots Tab Te The Quantile Plots tab is a large open yea x E i area like the Notes tab but intended to Identifier Test Information Statistics Guantile Plot Notes provide a place to store an item quantile A amp plot The item quantile plot is arguably the best way to depict the performance 7 of an item with classical statistics and is calculated by specialized classical a software like Lertap and Iteman 4 Because it is based on classical ne statistics this tab does not become visible until a classical statistic is entered on the Statistics Tab tem 2 2 The Quantile Plots tab allows you to a ie man add notes or comments about the item i that you want to have associated with the plot 3g Chapter 2 Item Banking Closing an Item To close and item click on the X box on the item toolbar If you have made any changes to th
104. rimination between M o0 0 00 C ooo 0 00 rl ooo 0 00 E oo 0 00 Maximum item information values between f o0 0 00 C ooo 0 00 C ooo 0 00 Date Created between ltem Total Correlations between P Value between IRT b parameter difficulty between IRT parameter guessing between Max item info falls between theta of User between User 2 between 2 Next in the Search Results window that will open open the Select menu and choose Select Random Figure 3 2 You can then specify the number of items to be selected randomly from the list of items 62 in this example that resulted from the search To add those items to the test once the random process has highlighted the selected items click the green If an item is already in the test FastTEST will inform you and give you the opportunity to skip including that item in your test 60 Chapter 3 Assembling Tests Inclusive Inclusive Inclishve IncIWehve inclusie inclusie incluse incluse incluse incluse Figure 3 2 The Search Results Window A FastTEST Search Results search Select Miew Ctrl Select All ltem Ide O01 002 O01 O03 O04 agi Ou O01 002 O01 O01 Ou O01 Ou O01 O01 Ou OOS O01 T Select Random Ctri A ae TEP Indes vs coefficient reliability vs reproducibility homogeneous SEM limitations and interpretation SEM purpose procedures true score
105. rkspace can have its own password 2 All information on items and tests in a workspace is encrypted FastTEST 2 0 Manual Page 7 Chapter 2 Workspaces FastTEST 2 0 is a 32 bit item banker and test assembly system for creating conventional tests 1 e tests comprised of a fixed set of items surveys and questionnaires It allows you to create as many structured item banks as you desire with an unlimited number of items in each bank Extensive item bank search capabilities help you efficiently create instruments that meet your needs If your item banks include item statistics conventional item response theory or your own item statistics you can monitor the Statistical and psychometric characteristics of your tests as you assemble them The FastTEST Main Window All functions of FastTEST are available to you from the Main Window shown in Figure 1 1 Figure 1 1 FastTEST 2 0 s Main Window on Opening the System Fa FastiEST Test Development System Version 2 0 MEI E3 File workspade Banks Items Tests Utilities View Statistics Help f workspaces Workspaces Export Bank The Navigation Panel Import Bank Export Test Import Test Item Banks tems f rss ites apace No Workspace Open 0000 i Start ATT pr S ces I By Exploring C Fast EF Microsoft Word C FastTEST Tes Bed 2454 2 36 PM The section on the left of the Main Window is
106. rm you when the import is complete In order to successfully import a test the item identifiers and bank structure must match exactly between the two workspaces The item identifiers should also be unique within the bank structure or an error message will be displayed and the import will fail Finally when you are sure that the test has been properly and completely copied to the new workspace return to the original workspace from which the test was copied Open the workspace with the test you copied open the test and then select Delete Test from the Tests pulldown menu or select the button shown on the right from the Test Assembler toolbar To insure that you have not accidentally requested deletion of a test you will be asked to confirm this action p Exporr Rank Triport Bank gt Export Test Import Test workspaces pr Export Bank Import rank gt Export Test Import Test FastTEST 2 0 Manual Page 15 WOFESPACES Chapter 3 Creating and Working with Item Banks Creating Structured Item Banks Having created a workspace to store your items and tests the next step is to open one or more banks into which you will save your questions items and from which you will draw items to create your tests You can access or create your item banks by selecting Item Banks on the Navigation Panel or by using the pulldown Banks menu Figure 2 1 Item
107. s provides an item by item listing of all of the item statistics for all the items in your test as shown in Figure 3 10 This listing can be printed or saved as a file When saved as a file its space delimited format is designed to be easily imported into other statistical software for additional analyses after deleting the header information Only the item specific part of the item identifier is displayed in this file since the complete path of an item identifier can be quite long up to 240 characters The complete item identifier path is displayed in the test item list in the Test Assembler window and is also available in the Test Item List see Obtaining a List of Items In a Test below The complete path of the items in a test optionally can be provided on the Test Scoring Key 75 Chapter 3 Assembling Tests Figure 3 10 FastTEST s Listing of the Item Statistics for The Items in a Test Fd Item Statistics List Test Test Wark Date Mank Item Mo l l l We fo n n toh e Il FPRPRPRPRPREPE EB Ann kw NP oO 18 Hin Hax Hear Save Item Statistics List Name Final Exam F OS Description Final Exam for Measurement Fall 003 Bi Es m PRErPOPRPEER space Ci FastTEST 0 Dave s Banks and Tests fdb Created 9 25 02 er of Items 18 Proportion Itenm Total IET Parameters Max Correct Correlation a b c User 1 User z Info oO 5000 4500 1 0000 oO 0000 O 0000 0 66 0 3
108. s 11 a E E A E A E E E 26 un Aed EE o AA E E E A A E netans Zh MANS EAN A CU tae ce ipa E T vt cept pelo A EEE E eas soa ate inet jaca ET 32 a O A A A E E A AE 33 RATS SMe o E sc ce E E E E E E 34 Natec Taen E ete ase sda tata eakenrate Cae de eptaeehaae 37 MPAA LS POS TaD gation sder stuns ae suai assecans E asuvaeanteavenechasuesdtcesva tans busuauesiavaearoiee 38 CUO S111 Ai Ceci seic tees esadsasvcunacusresue stsohve ska yusdantmabes aude sboesosalsduessbnctoncssveoetai Ghose lauwelvanadwobercteanoediansiees 39 Saving or Printing All the Information on an Item sssssscsccccssssssssssssssccccsscessssccees 39 CHECKE SGU sessecescssarsslosecaceecescsssasessaiessiasvesnsoucrceeseassussssdavczacsssseeseeecvdassauevesecevecensessesiesees 39 Selecting One or More Operational Dictionaries ccccccssssssseseeseseeeecceeeeeceeeeaaaseeseseseeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaas 39 Running the Spell Checker a552 scsc5tenciasucoasscuncanamiaenainecunsancuatntdaetcenpudanenntoacineuseacebadasetcsatanemimendbet cuneate 40 Creating Dictionaries for the Spell Checker nnnnnenssssseeeeeeeenensssssssssssseeerereesssssssssssseecrseeereereessssssees 40 E DE E e E A E couch E A E A A NT 41 Scarchine TOP TOMS siicsiecssdtesiwesciewsestccsevevesdanssanctansenselescscsecevespnalansecscaateesselavessustivevarsdesseauceouees 41 hupor ne lieri SCAG HES eisses annen EENE EEEIEE EEEE ENNES 42 Step 1 Specifying the Type of Statistics File to be Imported cccc
109. s in the file are ignored unless they appear in the Item Text or Notes fields Then they are imported as blank lines e Once the appropriate coding is added to a Word or other word processor file you must save it as an RTF file to be imported e Text files require no further modification other than insertion of the appropriate separator and optional information lines e You can import items into multiple item banks from the same file as long as the item banks are in the same workspace You should make a backup copy of your FastTEST workspace before running the item text import program _ 92 Appendix A Importing Items Required Separators Each item must begin with a minimum of two separator lines and end with a single separator line Additional information lines can be used as desired by the user to import additional information on each item All separator and additional information lines must begin with in the first column Note that there should be no space on either side of the that follows the The Item Identifier Separator This is the first required separator line Its format 1s ID Without this separator no items will be found when the file is processed This separator uses the following format ID lt Bank Path gt lt Item Identifier gt 1 e the Bank Path followed by the Item Identifier separated by a colon This can be a full path including the item identifier or just a bank name o
110. st select a bank by clicking on its name in the Banks Panel e g Figure 2 2 To create categories within a bank select New Category from the Navigation Panel or New Category from the Banks pulldown menu F4 FastT EST Test Development System Yersio File Workspace Banks ltems Tests Utilities Vie ra a Show All Banks Show Bank Workspaces Close All Banks Item Banks New Bank Edt Bank Propenies TS ele Hank Show All New Category F Edit Category Properties Delete Category Show Bank Frint S ave Folder Structure Then enter a category name 15 characters maximum and a description 80 characters maximum in the dialog box that appears As for bank descriptions category descriptions will appear at the bottom of the Banks Panel when a category is selected If you later decide you want to change the name or description of a category or a bank select the category or bank and right click it to edit the category or bank properties or select Edit Category Properties from the Banks menu eis lt Chapter 2 Item Banking Figure 2 4 shows a workspace with three banks Intro Msmt IRT Course and Statistics The shown for the first bank indicates that the bank has one or more subcategories defined in its structure The second and third banks IRT Course and Statistics have no subcategories defined Figure 2 4 A Workspace With Three Banks BEE intro Memt A E IRT Course m0 S
111. t at Row Data Preview 9 0 6891 0 6062 0 2374 z8 0 5204 0 5360 0 2451 73 0 7612 0 4503 0 2461 22 0 7269 0 8308 0 2520 0 8024 0 4112 0 2379 0 6982 0 17863 0 2512 6 Heokto leta ra 0 2550 nl Cancel Bevis Next Emish If your data do not begin at row 1 select the appropriate starting row This allows you to have information at the beginning of the data file that you might want to skip because it may be field names instructions or other important information that is not to be imported Step 2 Specify Columns Delimited Data In Step 2 for delimited data you simply confirm or change the separator delimiter _A5 Chapter 2 Item Banking Data in Columns In Step 2 for data on columns the Wizard displays data that are in columns with separator lines If your data are not perfectly aligned in columns the first set of separators displayed by the Wizard might not completely separate the data values as shown in Figure 2 20 Figure 2 20 Step 2 of the Item Statistics Import Wizard for Data in Columns Import Statistics Wizard Step 2 of 4 Set where the column breaks are that separate the fields To create a break line click at the desired position To delete a break line double click on the line When finished click the Nest button Data Preview Pe 10 20 30 I l I I l l I I I I I i l I l I I I i l l o 689l 0 606 Eieaa 64 20 O 5204 O 53560 O 2451 Fa O 612 O 450
112. t into FastTEST 2 0 5 2542 Chapter 2 Item Banking The input file for ITEMSTAT is the PAR file output from ITEMAN Because the structure of the PAR is different for dichotomous and multipoint items you must indicate which type of items were analyzed The output file from ITEMSTAT is the file with item statistics to be imported into FastTEST Note that the number of rows lines to be skipped in Step 1 of the Import Wizard is specified in the file Figure 2 28 shows a portion of a sample output file from ITEMSTAT Figure 2 28 A Portion of a Sample Output File From ITEMSTAT a samplel out Notepad OF File Edit Search Help Program ITEHMSTAT a Date 1711704 at 8 55 17 PH ITEMAN statistics file C DelphiS Projects Itemstat sample1 PAR Type of items Dichotomous Output file for FastTEsST 2 0 import C DelphiS4Projects I temstat sampled out Number of items 38 Add the FastTEsT 2 6 Unique ID for each item in columns 1 6 of this file The following statistics are in this file in the following order Columns 10 14 Discrimination index High proportion minus low proportion Import as User 1 or User 2 Columns 18 22 Total group proportion correct P Value Columns 276 38 Point biserial correlation Item Total Correlation Columns 34 38 Biserial correlation Item Total Correlation To import this file into FastTEST 2 0 skip 17 rows lines at the beginning of the file 0 793 0 363 0 515 0 685 4 661 H 7
113. t program Additional items in the same file to be imported each begin with anew ID line If additional item information is imported for each item each type of information is identified by its own type of additional information line Default Value Blank Q5 Appendix A Importing Items Additional Optional Lines of Information Additional lines of information provide information to be stored in the other fields in each item s record in the item bank Additional lines are optional with each beginning on a new line Spaces are not allowed around signs Additional lines can appear in any order They can precede or follow a text block All additional information lines are assumed to be associated with the last ID line that they follow Notes Because the Notes field can contain more than one line of text two separators are needed The Begin Notes separator is BN This marks the beginning of the Notes text Place this separator on a separate line When the Notes text 1s complete use the End Notes separator EN Place the End Notes separator on a separate line following the notes text Neither the BN nor the EN separator lines have any further information on them Any blank lines between the Begin Notes and End Notes separator will be imported into the Notes field Example BN This is a difficult item It requires the student to apply three different Operations in a particular sequence and th
114. tTEST s Item Editor makes it easy to insert special characters into your items using any Windows fonts that are available on your computer To insert special characters first place the cursor in your item at the location at which you want the special characters Then open the Insert menu and select Special Character or select the E button The following window will then open 237 s Chapter 2 Item Banking Insert Special Characters Characters to Inserk Tr Symbol PrE aye gt i oe amb gt J IB UE A E T HJI j RA MIN OUI JO P Z T Y Je Qe LY 2 I Fe a od Bly 8 ed ov ae op x gt la e lo a 8 oo a ot u oa lE op Ef J box T lt ii jo lf ajel lm lolelT io fl e x Je la le 2 fe e id SISIR p e Beau gt pit clo ee 4 Y 0 a ja y ee fT iC EJS m ZE A WT IL UP a PE e PPE AE AT TE A fe N y OK x Cancel Decimal 41 Hex 29 HTML Number Code HTML Name Code Keystroke To insert one or more special characters first select the font from which you want to select In this example the Symbol font has been selected in order to insert Greek symbols Second select the character you want to insert An enlarged view of the selected character is shown to the right of the font selection box If you have selected the correct character click the Add button at the top This will add the selected character to the string of special characters to be inserted into your
115. tatistics Once you have created the main categories for your bank you will likely want to create categories under those categories to implement your hierarchical structure The process of adding subcategories is the same as adding categories select the category under which you want to add subcategories and then select New Category from either the Navigation Panel or the Banks menu or select the New Category button from the Item Banker toolbar You can then add categories under those subcategories by selecting subcategories and repeating this process Double clicking on the category name of a bank or a category within a bank will display the subcategories or hide them if they are already displayed Figure 2 5 shows that the Intro Msmt bank has three major categories that define the three major sections of a course on introduction to psychological measurement The first two categories Inst Const and Reliability which are preceded by a have additional categories under them whereas Validity does not Figure 2 5 The Three Banks With the First Level of the Intro Meas Bank Structure Shown Intro Msmt J Inst Const H 9 Reliability Validity IAT Course Statistics Figure 2 6 shows the Intro Msmt bank with a subcategory structure for Reliability that is five levels deep to reflect the structure of that portion of the course _19 Chapter 2 Item Banking Figure 2 6 The Intro Msmt Bank With Some Sub
116. tatistics Notes ltem Identifier ooz Description scaling and IRAT Kepwords Guttman Likert IAT essay 8 To add items to your test highlight them in the test list either singly or in subsets or choose Select All from the Select menu then click the green plus sign Randomly selecting items from the search results After doing a search of the item bank to select items that meet specified criteria you might want to randomly select a subset of these items to include in your test To do this open the Select menu in the window that provides the results of the item search labeled FastTest Search Results and select Select Random You will then see the dialog box in Figure 3 5 which will request the number of items you want to randomly select from the list You can select up to the number of items minus 1 65 Chapter 3 Assembling Tests Figure 3 5 The Random Select Dialog Box Choose a number between 1 and 20 The selected items will then be highlighted in the item list Figure 3 6 If an item that is selected randomly is already in the test you will receive a warning message with appropriate options To add the randomly selected items to an open test click the green plus sign below the item list Figure 3 6 Results of Randomly Selecting Items from a List of Items Identified in a Search ea FastTEST Search Results Search Select Wiew E 004 test information Intro Merotslnst Const MIA T
117. ted Test that identifier to indicate that it was a variation of the Preview Printed Test protected item You could add a 1 2 or 1 2 etc to Printed Test Options each modified item to relate it to the original item but indicate that it is a modification For example a protected item with an identifier of Item Icould have its duplicate renamed to Item 1 1 Note that the modified item will have a different unique internal item number from the original which can later be used to differentiate them if the identifier is not changed The internal item number can optionally be output on the test answer key It can also be viewed by holding down the left mouse button and grabbing the last divider on the right in the Item List header then dragging it to the right PrintSave Test List Navigating to Other FastTEST Windows The remaining buttons on the Test Formatter toolbar katala allow you to navigate to the active Item Banker Test Assembler Item Editor and Item Search windows You can also use Ctrl F6 on the keyboard to quickly switch to the other open windows 89 Chapter 4 Printing Tests Chapter 6 Utilities FastTEST has utility functions for compacting databases moving item banks from one workspace to another moving tests from one workspace to another and importing item banks and tests from earlier versions of FastTEST Compacting Databases When you delete an item from a FastTEST item or t
118. w workspace into which you want to import that test and select Import from the Workspace menu Select the name of the exported test file and the import process will then complete After you complete the export import process you will likely want to return to the original workspace in which the test existed and delete it so that you do not have the same test in two different places 8 Chapter 3 Assembling Tests Chapter 5 Preparing Tests for Printing Once you have finished selecting items for your test you will want to prepare it for printing To do this select Format Printed Test from the Tests menu Tests Utilities View Statistics Hew Test Open Test Close T est Add Test to Current Test Delete Test Save Test s Delete ltem From Test Edit Test Properties Scramble Test Items Update iest Frotect Test Format Printed Test Preview Printed Test Printed Test Options PrintSave Test List or select the Format Printed Test button from the Test Assembler toolbar IR TE This will open the Test Formatter window that has your test almost ready to print All items will be numbered in the order in which you inserted them in the test Each item will appear with the font and margins that it had in the item bank The font and margins and other formatting aspects of your test can be changed in the test formatting process These functions are accessed from the Test Formatter menus an
119. will then open in which you name your bank and provide a description of it Figure 2 3 Figure 2 3 Creating a New Bank Bank Hame Descriptions ee ie M Cancel Bank names are limited to 15 characters and may include spaces and most punctuation Bank descriptions can be up to 80 characters long The descriptions are displayed at the bottom of the Banks Panel when a bank is selected see Figure 2 2 27 lt Chapter 2 Item Banking Creating Your Bank Structure FastTEST s item banks are designed to accommodate hierarchical structures so that your banks can reflect the structure of a curriculum the needs of large item banking projects or any other application for which structured item banks are useful FastTEST will allow you to create banks that are up to 10 or more levels deep with multiple categories at each level The actual limit to the number of levels depends on the maximum total length of all category and subcategory names for the path to the lowest level category you can have a deeper bank structure if you use shorter category names You can also place items in any category of the hierarchical bank structure Items can be freely moved by drag and drop among the categories within a bank or between banks within a workspace In addition bank categories including all the items in them and subcategories below them can also be moved both within and between banks by drag and drop To create your bank structure fir
120. you saved workspaces in other folders you can access them by selecting More files Use the standard file dialog box that appears to select the drive and folder in which your workspaces have been saved If you move or copy a FastTEST workspace from one computer to another copy the workspace into the Workspaces folder within your main FastTEST folder Then open it the first time using the More files option to locate the file Once opened in this manner the workspace will then be listed under existing workspaces on future use To help you keep track of the currently open workspace the name of the workspace you are using is shown in the blue title bar at the top of the FastTEST window Passwords When you create a workspace you can provide a password to protect access to your banks and tests Each workspace can have a separate password You can change your password at any time from within a workspace To ensure that only someone who knows the current workspace password is changing it in case you left a workspace open and FastTEST 2 0 Manual Page 11 someone else tries to change your password you will be asked to provide the old password for that workspace as well as a new password The Item Banker Window Figure 1 4 shows the Item Banker window that appears when you open a Workspace with the three main panels other than the Navigation Panel labeled according to their function Figure 1 4 The Item Banker Window File W
121. ype of item create a separate item for the passage and separate items for each question to be asked about the passage It would of course be appropriate to store all of these items in a subsection of a bank so they can all be selected at once for inclusion in the test Then designate the passage as an instructional item so that it will not be numbered or scored When your test is printed the passage will have no number but will be followed by a set of numbered questions that continue the numbering from previous questions in your test Examining the Statistical Characteristics of Your Test Graphic and Tabular Summaries of Item Statistics In addition to displaying the IRT functions for your tests FastTEST will also provide you with distributional statistics on the items in a test as you assemble it In this way you can monitor the statistical characteristics of your test items as you add and delete items from your test until you are satisfied that it has the statistical characteristics that you desire You can view item statistics for IRT item parameters classical conventional item Statistics and the two fields of user statistics that you can use for any statistical data that you desire User 1 and User 2 All statistics and displays are automatically updated as you add or delete items from your test Before you view the item statistics for a test you will probably want to set the frequency intervals for the graphic and tabular distri

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