CONFIDENCE IN PASS FAIL DECISIONS FOR COMPUTER ADAPTIVE AND PAPER AND PENCIL EXAMINATIONS

The purpose of this study is to compare the level of confidence in pass/fail decisions obtained with computer adaptive tests and pencil and paper tests. Examinees took a variable-length computer adaptive test and two fixed-length pencil and paper tests. The computer adaptive test was stopped when the examinee ability estimate was either 1.3 times the standard error of measurement above or below the pass/fail point (one-tailed 90% confidence interval) or when a maximum test length was reached Results show that greater confidence in the accuracy of the pass/fail decisions is obtained for more examinees when the computer adaptive test implements a 90% confidence stopping rule than with paper and pencil tests of comparable test length.