Computerized Adaptive Testing: From Concept to Implementation

David J. Weiss · Alper Sahin

Apr 2024 · Guilford Publications

About this ebook

Used worldwide in assessment and professional certification contexts, computerized adaptive testing (CAT) offers a powerful means to measure individual differences or make classifications. This authoritative work from CAT pioneer David J. Weiss and Alper Şahin provides a complete how-to guide for planning and implementing an effective CAT to create a test unique to each person in real time. The book reviews the history of CAT and the basics of item response theory used in CAT. It walks the reader through developing an item bank, pretesting and linking items, selecting required CAT options, and using simulations to design a CAT. Available software for CAT delivery is described, including links to free and commercial options. Engaging multidisciplinary examples illustrate applications of CAT for measuring ability, achievement, proficiency, personality, attitudes, perceptions, patients’ reports of their symptoms, and academic or clinical progress.
 

About the author

David J. Weiss, PhD, is Professor of Psychology at the University of Minnesota. Widely regarded as the father of computerized adaptive testing (CAT), he began his CAT research and founded the Quantitative and Psychometric Methods program at the University of Minnesota in 1970. His subsequent research provided the basis for the development of the CAT version of the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery and a variety of other CAT implementations, including in education, nursing licensure, and personality measurement. Dr. Weiss has been active in CAT research continuously and has trained many leading CAT researchers and implementers. He was the founding editor of the journal Applied Psychological Measurement, and is co-founder and permanent President Emeritus of the International Association for Computerized Adaptive Testing (IACAT). He was the founding editor of IACAT’s official journal, the Journal of Computerized Adaptive Testing. Dr. Weiss also co-founded Assessment Systems Corporation and the Insurance Testing Corporation. A Fellow of the American Educational Research Association (AERA) and the American Psychological Association, he is a recipient of the Bradley Hanson Award for Contributions to Educational Measurement from the National Council on Measurement in Education and the Award for Significant Contribution to Educational Measurement and Research Methodology from Division D (Measurement and Research Methodologies) of the AERA.
 
Alper Sahin, PhD, is Associate Professor of Educational Measurement and Evaluation in Türkiye. In the field of psychometrics, he is recognized for his seminal work on determining the minimum sample sizes necessary for the reliable estimation of item parameters in dichotomous item response theory models. He is the author of the State Test Anxiety Scale, which is based on a biopsychosocial model of test anxiety. From 2015 to 2023, Dr. Sahin served as Director of Education on the board of the International Association for Computerized Adaptive Testing. Currently, he is a board member of the Association for Measurement and Evaluation in Education and Psychology, and serves as Chairperson in the Department of Basic English at Atilim University.