Some Implications of Expertise Research for Educational Assessment

IAEA 2008 Slide 1September 8, 2008

Some Implications of Expertise Research for Educational Assessment

Robert J. Mislevy, PhDProfessor of Measurement & Statistics

University of Maryland

Keynote address at the 34th International Association for Educational Assessment (IAEA) Conference, Cambridge University, September 8, 2008.


Introduction These are exciting times in

assessment. Developments in psychology and

technology. Insights from expertise research with

implications for assessment design. Let’s start with a quiz.


What is this a picture of? (http://www.optillusions.com)


Which cards need to be turned over?

E 4 T 7

Each card has a letter on one side and a number on the other. Consider the rule “If there is a vowel on one side, there is an even number on the other.” Which cards do you need to turn over to make sure the rule is not violated? (Wason,1966)


A Little Story

I will read a little story and ask you some questions about it.


Was this sentence in the story?

1. Mary gave Ed a stuffed hippo.

2. Harold received ninety gifts.

3. Ralph gave Tina a toy car.


There were five sentences in the story.

In order, what were the second-to-last words in each of the sentences?


What is this a picture of? (http://www.optillusions.com)


Which cards need to be turned over?

E 4 T 7

Each card has a letter on one side and a number on the other. Consider the rule “If there is a vowel on one side, there is an even number on the other.” Which cards do you need to turn over to make sure the rule is not violated? (Wason,1966)

Whose IDs do we need to check?

Each person has an age and a beverage. Consider the rule “If you are under 21, your beverage must be non-alcoholic.” Which people do you need to check to make sure the rule is not violated?

15Year old

Water drinke

r

30Year old

Wine drinke

r


Was this sentence in the story?

1. Mary gave Ed a stuffed hippo.

2. Harold received ninety gifts.

3. Ralph gave Tina a toy car.

YES

NO

NO

Ralph gave a toy car to Tina.


There were five sentences in the story.

In order, what were the second-to-last words in each of the sentences?

One, stuffed, to, four, holiday.


Limitations and DifficultiesProcessing limitations Limited attention Limited working memory

Knowledge limitations Not knowing what information is relevant Don’t know how to integrate information Not knowing what to expect Not knowing what to do and when to do it Lack of production proficiency


Capabilities Reasoning in terms of patterns Many patterns simultaneously (language) Can make perception, procedures, strategies

automatic with practice Can think about our thinking (metacognition) Benefit from procedures, methods, tools, external

knowledge representations

Expertise as the circumvention of human processing limitations (Salthouse, 1991)


A Closer Look at Cognition Knowledge as patterns, at many levels… Assembled to understand, to interact with, and to

create particular situations in the world Developed, strengthened, modified by use Associations of all kinds, including applicability,

affordances, procedures, strategies, affect

“The user’s knowledge of the language rules is

interlocked with his knowledge of when, where, and

with whom to use them” (R. Ellis, 1985)


Walter Kintsch’s CI Theory of Reading Comprehension

More focused research areas within cognitive psychology today differ as to their foci, methods, and levels of explanation. They include perception and attention, language and communication, development of expertise, situated and sociocultural psychology, and neurological bases of cognition.

Text Text base Situation ModelContext

Context1

LTM

•E.g., reading tasks in Occupational English Test (OET; McNamara, 1996) call upon patterns re language, but also genre, medical knowledge, use of information in clinical settings

•E.g., reading tasks in Occupational English Test (OET; McNamara, 1996) call upon patterns re language, but also genre, medical knowledge, use of information in clinical settings

A relevant pattern from LTM may be activated in contexts but not others (e.g., physics models, use of conditionals).If a pattern hasn’t been learned, it won’t be activated (although it may get constructed in the interaction).

A relevant pattern from LTM may be activated in contexts but not others (e.g., physics models, use of conditionals).If a pattern hasn’t been learned, it won’t be activated (although it may get constructed in the interaction).




Text Text base LTM Situation Model ActionContext

Context1

Context2





Context1

Context2





Context2

Context3


Expertise Research

Cognitive task analysis (e.g., Simon & Chase) Compare experts & novices in replicable conditions

What knowledge is needed? How is it represented? How is it used? What makes tasks hard?

Ethnographic research (e.g., Lave) Expertise in situ “Critical incident” studies (NBME)

Replication possible in simulations Flight simulators, football kick in video situations


Expertise ResearchExperts organize their knowledge effectively

Perceive / understand / act in terms of fundamental principles rather than surface features (Chi, Feltovich, & Glaser)

Importance of interaction with situationCycles of “perceive / understand / act”

External knowledge representations (KRs)Nexus of info-processing & sociocultural POVSupported cognition / distributed cognition


So…

How do you use this improved understanding of the nature and acquisition of expertise to design and conduct assessments?


Assessment Arguments

What complex of knowledge, skills, or other attributes should be assessed?

What behaviors or performances should reveal those constructs?

What tasks or situations should elicit those behaviors?

(Messick, 1994)


Examples

The Architectural Registration Examination (ARE)

Architectural design; CAD-like environment

DISC simulator

Simulations for problem-solving in dental hygiene

NetPASS (Cisco)

Computer network design & troubleshooting


ARE Example (Irv Katz, ETS) To replace 10-hour hand-drawn design

problem Reflects changing of profession to CAD Premium on thinking, not drawing Planning the firestation site


An Example of a Task Prompt for the ARE

IAEA 2008 Slide 26September 8, 2008An Illustrative Base Diagram for an ARE Task

AB

D

IAEA 2008 Slide 27September 8, 2008 A Sample Solution to an ARE Task


NCARB Example (Irv Katz, ETS)

Differences between novices and experts• Success rate: 98% vs. 88%

• Planning time & execution time

• Patterns of revision involving rework

Implications for task design: Constraints• Number

• Variation in importance/difficulty

• Degree of conflict

• Implicit constraints? (c.f. writing expertise)


Design Patterns

“Design under constraints” is common to many domains: e.g., engineering, assessment design, wedding planning, apparel design

Could define a Design Pattern with these as foci What are characteristics of performances (i.e.,

observables) that evidence these knowledge / capabilities / attunements?

What are characteristics of situations that elicit these observables?


Other design pattern possibilities

Troubleshooting finite systems Medical diagnosis Inquiry cycle Model-based reasoning


DISC Example

The Dental Interactive Simulations Corporation (DISC)

The DISC Simulator & Scoring Engine Cognitive Task Analysis to support

design rationale


Goals of the DISC CTA

What are the kinds of knowledge and skills that hygienists call upon to solve problems and make decisions in dental hygiene?

What do they say and do that gives you evidence about their use of this knowledge?

What kinds of situations call upon this knowledge?

How do you make re-usable schemas to evoke evidence and construct ‘stories’ around these recurring patterns?


Using Disparate Sources of Information

Expert Tries to use all sources of information all the time. Constructs a model of the patient, with each source of information an imperfect and incomplete window on some aspect of the total situation. Exhibits movement back and forth between sources (resources and personal knowledge/experience), trying to fit the partial clues together into a unified whole.

Novice Uses single information sources in isolation. Compartmentalized use of information and failure to integrate information across sources.


Formulating Problems & Hypotheses Expert Forms problems and generates hypotheses

using efficient, focused, and targeted action. Uses forward and deductive reasoning in formulating problems. Thinks strategically and functions within the problem space. Efficiently generates and prunes search trees.

Novice Uses forward reasoning but scope and depth of knowledge to support forward reasoning is limited. Generates a search tree but possesses limited tools for pruning the search tree.


Vocabulary and Language Usage Expert Retrieves and uses appropriate, clear,

sophisticated, accurate, and precise terminology. Uses spontaneous declaration and can retrieve without effort. Creates messages that are easily understood by the target audience.

Novice Strained, unreliable, and effortful retrieval of terminology. Hesitant, delayed, and labored responses due to time required to process and lack of knowledge. Uses terminology unsystematically. Prone to canned speeches and explanations without awareness of individual patients’ needs.


An example with the Cisco Learning Institute: The NetPass Prototype

Create on-line performance assessment of networking skills

Focus on learner feedback rather than high-stakes testing

Expert/Novice studies ground design


The task starts with a scenario and description of goals


To capture their mental model of the network, we ask them to draw the network with a diagramming tool


The diagram is created by dragging and dropping icons


Configuring the devices


When students are done, they press Submit”…


And the graphical representation is converted into a text representation in XML format


The text file is scored following detailed rules, which result in characterizations of the work


And feedback is created for the student…both diagnostic and a summary profile.


Conclusion Insights from expertise research can improve

the practice of assessment, and support deeper learning.

Doing so requires a deeper understanding of assessment design.» More explicit arguments and representations

» Generativity, re-usability, and inter-operability

“Too many notes” ? (Emperor Joseph II) Suitable conceptual frameworks, tools, and

exemplars are now beginning to appear.

Documents

Some Implications of Expertise Research for Educational Assessment