Data Analysis Assignment

1. Data Summary
Frequency Distribution Graph

Name

Joey Strother

Frequency
6 5 4 3 2 1 0 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Mean

Mode

Median

Range

Standard Deviation

6.8

1.4

2. Item Analysis

Question

Item # A B C* D

Upper 0 0 1 9

Lower 1 0 0 9

Difference

Discrimination

Total

Difficulty

0.1

0.05

Item Analysis

Overall this seems to be a good question in terms of wording and structure. The answer and distractors are clear; the question even uses bold words to ensure students know to look for the best tool. The question also clearly corresponds to the stated learning outcome. The discrimination is not very good for this question; it is in the positive range but its still below 0.2 The major problem with this question is seen through the very high degree of difficulty, as only one student answered the question correctly.
I think the main problem here is that students did not know what a pinhole camera was, and thereby thought that sunglasses would be the best option. This question clearly shows that the instructor will have to go back and reteach the pinhole camera, and how it should be used to view the sun. On additional adjustment which I might make to the question would also be mentioning a tool to view the sun so it wouldnt hurt your eyes as the student who answered a) was probably thinking that a telescope would be the best way to see the sun up close

Possible Adjustments

Question

Item # A* B C D

Upper 10 0 0 0

Lower 8 0 2 0

Difference 2

Discrimination 0.2

Total 18

Difficulty 0.9

Item Analysis

This question also seems to be worded well, with the important words being bolded. In addition, the question clearly covers a desired learning outcome. The discrimination also seems fair as it is in the positive range. The question overall however is too easy as there is a very low level of difficulty.

Possible Adjustments

Such results indicate that students definitely know this material and the instructor can move on with the unit. Based on the results, this question was very easy so the instructor might want to take it off the test for next time if that was not the intention, or change the distractors to make it a bit more difficult. The instructor might also want to individually review the material for the two students who answered incorrectly.

Question

Item # A B C D*

Upper 1 0 0 9

Lower 2 0 2 6

Difference

Discrimination

Total

Difficulty

0.3

15

0.75

Item Analysis

This question seems to be worded fairly well as well; distractors are of equal length and important words are bolded. The question is well connected to a learning outcome. The discrimination for the question is also really good at 0.3 showing a clear distinction between the high and low group. This question is also a fairly easy one, but a and c prove to be very effective distractors

Possible Adjustments

This question shows that the majority of the class should be ready to move on. A better distractor could have been used for b, unless the instructor was trying to lower the difficulty of the question, or provide some humor for the test.

Question

Item # A B* C D

Upper 3 7 0 0

Lower 2 5 1 2

Difference 2

Discrimination 0.2

Total 12

Difficulty 0.6

Item Analysis

Overall this question seems to be worded fairly well, with simple answers and good distractors, and is well connected to a learning outcome. This question had an acceptable discrimination, so more of the upper level students were getting it right than the lower level students. This question was a fairly difficult, and created an even spread between distractors for those who answered the question incorrectly.
The large spread of incorrect answers clearly shows that the class still needs a fair bit of review for this topic. As a quarter of the students including all of the upper level ones answered a) for the question, this clearly indicates that the instructor needs to review the difference between a star and a planet, and how each interact with light. I believe that this question is fairly good however; it covers the learning outcome really well, and ensures students need to know the content. The results mostly show that the class is not ready to move on for the third outcome, and therefore this test is giving the instructor the appropriate data they need to plan further lessons

Possible Adjustments

Question

Item # A* B C D

Upper 9 0 1 0

Lower 5 2 3 0

Difference 4

Discrimination 0.4

Total 14

Difficulty 0.7

Item Analysis

Overall this seems to be an alright question. The wording is clear, precise, and nothing about the choices appears to give the answer away. The discrimination for the question is very good, with more upper students answering correctly than lower. The difficulty is low-midrange, with most of the students managing to answer the question correctly. The fact that four students were caught by c) clearly helps the instructor understand that more time needs to be spent on distinguishing transparent and opaque. One major problem with the question however is that it is not clearly connected to a learning outcome.

Possible Adjustments

Overall, the majority of the class is ready to move on. The instructor might want to quickly review what opaque is and the difference between it and transparency with the entire class as over a quarter of them answered incorrectly. A major consideration for the instructor however is that this question does not cover a stated learning outcome, however students seemed to still do fairly well with it. Therefore, the instructor might wish to add an additional outcome to this test, or move this question to a test which is testing shadows and things which block light.

Question

Item # A B C* D

Upper 4 0 6 0

Lower 9 0 0 1

Difference

Discrimination

Total

Difficulty

0.6

0.3

Item Analysis

This question proved to be very difficult for students. The frame for the question seems to be overly complex, and there was no emphasis on important words like there was in previous questions. The question did meet a learning outcome. A major problem however is seen through the fact that the majority of the students answered a) which is technically correct as people cannot see objects in the dark if they do not glow. The discrimination was still overly good

Possible Adjustments

This question shows that students may need to spend more time learning about how light reflects. However, the results area also most likely the result of a bad distractor in a). Answer a) should definitely be substituted for a different distractor which cannot plausibly be an answer. In addition, the frame can be cleaned up a little, perhaps asking Douglas cant see his toys when he turns off the lights because

Question

Item # A B C D*

Upper 1 0 0 9

Lower 2 2 1 5

Difference

Discrimination

Total

Difficulty

0.4

14

0.7

Item Analysis

Overall this question seems to be worded fairly well; the frame is clear, and there is no overly difficult vocabulary, or any indicators in the question which might give away the answer. The question clearly relates to a learning outcome, and the discrimination for the question is very good, showing there was nothing major to trip up the upper students. This question was mid-range in difficulty, but overall fairly appropriate for students.

Possible Adjustments

Overall, the majority of the class seems to be ready to move on. As students choose distractors fairly equally across the board, it is clear that no particular answer is really confusing them, so this question can probably be kept as it is for the next exam.

Question

Item # A* B C D

Upper 10 0 0 0

Lower 9 1 0 0

Difference 1

Discrimination 0.1

Total 19

Difficulty 0.95

Item Analysis

Overall this is a very poorly crafted question. The wording is alright overall, however the distractors are very easy to distinguish between as they are all fairly new inventions and part of the question was long ago. In addition, the discrimination is quite low for this question and the difficulty for the question is also very low. Finally, this question has nothing to do with the stated learning outcomes for the test, and is simply testing students on trivia. This entire question should probably be scratched from the test As most of the students answered correctly, the class could probably move on. However, as the question was entirely irrelevant to learning outcomes, it should probably not have been asked in the first place. If this question were to be fixed, sources of light should be things like candles, and other low tech means of creating light, and the question would need to be linked up to a relevant learning outcome.

Possible Adjustments

Question

Item # A* B C D

Upper 10 0 0 0

Lower 10 0 0 0

Difference 0

Discrimination 0

Total 20

Difficulty 1

Item Analysis

Overall this question is alright as it clearly covers a learning outcome. However the question appears to be far too easy as there is no discrimination and everyone got the question right. The question is clearly worded and has the appropriate words bolded. Additionally, the pictures make interesting choices and distractors. Perhaps it could be kept as a confidence booster, and put near the start of the test.

Possible Adjustments

The results show that students are obviously very comfortable with the concept of the retina being damaged by light and are ready to move on. This question could perhaps be asked on an earlier test because the 100% accuracy rate shows students know the content, though perhaps it could be kept if the instructor wanted a good confidence booster. Obviously from the results, no further instruction is needed in this area.

Question

Item # A* B C D

Upper 10 0 0 0

Lower 7 2 1 0

Difference 3

Discrimination 0.3

Total 17

Difficulty 0.85

Item Analysis

Overall this is a fairly good question. Appropriate guiding words are bolded, and the frame story at the top seems fairly clear, concise, and age appropriate. The question also seems to cover the learning outcome quite well. The discrimination for this question is appropriate, and the difficulty for the question is a little low, but it could be a good way to finish off a test.

Possible Adjustments

Students seem to have a good understanding of the question and are ready to move on. The only change I might make to this question is to alter the letter of the correct answer from a) to something else in order to add a bit of variety. The last two questions also used a) and I would not want to psyche out students from choosing the correct answer, or give others a hint that this answer could be a as well.

3. Recommendations
What decisions about the class, unit, instruction or the test can be reached based on the examination results? For example, is the class ready to go on to the next set of outcomes? Is there a particular outcome or concept that will need to be retaught? How would you adjust for individual students?

On the whole, the whole class seems to have a rudimentary understanding of the content as none of the scores were below fifty percent. However, the results show that some students are clearly lagging behind others and have not quite attained a mastery of all of the desired outcomes yet. The things students are having the most difficulty in are questions related to the third learning outcome regarding how to distinguish between emitters of light and things that require external sources to reflect it. The majority of the questions regarding this outcome received the poorest scores. The instructor also very much needs to go over with students what a pinhole camera is, as the majority of the class got that question incorrect, and clearly needs a reminder of what it is and what it can be used for. Students however did overly well in the questions regarding the second objective and light sources, demonstrating to the instructor that the class is most likely ready to move on from that outcome. In regards to the test, for the most part questions were crafted fairly well, however there were three which caused a great amount of difficulty and should potentially be scrapped altogether or moved to a test examining appropriate outcomes for those questions. For individual students who scored in the lowest range, I might have to give them instruction in a small group while the rest of the class works on a different type of activity. In addition, I could give them an additional practice assignment which could help them better understand the content. Or I could use a peer teaching system, and have some of the students who did better on the test work with students who did poorly; both to help solidify the learning of the upper students, and allow the lower ones get a better grasp of the content.