Towards the development of the Ateneo De Zamboanga proficiency test in college algebra (ADZ-PTCA)

• Main Author: Arrozal, Arnold T.
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Animo Repository 2001
• Subjects: Achievement tests; Algebra; Educational tests and measurements; Examinations; Educational Psychology
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/etd_masteral/2922
• Institution: De La Salle University

This study proposal develops and standardizes an instrument, a Proficiency Test in College Algebra (PTCA), that will measure the degree of students' preparedness in taking College Algebra or advanced Mathematics courses.The participants of the study will be entering college freshmen students of Ateneo de Zamboanga. The test will be administered to at least 200 students. The PTCA will be a 60-item, multiple-choice type test which will approximately be administered for an hour. The content of the test will correspond to the content curriculum of ADZ-College Algebra. It will include the following topics:a. Real Numbersb. Polynomials (Four fundamental operations)c. Laws on Exponentsd. Special Productse. Factoringf. Rational Expressionsg. Linear Equationsh. Linear Inequalitiesi. Systems of Linear Equationsj. Functions.The test may yield a score which may indicate the student's level of ability/skill in Algebra and it may further provide information to both teachers and students on the areas of students' strengths and weaknesses on the said subject.A table of specification is prepared. PTCA is limited to the following cognitive domains: knowledge, comprehension, application and analysis cognitive skills. Moreover, the development of the test will also be limited to the establishment of psychometric properties (item analysis, reliability and validity). Norming is excluded in the test development. Item analyses determine the difficulty index or the proportion of students responding correctly to an item and the discrimination index or the measure of the extent to which item distinguishes between the more knowledgeable and the less knowledgeable students. In obtaining the discrimination index for each item, the formula suggested by Stocklein will be used. The Kuder-Richardson reliability or the KR-20 will be used to establish reliability. The faculty members in the Mathematics department will be asked to establish both the face and context validity of the test. Moreover, predictive validity will also be established using the students' College Algebra final grades as the criterion.