Assessment Analysis - Documentation

Test Analysis | Correlation Analysis | Factor Analysis

Using Test Analysis (with one or two tests)

1. On the main assessment analysis page, choose the Perform Statistical Analysis link.
2. Paste your test data into the text areas labeled Test A and Test B. (sample test data)
   The application expects the test data to be formatted as follows. All responses should be separated by tabs, and lines are separated by returns. The first line should contain the numbers of the questions on the test, as well as the word Name as the first entry on the row. The second line should contain the answer key for the test as well as the word Key as the first entry on the row. The following rows should contain the student responses to the questions on the test with the student's name as the first entry. This format is designed to enable direct copy and paste from a spreadsheet into the text area box on the web page.
3. Choose the statistical functions you wish to calculate for the tests. There are two list boxes that indicate the statistical functions that are available and the functions that are currently selected. To move functions between boxes, select the function (or multiple functions by shift or control selecting) that is to be moved, and click the button between the lists that indicates the direction in which you wish to move the selected function(s).
4. Select the desired view options using thecheck boxes.
5. If you wish to analyze specific groups of questions on the test, you may define groups of question using a comma-delimited list of question numbers. Well-known tests for which groups of questions have been defined (such as the FCI and TUG-K) can be chosen; this will auto-fill the question groups for you.
6. Submit.

Using Correlation Analysis

1. On the main assessment analysis page, choose the Perform Correlational Analysis link.
2. Paste your data into the text area labelled Data. (sample data)
   The application expects for the data to be formatted as follows. All entries should be separated by tabs, and lines are separated by returns. The first line should contain the names of the fields to be correlated, as well as the word Name as the first entry on the row. The following rows should contain the values for each field for each student, as well as the student name as the first entry. This format is designed to enable direct copy and paste from a spreadsheet into a textarea box.
3. Submit.

Using Factor Analysis.

1. On the main assessment analysis page, choose the Perform Factor Analysis link.
2. Paste your matrix into the text area labelled Test Data.
   The application will accept three kinds of data for the input matrix.
   • Raw Answers: Test data including the answer key and student's responses; the format is the same as that required for Statistical Analysis (see above). (sample test data)
   • Graded Test: A matrix where the rows and columns represent the grades students received on each individual question. For example, a matrix representing a pre-graded multiple choice test would consist of 1s and 0s. In contrast, a matrix representing a pre-graded numeric test would have the difference between the student answer and the correct answer as the matrix entries. Note that the first row must be the names of the questions, and the first column must be the names of the students (or placeholders for the names of the students).
   • Correlations: A matrix consisting of the correlations among the different columns may also be used as input. The format for this input is precisely the output format for the Correlation Analysis tool described above.
3. Choose the type of input matrix you entered above.
4. Do ONE of the following:
   • Enter a number of factors to look for in the data.
   • Check the Automatically determine number of factors check box.
5. Submit.