Relating Product Data to Process Data from Computer-Based Competency Assessment

Abstract

Competency measurement typically focuses on task outcomes. Taking process data into account (i.e., processing time and steps) can provide new insights into construct-related solution behavior, or confirm assumptions that govern task design. This chapter summarizes four studies to illustrate the potential of behavioral process data for explaining task success. It also shows that generic process measures such as time on task may have different relations to task success, depending on the features of the task and the test-taker. The first study addresses differential effects of time on task on success across tasks used in the OECD Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC). The second study, also based on PIAAC data, investigates at a fine-grained level, how the time spent on automatable subtasks in problem-solving tasks relates to task success. The third study addresses how the number of steps taken during problem solving predicts success in PIAAC problem-solving tasks. In a fourth study, we explore whether successful test-takers can be clustered on the basis of various behavioral process indicators that reflect information problem solving. Finally, we address how to handle unstructured and large sets of process data, and briefly present a process data extraction tool.