Assessment Development in Measuring Students’ Context-rich Problem-solving Ability in Physics

Abstract

This study developed 17-item physics problem-solving ability to measure the students’ performance in solving context-rich problems. In this process, 8 students were interviewed on how they solve physics problems. Qualitative analysis showed 37 latent attributes that describe their ability. Attributes were surveyed to 370 students to establish psychometrics via rating scale-graded response model (RS-GRM) and to ensure psychometric assumptions through Mokken’s scale analysis (MSA). Analyses showed that there are 17 valid items or set of outcomes in designing assessment tasks that define what is to be learned as a problem solver. It represents a unidimensional construct (SRMSR=0.043) that provides more information to person ability that ranges from -2.0 to +2.0 values (SE2=0.81). The measurement information generated useful information in describing the students’ problem-solving ability. It also demonstrated a 3-ordered response expectations that could represent the solver’s actual reasoning as a a cognitive structure. This study noted that the ordered response requires further study and exploration.