1IORNIENGE, Moses Tarnum, A.D.E. Obinne and M.O. Aduloju
DIFFICULTY ITEM PARAMETER DRIFT AND ITS THREATS TO THE VALIDITY OF ECONOMICS MULTIPLE CHOICE TEST ITEMS OF NATIONAL BUSINESS CERTIFICATE EXAMINATION IN NORTH CENTRAL NIGERIA
The study investigated the item parameter of difficulty of Economics multiple-choice test items of National Business Certificate Examination in Nigeria from 2016-2018. One research question and one hypothesis guided the study. The ex-post facto research design was adopted. The population of the study was all the 58,957 SS3 students in the North-Central States of Nigeria and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, who registered and sat for Economics of National Business Certificate Examinations (NBCE) organized by the National Business and Technical Examinations Board (NABTEB) in Nigeria for the years 2016, 2017 and 2018. A sample of 31,775 students was selected in multi-stages. The instrument used for data collection was a Pro-Forma named Economics Multiple-Choice Test Items Matrix Response Proforma (ECOMUCTIMRP) with 53 columns and 31,775 rows which corresponds to the sampled students. The research question was answered using Item parameter of difficulty, computed using jMetrik software. One Way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was used to test the hypothesis at 0.05 level of confidence. The study was hinged on Item Response Theory (IRT). Findings of the study revealed that a greater percentage (54%, 58% & 44% for 2016, 2017 & 2018 respectively) of the items of Economics Multiple Choice Test were of acceptable difficulty index except for 2018 where most of the items were either too easy or hard. Again, the study revealed that there was drift in the difficulty parameter, between 2016 and 2018 recording the highest mean drift of 0.0697 followed by that between 2016 and 2017 which was 0.0518 and the least mean drift was between the years 2017 and 2018 which was 0.0179. The study also established that, though there was evidence of drift in all the three study years, this was not statistically significant to threaten the validity of the test within any of the study years. Based on the findings of this study, it was concluded that the difficulty item parameter of Economics multiple-choice test of National Business Certificate Examination have been consistent in terms of difficulty for the purpose of scoring, grading and interpretation of performance over the years of study. The difficulty item parameter does not constitute a threat to the validity of the examination.
1IORNIENGE, Moses Tarnum, A.D.E. Obinne and M.O. Aduloju
DIFFICULTY ITEM PARAMETER DRIFT AND ITS THREATS TO THE VALIDITY OF ECONOMICS MULTIPLE CHOICE TEST ITEMS OF NATIONAL BUSINESS CERTIFICATE EXAMINATION IN NORTH CENTRAL NIGERIA
The study investigated the item parameter of difficulty of Economics multiple-choice test items of National Business Certificate Examination in Nigeria from 2016-2018. One research question and one hypothesis guided the study. The ex-post facto research design was adopted. The population of the study was all the 58,957 SS3 students in the North-Central States of Nigeria and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, who registered and sat for Economics of National Business Certificate Examinations (NBCE) organized by the National Business and Technical Examinations Board (NABTEB) in Nigeria for the years 2016, 2017 and 2018. A sample of 31,775 students was selected in multi-stages. The instrument used for data collection was a Pro-Forma named Economics Multiple-Choice Test Items Matrix Response Proforma (ECOMUCTIMRP) with 53 columns and 31,775 rows which corresponds to the sampled students. The research question was answered using Item parameter of difficulty, computed using jMetrik software. One Way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was used to test the hypothesis at 0.05 level of confidence. The study was hinged on Item Response Theory (IRT). Findings of the study revealed that a greater percentage (54%, 58% & 44% for 2016, 2017 & 2018 respectively) of the items of Economics Multiple Choice Test were of acceptable difficulty index except for 2018 where most of the items were either too easy or hard. Again, the study revealed that there was drift in the difficulty parameter, between 2016 and 2018 recording the highest mean drift of 0.0697 followed by that between 2016 and 2017 which was 0.0518 and the least mean drift was between the years 2017 and 2018 which was 0.0179. The study also established that, though there was evidence of drift in all the three study years, this was not statistically significant to threaten the validity of the test within any of the study years. Based on the findings of this study, it was concluded that the difficulty item parameter of Economics multiple-choice test of National Business Certificate Examination have been consistent in terms of difficulty for the purpose of scoring, grading and interpretation of performance over the years of study. The difficulty item parameter does not constitute a threat to the validity of the examination.