Dr Valentine O. Enu and Dr Eugenia A. Okwilagwe (2015)
CALIBRATION OF MATHEMATICS AND GEOGRAPHY ITEMS FOR JOINT
COMMAND SCHOOLS PROMOTION EXAMINATIONS OF NIGERIAN ARMY
EDUCATION CORPS IN NIGERIA
Abstract
Many schools and organisations examine their students or candidates with items that are not of
quality. This could be because they do not have item banks or that they do not know what it takes
to develop item bank. Previous studies that calibrated items did so for external examinations for
certification or placement. Mathematics and Geography items for Joint Command Schools
Promotion Examination, an external examination meant for promotion organised by Nigerian
Army Education Corps using Item Response Theory, were calibrated in this study. Survey
research design that adopted multistage sampling technique was used in selecting a sample of
600 and 2,400 senior secondary two (SS2) students from Command Day Secondary Schools in
Nigeria for the validation and calibration processes respectively. A- 200 multiple-choice items
for each subject pooled from four year JCSPE were validated. A-100 valid items each were used
for the calibration of the items using Bilog-MG and Windstep 3.75 computer software
programmes. The average difficulty, discrimination and guessing parameters of Mathematics
items were 0.63, 0.76 and 0.30 while that of Geography were 0.24, -2.64 and 0.00 in that order.
Mathematics items with difficulty level ranging from -1.20 to 2.01, discriminating level ranging
from 0.24, -2. 1. 45 and guessing parameter ranging from 0.11 to 0.50 were more difficult than
Geography items with difficulty level ranging from -4.85 to 3.49, discriminating level ranging
from 0.11 to 0.90 and guessing parameter ranging from 0.00 to 0.24. Average Mathematics
ability of students was 0.25 while that of Geography was 0.96, indicating that Mathematics items
were more difficult than Geography items. On the basis of the analysis, it becomes necessary
that NAEC should develop item banks in all school subjects that it examines students on to
ensure item quality.
Keywords: Item response theory, Command Secondary Schools, Calibration,
Mathematics, Nigeria
Dr Valentine O. Enu and Dr Eugenia A. Okwilagwe (2015)
CALIBRATION OF MATHEMATICS AND GEOGRAPHY ITEMS FOR JOINT COMMAND SCHOOLS PROMOTION EXAMINATIONS OF NIGERIAN ARMY EDUCATION CORPS IN NIGERIA
Abstract Many schools and organisations examine their students or candidates with items that are not of quality. This could be because they do not have item banks or that they do not know what it takes to develop item bank. Previous studies that calibrated items did so for external examinations for certification or placement. Mathematics and Geography items for Joint Command Schools Promotion Examination, an external examination meant for promotion organised by Nigerian Army Education Corps using Item Response Theory, were calibrated in this study. Survey research design that adopted multistage sampling technique was used in selecting a sample of 600 and 2,400 senior secondary two (SS2) students from Command Day Secondary Schools in Nigeria for the validation and calibration processes respectively. A- 200 multiple-choice items for each subject pooled from four year JCSPE were validated. A-100 valid items each were used for the calibration of the items using Bilog-MG and Windstep 3.75 computer software programmes. The average difficulty, discrimination and guessing parameters of Mathematics items were 0.63, 0.76 and 0.30 while that of Geography were 0.24, -2.64 and 0.00 in that order. Mathematics items with difficulty level ranging from -1.20 to 2.01, discriminating level ranging from 0.24, -2. 1. 45 and guessing parameter ranging from 0.11 to 0.50 were more difficult than Geography items with difficulty level ranging from -4.85 to 3.49, discriminating level ranging from 0.11 to 0.90 and guessing parameter ranging from 0.00 to 0.24. Average Mathematics ability of students was 0.25 while that of Geography was 0.96, indicating that Mathematics items were more difficult than Geography items. On the basis of the analysis, it becomes necessary that NAEC should develop item banks in all school subjects that it examines students on to ensure item quality. Keywords: Item response theory, Command Secondary Schools, Calibration, Mathematics, Nigeria