Multiple choice testing has been introduced as an assessment instrument in almost all educational systems during the past twenty years. A growing body of research seems to indicate that tests structured to a multiple choice format favour males. In the ACT, Queensland and Western Australia, a
multiple choice examination known as ASAT was used to moderate student scores. Using data from the 1989 ASAT Paper 1, as well as data from the ACT Year 12 cohort of that year, an investigation was made of the items in the ASAT paper. This investigation attempted to identify specific types of questions that enabled males, on average, to perform better than females. Questions, which had a statistically significant difference between the results of males and
females, were examined further. An ASAT unit was given to students to complete and their answers to a questionnaire concerning the unit were taped and analysed.
The study found that males performed better, on average, than females on the 1989 ASAT Paper 1. The mean difference in the quantitative questions was much greater than in the verbal
questions. A number of factors appear to contribute to the difference in performance between males and females. A statistically significant number of females study Mathematics
at a lower level, which appears to contribute to females lower quantatitive scores. Females seem to be considerably more anxious about taking tests and this anxiety remains throughout
a multiple choice test. Females lack confidence in their ability to achieve in tests and are tentative about "risktaking" which is an element of multiple choice tests. The language of the test and male oriented content may contribute to females' negative performance in multiple choice testing.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ADTP/218578 |
| Date | January 1993 |
| Creators | Geering, Margo, n/a |
| Publisher | University of Canberra. Education |
| Source Sets | Australiasian Digital Theses Program |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Rights | ), Copyright Margo Geering |
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