i3RAT: Individualizing Instruction and Improving Research using Adaptive Testing

This project is a research collaboration with Iowa State University and LASSO. The project aims to build a free, online computer adaptive testing platform to provide STEM instructors with formative feedback about the skills and knowledge their students are developing throughout a course. The online adaptive testing platform is hosted at the Learning About STEM Student Outcomes (LASSO) platform. In addition to adaptive testing, this project will employ cognitive diagnostic modeling to provide feedback on students’ specific skill mastery before, during, or after instruction. Instructors will receive course-level and individual student-level reports. This will assist instructors in evaluating the general effectiveness of their course in the context of similar courses, identifying skills that require additional instruction and identifying students who need further support. Beginning introductory mechanics topics in physics, this work will establish the cyberinfrastructure to build modular tests for other courses and disciplines.

This project is funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation. Award Number: DUE 2142317