Effects of Response Format on Diagnostic Assessment of Scholastic Achievement

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Abstract
The effect of response format on diagnostic assessment of students’ performance on an algebra test was investigated. Two sets of parallel, open-ended (OE) items and a set of multiple-choice (MC) items-which were stem-equivalent to one of the OE item sets-were compared using two diagnostic approaches: a "bug" analysis and a rule-space analysis. Items with identical format (parallel OE items) were more similar than items with different formats (OE vs. MC). Index terms: bug analysis, diagnostic assessment, free-response, item format, multiple-choice, rule space