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Comparing the psychometric properties of two primary school Computational Thinking (CT) assessments for grades 3 and 4: The Beginners' CT test (BCTt) and the competent CT test (cCTt)
INTRODUCTION: With the increasing amount of research around Computational Thinking (CT) and endeavors introducing CT into curricula worldwide, assessing CT at all levels of formal education is of utmost importance to ensure that CT-related learning objectives are met. This has contributed to a progr...
Autores principales: | , , , , , , |
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Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2022
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Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9791260/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36578687 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1082659 |
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author | El-Hamamsy, Laila Zapata-Cáceres, María Marcelino, Pedro Bruno, Barbara Dehler Zufferey, Jessica Martín-Barroso, Estefanía Román-González, Marcos |
author_facet | El-Hamamsy, Laila Zapata-Cáceres, María Marcelino, Pedro Bruno, Barbara Dehler Zufferey, Jessica Martín-Barroso, Estefanía Román-González, Marcos |
author_sort | El-Hamamsy, Laila |
collection | PubMed |
description | INTRODUCTION: With the increasing amount of research around Computational Thinking (CT) and endeavors introducing CT into curricula worldwide, assessing CT at all levels of formal education is of utmost importance to ensure that CT-related learning objectives are met. This has contributed to a progressive increase in the number of validated and reliable CT assessments for K-12, including primary school. Researchers and practitioners are thus required to choose among multiple instruments, often overlapping in their age validity. METHODS: In this study, we compare the psychometric properties of two of these instruments: the Beginners' CT test (BCTt), developed for grades 1–6, and the competent CT test (cCTt), validated for grades 3–4. Classical Test Theory and Item Response Theory (IRT) were employed on data acquired from 575 students in grades 3–4 to compare the properties of the two instruments and refine the limits of their validity. RESULTS: The findings (i) establish the detailed psychometric properties of the BCTt in grades 3–4 for the first time, and (ii) through a comparison with students from the same country, indicate that the cCTt should be preferred for grades 3–4 as the cCTt is able to discriminate between students of low and medium ability. Conversely, while the BCTt, which is easier, shows a ceiling effect, it is better suited to discriminate between students in the low ability range. For these grades, the BCTt can thus be employed as a screening mechanism to identify low ability students. DISCUSSION: In addition to providing recomendations for use of these instruments, the findings highlight the importance of comparing the psychometric properties of existing assessments, so that researchers and practitioners, including teachers and policy makers involved in digital education curricular reforms, may take informed decisions when selecting assessments. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-9791260 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2022 |
publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-97912602022-12-27 Comparing the psychometric properties of two primary school Computational Thinking (CT) assessments for grades 3 and 4: The Beginners' CT test (BCTt) and the competent CT test (cCTt) El-Hamamsy, Laila Zapata-Cáceres, María Marcelino, Pedro Bruno, Barbara Dehler Zufferey, Jessica Martín-Barroso, Estefanía Román-González, Marcos Front Psychol Psychology INTRODUCTION: With the increasing amount of research around Computational Thinking (CT) and endeavors introducing CT into curricula worldwide, assessing CT at all levels of formal education is of utmost importance to ensure that CT-related learning objectives are met. This has contributed to a progressive increase in the number of validated and reliable CT assessments for K-12, including primary school. Researchers and practitioners are thus required to choose among multiple instruments, often overlapping in their age validity. METHODS: In this study, we compare the psychometric properties of two of these instruments: the Beginners' CT test (BCTt), developed for grades 1–6, and the competent CT test (cCTt), validated for grades 3–4. Classical Test Theory and Item Response Theory (IRT) were employed on data acquired from 575 students in grades 3–4 to compare the properties of the two instruments and refine the limits of their validity. RESULTS: The findings (i) establish the detailed psychometric properties of the BCTt in grades 3–4 for the first time, and (ii) through a comparison with students from the same country, indicate that the cCTt should be preferred for grades 3–4 as the cCTt is able to discriminate between students of low and medium ability. Conversely, while the BCTt, which is easier, shows a ceiling effect, it is better suited to discriminate between students in the low ability range. For these grades, the BCTt can thus be employed as a screening mechanism to identify low ability students. DISCUSSION: In addition to providing recomendations for use of these instruments, the findings highlight the importance of comparing the psychometric properties of existing assessments, so that researchers and practitioners, including teachers and policy makers involved in digital education curricular reforms, may take informed decisions when selecting assessments. Frontiers Media S.A. 2022-12-12 /pmc/articles/PMC9791260/ /pubmed/36578687 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1082659 Text en Copyright © 2022 El-Hamamsy, Zapata-Cáceres, Marcelino, Bruno, Dehler Zufferey, Martín-Barroso and Román-González. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms. |
spellingShingle | Psychology El-Hamamsy, Laila Zapata-Cáceres, María Marcelino, Pedro Bruno, Barbara Dehler Zufferey, Jessica Martín-Barroso, Estefanía Román-González, Marcos Comparing the psychometric properties of two primary school Computational Thinking (CT) assessments for grades 3 and 4: The Beginners' CT test (BCTt) and the competent CT test (cCTt) |
title | Comparing the psychometric properties of two primary school Computational Thinking (CT) assessments for grades 3 and 4: The Beginners' CT test (BCTt) and the competent CT test (cCTt) |
title_full | Comparing the psychometric properties of two primary school Computational Thinking (CT) assessments for grades 3 and 4: The Beginners' CT test (BCTt) and the competent CT test (cCTt) |
title_fullStr | Comparing the psychometric properties of two primary school Computational Thinking (CT) assessments for grades 3 and 4: The Beginners' CT test (BCTt) and the competent CT test (cCTt) |
title_full_unstemmed | Comparing the psychometric properties of two primary school Computational Thinking (CT) assessments for grades 3 and 4: The Beginners' CT test (BCTt) and the competent CT test (cCTt) |
title_short | Comparing the psychometric properties of two primary school Computational Thinking (CT) assessments for grades 3 and 4: The Beginners' CT test (BCTt) and the competent CT test (cCTt) |
title_sort | comparing the psychometric properties of two primary school computational thinking (ct) assessments for grades 3 and 4: the beginners' ct test (bctt) and the competent ct test (cctt) |
topic | Psychology |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9791260/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36578687 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1082659 |
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