Developing, Field-Testing, and Validating An Elementary Algebra Concept Inventory Database For Use In The College Context

曼哈顿社区学院的EHR核心研究项目旨在贡献新知识，并建立关于学生对大学代数课程中传统概念的理解的新理论。大学代数一直被认为是学生学位进步和完成的障碍，特别是对于传统上在STEM领域代表性不足的群体。 学生进步的障碍之一是缺乏有效的评估来衡量对代数概念的理解。该项目将通过建立一个项目库来评估概念理解，然后在七所不同的学院和大学测试和验证数据库，从而开展这项重要的工作。这个项目的目的是产生一个校准的项目池200验证的问题，评估概念理解大学代数。然后，这个校准的项目库可以被使用：1）研究人员评估课程和教学方法在提高代数概念理解方面的有效性; 2）从业者生成诊断测试，其结果可以用于针对特定学生误解的目标教学。本研究将创建第一个验证校准的项目池，以测试在大学背景下的小学代数概念理解。 本研究建立在初步成功的工作开发和验证22个问题的初等代数概念清单。一个校准的试题库也将允许多个版本的测试被等同，所以教师或研究人员可以给不同的学生不同的测试形式，但等同的分数，从而提高考试的安全性和结果的可靠性。 概念清单数据库将与来自纽约城市学院系统的学生一起验证，该系统的学生人口约80%为非白人，60%为女性，60%为佩尔助学金获得者，50%为第一代大学生，40%为英语不是第一语言的学生。该工具还将在全国其他六所大学进行测试，以确保推广到不同的机构环境。该项目还将为大学生理解初等代数提供一个概念框架。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This EHR Core Research Project at Manhattan Community College aims to contribute new knowledge and build new theory about students' understanding of the concepts traditionally learned in a college algebra course. College algebra has consistently been identified as a barrier to student degree progress and completion, particularly for groups traditionally underrepresented in STEM fields. One part of the barrier to student progress is the lack of validated assessments to measure understanding of algebra concepts. The project will undertake this important work by building a pool of items to assess conceptual understanding and then testing and validating the database at seven different colleges and universities. The aim of this project is to generate a calibrated item pool of 200 validated questions that assess conceptual understanding in college algebra. This calibrated item pool can then be used by: 1) researchers to assess the effectiveness of curricula and teaching approaches in improving algebraic conceptual understanding; and 2) practitioners to generate diagnostic tests, the results of which could then be used to target instruction to address specific student misconceptions. This research will create the first validated calibrated item pool to test elementary algebra conceptual understanding in the college context. The research builds on initial successful work developing and validating a 22-question elementary algebra concept inventory. A calibrated item pool also will allow for multiple versions of the test to be equated, so instructors or researchers can give different students different test forms but equate the scores, thus improving exam security and the reliability of results. The concept inventory database will be validated with students from the City College of New York system, where the student population is roughly 80% non-white, 60% female, 60% Pell-grant recipients, 50% first-generation college students, and 40% for whom English was not their first language. The instrument will also be tested at six other colleges across the country to ensure generalization to different institutional contexts. The project will also produce a conceptual framework for college students' understanding of elementary algebra.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.