Abstract:

Software development for educational technology requires consideration of conceptual understandings and theoretical perspectives addressed in a variety of academic disciplines. Effective software design has roots in both studies of human cognition and in understandings of information acquisition processes found in the various subjects taught in school. Content and instructional design must address specific standards and teaching/learning strategies highlighted in the various school curricula. To arrive at a successful end product, all this together needs to be translated onto a computer screen in a format that is usable, attractive, and beneficial for a specific target group of users. This translation is studied in the field of Computer Assisted Instruction.
In our paper, we illustrate this complex, interdisciplinary process by describing development of an online mathematics assessment tool designed to provide curriculum-based measurement (CBM). We describe the data collection and analysis approach used in our study with ~7500 students from 6 states of the USA. The study was conducted in order to determine K-12 national average performance levels on this test.