Proposal of an enriched three-tier test to assess learning risks in students on undergraduate physics courses

TL;DR

This paper introduces an enriched three-tier testing methodology combining justification and confidence levels with multiple-choice questions to better diagnose learning risks and promote metacognition among undergraduate physics students.

Contribution

It presents a novel enriched three-tier test design that enhances diagnostic capabilities and student engagement compared to traditional assessments.

Findings

Identifies up to eighteen learning risk categories within a single concept.

Proves effective in diagnosing diverse learning situations.

Highlights differences and limitations compared to traditional multiple-choice tests.

Abstract

This proposal presents a methodology called enriched three-tier test, based on a similar test previously discussed in the literature. Ours consists of the use of justification and degrees of confidence combined with a multiple-choice test. This methodology of assessment allows the teacher to diagnose learning risks, while engaging the student in a metacognitive process. The three-tier test proved to be an efficient mechanism for identifying up to eighteen tints along the learning spectrum for a single concept, which interpretation alerts the teacher about the existence of learning risks and other learning situations. In this proposal, we explain the three-tier structure; we comment on it's application to undergraduate students from two semestral courses, and we analyze the category spectrum that a three-tier test produces, discussing it's differences with a traditional multiple choice question, it's limitations, and possible new applications.