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COGNITIVE DEMAND AND DIFFICULTY OF GCE O‐LEVEL MATHEMATICS PRETEST ITEMS
Author(s) -
MALPAS A. J.,
BROWN MARGARET
Publication year - 1974
Publication title -
british journal of educational psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.557
H-Index - 95
eISSN - 2044-8279
pISSN - 0007-0998
DOI - 10.1111/j.2044-8279.1974.tb02282.x
Subject(s) - syllabus , psychology , mathematics education , cognition , test (biology) , significant difference , cognitive psychology , mathematics , statistics , paleontology , neuroscience , biology
S ummary . 720 mathematics O‐level items from pretests written for two different syllabuses were assessed for ‘concrete’ or ‘formal’ demands by two judges, using criteria derived from Piaget's theory of cognitive development. The mean difficulty indices for items placed in concrete and formal categories were compared in order to test the hypothesis that items classified as making higher demands would be found more difficult. Results showed that, while there was some variability, there was significant agreement between the judges (P < ·001) in the placing of the items and a significant correlation (P < ·001) between classification category and the difficulty index of the items. An unexpected difference between the two syllabuses in the distribution of items over concrete and formal categories was also discovered. Several possible interpretations of these results are briefly discussed, and also ways of making criteria for formal and concrete operations more rapidly applicable to such mathematical activities as the solution of multiple choice examination items.