Some Implications of Expertise Research for Educational Assessment

1. Some Implications of Expertise Research for Educational Assessment Robert J. Mislevy, PhD Professor of Measurement & Statistics University of Maryland Keynote address at the 34th International Association for Educational Assessment (IAEA) Conference, Cambridge University, September 8, 2008.

2. Introduction • These are exciting times in assessment. • Developments in psychology and technology. • Insights from expertise research with implications for assessment design. • Let’s start with a quiz.

3. What is this a picture of? (http://www.optillusions.com)

4. E 4 T 7 Which cards need to be turned over? Each card has a letter on one side and a number on the other. Consider the rule “If there is a vowel on one side, there is an even number on the other.” Which cards do you need to turn over to make sure the rule is not violated? (Wason,1966)

5. A Little Story I will read a little story and ask you some questions about it.

6. Was this sentence in the story? • Mary gave Ed a stuffed hippo. • Harold received ninety gifts. • Ralph gave Tina a toy car.

7. There were five sentences in the story. In order, what were the second-to-last words in each of the sentences?

8. What is this a picture of? (http://www.optillusions.com)

9. E 15 Year old 4 Water drinker T 30 Year old 7 Wine drinker Which cards need to be turned over? Whose IDs do we need to check? Each card has a letter on one side and a number on the other. Consider the rule “If there is a vowel on one side, there is an even number on the other.” Which cards do you need to turn over to make sure the rule is not violated? (Wason,1966) Each person has an age and a beverage. Consider the rule “If you are under 21, your beverage must be non-alcoholic.” Which people do you need to check to make sure the rule is not violated?

10. Was this sentence in the story? YES • Mary gave Ed a stuffed hippo. • Harold received ninety gifts. • Ralph gave Tina a toy car. NO NO Ralph gave a toy car to Tina.

11. There were five sentences in the story. In order, what were the second-to-last words in each of the sentences? One, stuffed, to, four, holiday.

12. Limitations and Difficulties Processing limitations • Limited attention • Limited working memory Knowledge limitations • Not knowing what information is relevant • Don’t know how to integrate information • Not knowing what to expect • Not knowing what to do and when to do it • Lack of production proficiency

13. Capabilities • Reasoning in terms of patterns • Many patterns simultaneously (language) • Can make perception, procedures, strategies automatic with practice • Can think about our thinking (metacognition) • Benefit from procedures, methods, tools, external knowledge representations Expertise as the circumvention of human processing limitations (Salthouse, 1991)

14. A Closer Look at Cognition • Knowledge as patterns, at many levels… • Assembled to understand, to interact with, and to create particular situations in the world • Developed, strengthened, modified by use • Associations of all kinds, including applicability, affordances, procedures, strategies, affect • “The user’s knowledge of the language rules is interlocked with his knowledge of when, where, and with whom to use them” (R. Ellis, 1985)

15. Text base Context LTM Situation Model Context1 Walter Kintsch’s CI Theory of Reading Comprehension Text More focused research areas within cognitive psychology today differ as to their foci, methods, and levels of explanation. They include perception and attention, language and communication, development of expertise, situated and sociocultural psychology, and neurological bases of cognition. • E.g., reading tasks in Occupational English Test (OET; McNamara, 1996) call upon patterns re language, but also genre, medical knowledge, use of information in clinical settings A relevant pattern from LTM may be activated in contexts but not others (e.g., physics models, use of conditionals). If a pattern hasn’t been learned, it won’t be activated (although it may get constructed in the interaction).

16. Walter Kintsch’s CI Theory of Reading Comprehension Text Text base Context LTM Situation Model Action Context1 More focused research areas within cognitive psychology today differ as to their foci, methods, and levels of explanation. They include perception and attention, language and communication, development of expertise, situated and sociocultural psychology, and neurological bases of cognition. Context2

17. Walter Kintsch’s CI Theory of Reading Comprehension Text Text base Context LTM Situation Model Action Context1 More focused research areas within cognitive psychology today differ as to their foci, methods, and levels of explanation. They include perception and attention, language and communication, development of expertise, situated and sociocultural psychology, and neurological bases of cognition. Context2

18. Walter Kintsch’s CI Theory of Reading Comprehension Text Text base Context LTM Situation Model Action More focused research areas within cognitive psychology today differ as to their foci, methods, and levels of explanation. They include perception and attention, language and communication, development of expertise, situated and sociocultural psychology, and neurological bases of cognition. Context2 Context3

19. Expertise Research Cognitive task analysis (e.g., Simon & Chase) • Compare experts & novices in replicable conditions • What knowledge is needed? How is it represented? How is it used? What makes tasks hard? Ethnographic research (e.g., Lave) • Expertise in situ • “Critical incident” studies (NBME) Replication possible in simulations • Flight simulators, football kick in video situations

20. Expertise Research Experts organize their knowledge effectively • Perceive / understand / act in terms of fundamental principles rather than surface features (Chi, Feltovich, & Glaser) Importance of interaction with situation • Cycles of “perceive / understand / act” External knowledge representations (KRs) • Nexus of info-processing & sociocultural POV • Supported cognition / distributed cognition

21. So… How do you use this improved understanding of the nature and acquisition of expertise to design and conduct assessments?

22. Assessment Arguments What complex of knowledge, skills, or other attributes should be assessed? What behaviors or performances should reveal those constructs? What tasks or situations should elicit those behaviors? (Messick, 1994)

23. Examples • The Architectural Registration Examination (ARE) Architectural design; CAD-like environment • DISC simulator Simulations for problem-solving in dental hygiene • NetPASS (Cisco) Computer network design & troubleshooting

24. ARE Example (Irv Katz, ETS) • To replace 10-hour hand-drawn design problem • Reflects changing of profession to CAD • Premium on thinking, not drawing • Planning the firestation site

25. An Example of a Task Prompt for the ARE

26. AB D An Illustrative Base Diagram for an ARE Task

27. A Sample Solution to an ARE Task

28. NCARB Example (Irv Katz, ETS) Differences between novices and experts • Success rate: 98% vs. 88% • Planning time & execution time • Patterns of revision involving rework Implications for task design: Constraints • Number • Variation in importance/difficulty • Degree of conflict • Implicit constraints? (c.f. writing expertise)

29. Design Patterns • “Design under constraints” is common to many domains: e.g., engineering, assessment design, wedding planning, apparel design • Could define a Design Pattern with these as foci • What are characteristics of performances (i.e., observables) that evidence these knowledge / capabilities / attunements? • What are characteristics of situations that elicit these observables?

30. Other design pattern possibilities • Troubleshooting finite systems • Medical diagnosis • Inquiry cycle • Model-based reasoning

31. DISC Example • The Dental Interactive Simulations Corporation (DISC) • The DISC Simulator & Scoring Engine • Cognitive Task Analysis to support design rationale

32. Goals of the DISC CTA • What are the kinds of knowledge and skills that hygienists call upon to solve problems and make decisions in dental hygiene? • What do they say and do that gives you evidence about their use of this knowledge? • What kinds of situations call upon this knowledge? • How do you make re-usable schemas to evoke evidence and construct ‘stories’ around these recurring patterns?

36. An example with the Cisco Learning Institute: The NetPass Prototype • Create on-line performance assessment of networking skills • Focus on learner feedback rather than high-stakes testing • Expert/Novice studies ground design

37. The task starts with a scenario and description of goals

38. To capture their mental model of the network, we ask them to draw the network with a diagramming tool

39. The diagram is created by dragging and dropping icons

40. Configuring the devices

41. When students are done, they press Submit”…

42. And the graphical representation is converted into a text representation in XML format

43. The text file is scored following detailed rules, which result in characterizations of the work

44. And feedback is created for the student…both diagnostic and a summary profile.

45. Conclusion • Insights from expertise research can improve the practice of assessment, and support deeper learning. • Doing so requires a deeper understanding of assessment design. • More explicit arguments and representations • Generativity, re-usability, and inter-operability • “Too many notes” ? (Emperor Joseph II) • Suitable conceptual frameworks, tools, and exemplars are now beginning to appear.