Miriam Wuensch , Anne C. Frenzel , Reinhard Pekrun , Luning Sun
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引用次数: 0
Abstract
In light of the increasing use of computerized adaptive testing, we investigated how adaptive testing impacts test-takers’ subjective emotional experiences and their psychophysiological arousal. Applying a within-person design (N = 89), we compared participants’ affective states while working on an adaptive and a fixed-item test of numerical reasoning ability. During both tests, we continuously recorded participants’ skin conductance response. In addition, they filled in a self-report questionnaire after each of the three item blocks per test, assessing discrete achievement emotions (joy, pride, anger, boredom, frustration, and anxiety) and perceived level of task difficulty. As expected, participants showed higher levels of psychophysiological arousal in the adaptive compared to the fixed-item test, indicating that the adaptive test was more stimulating, independent of emotional valence. For subjective achievement emotions, we expected disordinal interaction effects between test type and ability (objective control experience) and between test type and relative perceived difficulty of the two tests (subjective control experience). This was supported for relative perceived difficulty, as participants indeed reported more joy and pride, and less frustration, anxiety, and anger on whichever test they subjectively perceived as easier. Meanwhile, no main effects of test type and no interaction between test type and ability were found. This is in line with the control-value theory and shows that it is not the adaptivity of a test that influences subjective emotional experience, but rather how difficult the adaptive test is perceived by test-takers compared to a fixed-item test. Directions for future research and implications for practice are discussed.
期刊介绍:
Contemporary Educational Psychology is a scholarly journal that publishes empirical research from various parts of the world. The research aims to substantially advance, extend, or re-envision the ongoing discourse in educational psychology research and practice. To be considered for publication, manuscripts must be well-grounded in a comprehensive theoretical and empirical framework. This framework should raise critical and timely questions that educational psychology currently faces. Additionally, the questions asked should be closely related to the chosen methodological approach, and the authors should provide actionable implications for education research and practice. The journal seeks to publish manuscripts that offer cutting-edge theoretical and methodological perspectives on critical and timely education questions.
The journal is abstracted and indexed in various databases, including Contents Pages in Education, Australian Educational Index, Current Contents, EBSCOhost, Education Index, ERA, PsycINFO, Sociology of Education Abstracts, PubMed/Medline, BIOSIS Previews, and others.