Recent years have seen a push for assessments that better support teachers’ instructional decision-making while reducing student burden. One approach that can meet both needs is the use of diagnostic classification models (DCMs). DCMs are psychometric models that provide fine-grained, skill-level mastery information. Additionally, because DCMs provide categorical results (e.g., mastery vs. nonmastery), they can produce highly reliable classifications from short assessments that can be embedded into normal instructional cycles. In this workshop, educational researchers will engage in discussion and hands-on activities to learn the fundamentals of DCMs. The first portion will focus on providing a conceptual understanding of DCMs, including the limitations of traditional psychometric models and how DCMs aim to address them. This will include lecture-style slides and group discussion among the participants to explore these concepts. The final portion will focus on giving participants the tools to apply these models in their own work. We will introduce a free R package, measr, which can be used to specify, estimate, and evaluate DCMs. Participants will be invited to engage in interactive exercises using real examples. Following the workshop, participants will be able to: (1) Explain the core DCM concepts, (2) Describe the strengths and limitations of DCMs, (3) Specify and estimate a basic DCM using the measr R package, and (4) Interpret and evaluate DCM outputs for applied research or instructional decision-making. After the workshop, participants will have access to all workshop materials, including slides, the measr package, exercises and solutions, and additional resources for continued learning.

Authors:
Jake Thompson, University of Kansas, United States

About the Presenter(s)
W. Jake Thompson, Ph.D., is the Assistant Director of Psychometrics for ATLAS at the University of Kansas, USA. He is the lead psychometrician for the Dynamic Learning Maps assessment and creator of the R package measr for diagnostic modeling.

Connect on Linkedin
https://www.linkedin.com/in/wjakethompson/

See this presentation on the full schedule – Tuesday Schedule

Bookmark