Item Parameter Drifts Across School Type in Educational Psychology Examination for 2022

Abstract

The study assessed item parameter drifts across school type in institution's examination body for educational psychology examination for 2022. Two research questions guided the study and two hypotheses were tested. The study adopted a descriptive survey research design. The population consisted all the 6,742 first year students from the 9 public and 5 Government approved private universities that enrolled for 2022/2023 academic session. A sample of 820 educational psychology students from the 14 schools approved to study educational psychology were selected through multistage sampling. The 2022 educational psychology multiple choice examination questions were adapted as instruments for the study. The instrument did not pass through validation and reliability as they were already good questions used by WAEC. Bilog MG software was used to answer the research questions while Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was used to test the null hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. The findings of the study among others showed that in 2022, seven items were deemed to have drifted significantly among the examinees. Of these seven drifting items, the drift parameter was positive for six items, indicating they became more difficult for the subsequent group of examinees. The one remaining items that exhibited significant drift became easier for the subsequent group of examinees. The study recommended among others that institution examination bodies should ensure that as items are re-used or repeated, response parameter must be updated and made more accurate to stated criteria before use.