Using user-defined fit statistic to analyze two-tier items in mathematics

Abstract

The two-tier item is a relatively new item format and is gradually gaining popularity in some areas of educational research. In science education, a typical two-tier item is made up of two portions. The purpose of the first portion is to assess whether students could identify the correct concept with respect to the information stated in the item stem, while the second examines the reason they supplied to justify the option they chose in the first portion. Since the data thus collected are related in a certain way, they pose challenges regarding how analysis should be done to capture the relationship that exists between the two tiers. This chapter attempts to analyze such data by using a user..