Using Modern Measurement Theory to Validate Teachers' Assessment of Higher order Thinking

Abstract

This thesis uses the latest advances in measurement theory to validate teachers' assessment of higher order thinking. The study developed a measurement scale of higher order thinking skills that can be used to monitor student performance in higher order thinking and contribute to the quality of teacher assessments of student performance in higher order thinking. Traditionally this process would involve starting with defining the construct (higher order thinking); delineating it into its component parts; operationalising it by constructing items or tasks to assess the parts; administrating the tasks to students; and using the resuilts from the exercise to locate the task or component parts of the tasks onto the developmental continuum. What characterises this study is that the starting point was the understanding of the construct by a group of teachers who have been assessing higher order skills for a number of years in a practical environment.