. Date: Wed, 22 Sep 2010 10:28:57 -0700 From: Richard Hake <rrhake@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Reply-To: Net-Gold@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx To: mathedcc@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Cc: AERA-L@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, Net-Gold@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: [Net-Gold] Concept Inventories in Mathematics A math educator recently asked me privately (my insert at ". . . .[[insert]]. . . ."): "Do you know of any pre- and post-tests made by content experts . . . that show higher-level learning for basic arithmetic/prealgebra? . . . . . I will be using the Compass exam. . . . [[in math - information at <http://www.act.org/compass/>]]. . . . . as a pre and post test. But mostly because it's there, the students already take it before and after the class. I'm not convinced it's a very fined tuned instrument at all. Do you know of better?" Tests of higher order learning developed by disciplinary experts are sometimes called "Concept Inventories" - see <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concept_inventory> and National Academies (2008). Except for Jerry Epstein's (2007) Calculus Concept Inventory, I'm not aware of *any* concept inventories in mathematics, much less arithmetic/prealgebra. I know nothing about the Compass exam, but I doubt that it's a math equivalent of e.g., the physics "Force Concept Inventory" [Hestenes et al. (1992), Halloun et al. (1995)]. Perhaps some subscribers have information on the math Compass exam or on Concept Inventories in mathematics. Richard Hake, Emeritus Professor of Physics, Indiana University Honorary Member, Curmudgeon Lodge of Deventer, The Netherlands President, PEdants for Definitive Academic References which Recognize the Invention of the Internet (PEDARRII) <rrhake@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> <http://www.physics.indiana.edu/~hake> <http://www.physics.indiana.edu/~sdi> <http://HakesEdStuff.blogspot.com> <http://iub.academia.edu/RichardHake> REFERENCES [All URL's accessed on 21 September 2010; some shortened by <http://bit.ly/>.] Epstein, J. 2007. "Development and Validation of the Calculus Concept Inventory," in "Proceedings of the Ninth International Conference on Mathematics Education in a Global Community," 7-12 September, edited by Pugalee, Rogerson, & Schinck; online as a 48 kB pdf at <http://bit.ly/bqKSWJ>. Halloun, I., R.R. Hake, E.P. Mosca, & D. Hestenes, "Force Concept Inventory (1995 Revision)," online (password protected) at <http://bit.ly/b1488v>, scroll down to "Evaluation Instruments." Currently available in 20 languages: Arabic, Chinese, Croatian, Czech, English, Finnish, French, French (Canadian), German, Greek, Italian, Japanese, Malaysian, Persian, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Slovak, Swedish, & Turkish. Hestenes, D., M. Wells, & G. Swackhamer, "Force Concept Inventory," Phys. Teach. 30(3), 141-158 (1992); online (but without the test itself) at <http://bit.ly/b1488v>. National Academies. 2008. "Workshop on Linking Evidence and Promising Practices in STEM Undergraduate Education": Commissioned Papers at <http://www7.nationalacademies.org/bose/PP_Commissioned_Papers.html>. .