THE FOUR GENERATIONS OF COMPUTERIZED EDUCATIONAL MEASUREMENT

Abstract

Educational measurement is undergoing a revolution, due to the rapid dissemination of information‐processing technology. One of the most notable aspects of that revolution is the rapidity with which it has come upon us. It is perhaps inevitable that the recent growth in power and sophistication of computing resources and the widespread dissemination of computers in daily life have brought about irreversible changes in educational measurement. Recent developments in computerized measurement are summarized by placing them in a four‐generation framework, in which each generation represents a genus of increasing sophistication and power. Generation 1. Computerized testing (CT): administering conventional tests by computer Generation 2. Computerized adaptive testing (CAT): tailoring the difficulty or contents of the next piece presented or an aspect of the timing of the next item on the basis of examinees' responses Generation 3. Continuous measurement (CM): using calibrated measures embedded in a curriculum to continuously and unobtrusively estimate dynamic changes in the student's achievement trajectory and profile as a learner Generation 4. Intelligent measurement (IM): producing intelligent scoring, interpretation of individual profiles, and advice to learners and teachers, by means of knowledge bases and inferencing procedures While acknowledging the obvious pitfalls associated with proposing a framework in a developing field, the authors hope that the suggested framework will provide an ad interim contribution to the field's universe of discourse and facilitate communication about the rapidly developing issues.