Employing the S-P Diagnostic Table for Online Qualitative Comments on Test Results

Research on computer-supported adaptive assessment of learning achievement has been done in various aspects. However, the major concerns of adaptive testing studies have concentrated on effectiveness and efficiency of the system built for the research experiments. It has been criticized that such general information has fallen short of providing qualitative descriptions regarding learning performance. Takahiro Sato of Japan proposed an analytical diagram called Student-Problem Chart (S-P Chart) in the 1970. The S-P Chart is able to establish a learning diagnostic table which comments student learning performance in a verbal (non-numerical) form. Complicated hand calculations have been replaced by computers and the execution of the tests has been moved onto the Internet. Such a move makes the S-P analytical process more applicable for school teachers. This study presents answers to the qualitative questions of how online comments provided by the S-P diagnostic table could affect the students' learning attitude. One hundred sixth grade students were selected to be the subjects of the study. The experimental process is as follows: after regular classroom instruction of selected learning units, an online embedded test was given to the subjects and an S-P diagnostic table was drawn by the computer to display instant comments on each student's learning performance. A Questionnaire survey and in-depth interviews were performed to collect necessary information after the experimental testing process. A Questionnaire survey and in-depth interviews were performed to collect necessary information after the experimental testing process. Results indicated that students liked the online qualitative comments provided by the S-P diagnostic table more than the traditional numerical scoring. This is because students were able to understand why they performed well/poor in the test, which is much beyond the numerical scores can explain. The results also showed that the online S-P diagnostic table made students more circumspect on answering the test questions in order to reduce careless mistakes. Students would also be more likely to review what missed on the test. However, the results of this study cannot confirm that the online S-P diagnostic comments positively affect students long-term learning attitude. Prolonged investigation may be necessary to supplement the limitation of this study.