Effects of item sequencing in multiple-choice tests on senior high school students’ academic performance in the Kumasi metropolis: the moderating role of gender

Abstract

The study investigated the moderating role of gender in the effect of item sequencing in multiple-choice tests on Senior High School students’ academic performance in the Kumasi Metropolis. The study used the quasi-experimental design. Stratified, simple random, proportionate and purposive sampling techniques were used to select a sample of 714 form 2 Senior High School students. Multiple-choice items were adapted from West African Examination Council (WAEC) and the validity of the instruments was ascertained through expert judgement. By using KR20, the reliability of the test items where 0.81 and 0.74 for the Random sequence for both Core Mathematics and Integrated science respectively. The reliability of the Hard-To-Easy (HTE) sequence were also 0.76 and 0.71 for Core Mathematics and Integrated Science respectively whiles that of Easy-To-Hard (ETH) sequence were 0.78 and 0.73 for Core Mathematics and Integrated Science respectively. One-way repeated measures ANOVA, One-Way MANOVA and the process procedure by Hayes (2018) were used to analyse the data that were gathered. The findings of the study indicated that item sequence in multiple-choice test has effect on students’ academic performance in Core Mathematics and Integrated Science with Easy- To-Hard (ETH) sequence having the greatest effect on students’ academic performance in both subjects. The study also revealed that students’ academic performance in the various kinds of item sequence did not differ with respect to gender in Core Mathematics but differed in Integrated Science where females performed better than males. The study further showed that, in Core Mathematics, gender moderates the relationship between Hard-To-Easy (HTE) sequence and academic performance but not Easy-To-Hard (ETH) and Random (RDM) sequence. The results further indicated that, in Integrated Science, gender moderates the relationship between Easy-To-Hard (ETH) sequence and performance but not in Hard-To-Easy (HTE) and Random (RDM) sequence. It was recommended that testing organisations such as WAEC and classroom teachers should use Easy-To-Hard (ETH) sequence in order to increase students’ academic performance in Core Mathematics and Integrated Science.