IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/jedbes/v48y2023i2p189-219.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Nonparametric Classification Method for Multiple-Choice Items in Cognitive Diagnosis

Author

Listed:
  • Yu Wang

    (University of Minnesota)

  • Chia-Yi Chiu

    (University of Minnesota)

  • Hans Friedrich Köhn

    (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign)

Abstract

The multiple-choice (MC) item format has been widely used in educational assessments across diverse content domains. MC items purportedly allow for collecting richer diagnostic information. The effectiveness and economy of administering MC items may have further contributed to their popularity not just in educational assessment. The MC item format has also been adapted to the cognitive diagnosis (CD) framework. Early approaches simply dichotomized the responses and analyzed them with a CD model for binary responses. Obviously, this strategy cannot exploit the additional diagnostic information provided by MC items. De la Torre’s MC Deterministic Inputs, Noisy “And†Gate (MC-DINA) model was the first for the explicit analysis of items having MC response format. However, as a drawback, the attribute vectors of the distractors are restricted to be nested within the key and each other. The method presented in this article for the CD of DINA items having MC response format does not require such constraints. Another contribution of the proposed method concerns its implementation using a nonparametric classification algorithm, which predestines it for use especially in small-sample settings like classrooms, where CD is most needed for monitoring instruction and student learning. In contrast, default parametric CD estimation routines that rely on EM- or MCMC-based algorithms cannot guarantee stable and reliable estimates—despite their effectiveness and efficiency when samples are large—due to computational feasibility issues caused by insufficient sample sizes. Results of simulation studies and a real-world application are also reported.

Suggested Citation

  • Yu Wang & Chia-Yi Chiu & Hans Friedrich Köhn, 2023. "Nonparametric Classification Method for Multiple-Choice Items in Cognitive Diagnosis," Journal of Educational and Behavioral Statistics, , vol. 48(2), pages 189-219, April.
  • Handle: RePEc:sae:jedbes:v:48:y:2023:i:2:p:189-219
    DOI: 10.3102/10769986221133088
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.3102/10769986221133088
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.3102/10769986221133088?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Hans-Friedrich Köhn & Chia-Yi Chiu, 2017. "A Procedure for Assessing the Completeness of the Q-Matrices of Cognitively Diagnostic Tests," Psychometrika, Springer;The Psychometric Society, vol. 82(1), pages 112-132, March.
    2. Chia-Yi Chiu & Jeffrey Douglas & Xiaodong Li, 2009. "Cluster Analysis for Cognitive Diagnosis: Theory and Applications," Psychometrika, Springer;The Psychometric Society, vol. 74(4), pages 633-665, December.
    3. Shiyu Wang & Jeff Douglas, 2015. "Consistency of Nonparametric Classification in Cognitive Diagnosis," Psychometrika, Springer;The Psychometric Society, vol. 80(1), pages 85-100, March.
    4. Hans-Friedrich Köhn & Chia-Yi Chiu, 2019. "Attribute Hierarchy Models in Cognitive Diagnosis: Identifiability of the Latent Attribute Space and Conditions for Completeness of the Q-Matrix," Journal of Classification, Springer;The Classification Society, vol. 36(3), pages 541-565, October.
    5. Curtis Tatsuoka, 2002. "Data analytic methods for latent partially ordered classification models," Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series C, Royal Statistical Society, vol. 51(3), pages 337-350, July.
    6. Hans Friedrich Köhn & Chia-Yi Chiu, 2021. "A Unified Theory of the Completeness of Q-Matrices for the DINA Model," Journal of Classification, Springer;The Classification Society, vol. 38(3), pages 500-518, October.
    7. Chia-Yi Chiu & Yan Sun & Yanhong Bian, 2018. "Cognitive Diagnosis for Small Educational Programs: The General Nonparametric Classification Method," Psychometrika, Springer;The Psychometric Society, vol. 83(2), pages 355-375, June.
    8. Chia-Yi Chiu & Jeff Douglas, 2013. "A Nonparametric Approach to Cognitive Diagnosis by Proximity to Ideal Response Patterns," Journal of Classification, Springer;The Classification Society, vol. 30(2), pages 225-250, July.
    9. Chia-Yi Chiu & Yuan-Pei Chang, 2021. "Advances in CD-CAT: The General Nonparametric Item Selection Method," Psychometrika, Springer;The Psychometric Society, vol. 86(4), pages 1039-1057, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Chia-Yi Chiu & Hans-Friedrich Köhn, 2019. "Consistency Theory for the General Nonparametric Classification Method," Psychometrika, Springer;The Psychometric Society, vol. 84(3), pages 830-845, September.
    2. Chia-Yi Chiu & Yuan-Pei Chang, 2021. "Advances in CD-CAT: The General Nonparametric Item Selection Method," Psychometrika, Springer;The Psychometric Society, vol. 86(4), pages 1039-1057, December.
    3. Chenchen Ma & Jimmy Torre & Gongjun Xu, 2023. "Bridging Parametric and Nonparametric Methods in Cognitive Diagnosis," Psychometrika, Springer;The Psychometric Society, vol. 88(1), pages 51-75, March.
    4. Chia-Yi Chiu & Yan Sun & Yanhong Bian, 2018. "Cognitive Diagnosis for Small Educational Programs: The General Nonparametric Classification Method," Psychometrika, Springer;The Psychometric Society, vol. 83(2), pages 355-375, June.
    5. Pablo Nájera & Francisco J. Abad & Chia-Yi Chiu & Miguel A. Sorrel, 2023. "The Restricted DINA Model: A Comprehensive Cognitive Diagnostic Model for Classroom-Level Assessments," Journal of Educational and Behavioral Statistics, , vol. 48(6), pages 719-749, December.
    6. Hans-Friedrich Köhn & Chia-Yi Chiu, 2018. "How to Build a Complete Q-Matrix for a Cognitively Diagnostic Test," Journal of Classification, Springer;The Classification Society, vol. 35(2), pages 273-299, July.
    7. Hans-Friedrich Köhn & Chia-Yi Chiu, 2017. "A Procedure for Assessing the Completeness of the Q-Matrices of Cognitively Diagnostic Tests," Psychometrika, Springer;The Psychometric Society, vol. 82(1), pages 112-132, March.
    8. Cheng-Hsuan Li & Yi-Jin Ju & Pei-Jyun Hsieh, 2022. "A Nonparametric Weighted Cognitive Diagnosis Model and Its Application on Remedial Instruction in a Small-Class Situation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(10), pages 1-17, May.
    9. Youn Seon Lim & Fritz Drasgow, 2019. "Conditional Independence and Dimensionality of Cognitive Diagnostic Models: a Test for Model Fit," Journal of Classification, Springer;The Classification Society, vol. 36(2), pages 295-305, July.
    10. Chia-Yi Chiu & Hans-Friedrich Köhn & Yi Zheng & Robert Henson, 2016. "Joint Maximum Likelihood Estimation for Diagnostic Classification Models," Psychometrika, Springer;The Psychometric Society, vol. 81(4), pages 1069-1092, December.
    11. David Arthur & Hua-Hua Chang, 2024. "DINA-BAG: A Bagging Algorithm for DINA Model Parameter Estimation in Small Samples," Journal of Educational and Behavioral Statistics, , vol. 49(3), pages 342-367, June.
    12. Kazuhiro Yamaguchi & Kensuke Okada, 2020. "Variational Bayes Inference for the DINA Model," Journal of Educational and Behavioral Statistics, , vol. 45(5), pages 569-597, October.
    13. Chen, Yunxiao & Liu, Jingchen & Xu, Gongjun & Ying, Zhiliang, 2015. "Statistical analysis of Q-matrix based diagnostic classification models," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 103183, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    14. Hans Friedrich Köhn & Chia-Yi Chiu, 2021. "A Unified Theory of the Completeness of Q-Matrices for the DINA Model," Journal of Classification, Springer;The Classification Society, vol. 38(3), pages 500-518, October.
    15. Kazuhiro Yamaguchi & Jonathan Templin, 2022. "Direct Estimation of Diagnostic Classification Model Attribute Mastery Profiles via a Collapsed Gibbs Sampling Algorithm," Psychometrika, Springer;The Psychometric Society, vol. 87(4), pages 1390-1421, December.
    16. Yuqi Gu & Jingchen Liu & Gongjun Xu & Zhiliang Ying, 2018. "Hypothesis Testing of the Q-matrix," Psychometrika, Springer;The Psychometric Society, vol. 83(3), pages 515-537, September.
    17. Motonori Oka & Kensuke Okada, 2023. "Scalable Bayesian Approach for the Dina Q-Matrix Estimation Combining Stochastic Optimization and Variational Inference," Psychometrika, Springer;The Psychometric Society, vol. 88(1), pages 302-331, March.
    18. Steven Andrew Culpepper, 2019. "Estimating the Cognitive Diagnosis $$\varvec{Q}$$ Q Matrix with Expert Knowledge: Application to the Fraction-Subtraction Dataset," Psychometrika, Springer;The Psychometric Society, vol. 84(2), pages 333-357, June.
    19. Jingchen Liu & Zhiliang Ying & Stephanie Zhang, 2015. "A Rate Function Approach to Computerized Adaptive Testing for Cognitive Diagnosis," Psychometrika, Springer;The Psychometric Society, vol. 80(2), pages 468-490, June.
    20. Hans-Friedrich Köhn & Chia-Yi Chiu, 2019. "Attribute Hierarchy Models in Cognitive Diagnosis: Identifiability of the Latent Attribute Space and Conditions for Completeness of the Q-Matrix," Journal of Classification, Springer;The Classification Society, vol. 36(3), pages 541-565, October.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:jedbes:v:48:y:2023:i:2:p:189-219. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.