The professor teaching a large introductory class gives a final exam that has alternate forms, A, B, and C. A student taking the exam using Form B is upset because she claims that Form B is much harder than Forms A and C. Discuss how percentile point data might be useful to determine if the student is correct.

Answer 1

Percentile point data can be useful to determine if the student is correct by comparing the performance of students on each form of the final exam.

Percentile ranks represent the percentage of scores that fall at or below a particular score within a distribution. If we calculate the percentile ranks for the scores achieved by students on Forms A, B, and C, we can compare these percentile distributions to see if there is any noticeable difference among them.

If the student's claim is correct, and Form B is indeed harder than Forms A and C, we would expect to see a clear shift in the overall percentile distribution on Form B. This could mean lower average percentile ranks or a larger concentration of students in the lower percentiles for Form B compared to Forms A and C.

Alternatively, if the percentile distributions for all three forms are relatively similar, it might indicate that the perceived difficulty of Form B is subjective or personal to the student, and not a genuine difference in the exam's challenge.

Moreover, comparing the percentile data across the three forms can also provide valuable feedback to the professor for future assessments. If a significant difference in difficulty is found among these forms, it would be important to address this issue to ensure fairness for all students.

In conclusion, using percentile point data to compare the exam forms' scores can provide compelling evidence to support or refute the student's claim, while also helping to maintain fairness in the assessment process.