Quiz - Equipment - J-Valve

[wetb4igetinthewater]

I agree, and more-over, pedro-burrito posts these to help keep us engaged.... Technically right or not, the question caused people to learn how a j-valve works and how it is used. I call that a success!

Agreed. I was happy to learn how j-valves actually work.

 

[TMHeimer]

OK, I could not stand it anymore. When a test question is written, it is validated with the population being tested. It is expected that a reasonable majority of educated test takers will get the question correct. That is certainly not the case with this question, where only 24% got the question "correct". I was initially trained on the J-valve and dived it for 2 years before I purchased a SPG. I also got the question "wrong" by choosing d as the correct answer. Apparently, you cannot breathe the tank down without pulling the J-valve, it gives you additional gas, not available otherwise. For me, the correct answer will always be d. Perhaps this is just a poorly written, unvalidated question, that would not be surprising to me. You can argue it any way you want...

Yes, agree, and I THINK that is why the idea of grading "on a curve" came in (need Boulderjohn's expertise on that). The idea that the teacher made the test (in this case this one question) either too hard or unclear and a lot of the class failed the test. None of Pedro's other questions had a large majority getting it wrong.

 

[scubadada]

Yes, agree, and I THINK that is why the idea of grading "on a curve" came in (need Boulderjohn's expertise on that). The idea that the teacher made the test (in this case this one question) either too hard or unclear and a lot of the class failed the test. None of Pedro's other questions had a large majority getting it wrong.

Standardized exams, for instance National Medical Boards or specialty board certification for me, have questions on the test for validation purposes, that count only on later tests, after being validated. Questions that fail validation, are eliminated. Grading on the curve helps adjust for the degree of difficulty of the exam and/or for problem questions. As an undergraduate, I served as a teaching assistant for several classes. Very occasionally, a question would simply be eliminated in the scoring because of a problem with it, rather than adjusting the scoring after the fact.

The author of this question had a specific definition in mind for "extra supply of air", that many of us interpreted differently. This point appears to have been known to the author, as this entirely determines whether one chooses a or d as the correct answer. If c would have read, "releases additional gas from your supply", it would change things.

Writing good questions is not always easy. I wrote test questions for the lectures I delivered to medical school students for many years. Students occasionally challenged questions and revealed something that I was unaware of when I wrote it. I wrote better questions with experience.

 

[kelemvor]

1. e. serve as a warning device, alerting the divers that your gear is out of date.

 

[TMHeimer]

Standardized exams, for instance National Medical Boards or specialty board certification for me, have questions on the test for validation purposes, that count only on later tests, after being validated. Questions that fail validation, are eliminated. Grading on the curve helps adjust for the degree of difficulty of the exam and/or for problem questions. As an undergraduate, I served as a teaching assistant for several classes. Very occasionally, a question would simply be eliminated in the scoring because of a problem with it, rather than adjusting the scoring after the fact.

The author of this question had a specific definition in mind for "extra supply of air", that many of us interpreted differently. This point appears to have been known to the author, as this entirely determines whether one chooses a or d as the correct answer. If c would have read, "releases additional gas from your supply", it would change things.

Writing good questions is not always easy. I wrote test questions for the lectures I delivered to medical school students for many years. Students occasionally challenged questions and revealed something that I was unaware of when I wrote it. I wrote better questions with experience.

Understood. Good explanations. Getting rid of "extra" does change things. I know writing good questions is hard. My step daughter teaches Grade 12 English (among other things over the years) and has had her share of making up tests. If once and a while a poorly worded question slips through, I'm gunna cut her some slack. If it's just one test that probably changes little if at all over years, there is way less of an excuse. Even one person could be assigned to make up or proof read a test and poor questions should be weeded out.
Like when you tape a TV show by clicking on the guide and find out later that another show was substituted for the one the guide said. Is there not one person (or more) at the cable/satellite company (or perhaps at each network) that is responsible for the guide matching what's actually on at that time? Can't be that hard.