Symposium summary

In recent decades, there has been a considerable increase in the design and analysis of new assessment instruments that allow for more effective measurement of different relevant constructs in the field of education. However, there are relevant psychometric applications that have not yet been extended in this area, causing some methodological deficiencies that may lead to stagnation or to the permanent use of traditional validation methods. The present symposium aims to serve as a bridge between the latest psychometric advances and their applications in the educational sciences and educational psychology. For this purpose, different communications are developed that deal with the main theoretical foundations of different psychometric methods, and results are shown with real estimates in relevant areas of educational assessment and educational psychology. Specifically, a comparative analysis of psychometric analysis methods used in international educational assessments, such as PISA, PIRLS, TIMMS, etc. is presented, both for the calibration and validation of cognitive and contextual assessment instruments, and for the creation of student scoring instruments. Secondly, the most effective procedures for the detection of Differential Item Functioning (DIF) are presented, with examples applied to the educational field. Next, the psychometric benefits of the application of the Exploratory Structural Equation Model (ESEM) in the validation process of a motivational expectation-value-cost theory measurement instrument are also shown. Finally, the benefits of multidimensional Item Response Theory (IRT) models, and more specifically of the multidimensional Rasch model in the development and validation of a faculty assessment instrument, are shown. To conclude, the main conclusions referring to the limitations and possibilities of improving psychometric measurement in the educational field from the use of these techniques are highlighted.

Short CV

Assistant Lecturer at the Department of Developmental Psychology and Didactics of the University of Alicante. He is a doctor with an international mention by the University of Alicante, with an extraordinary doctorate award (2019). He has a Degree in Psychology and a Master's Degree in Teacher Training from the University of Murcia. He has worked as an educational counsellor and teacher of Compulsory Secondary Education and baccalaureate in various educational centres. He gained a predoctoral contract at the University of Alicante thanks to the financing of the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness in a public call (FPI). His research stays at the University of Bristol, England (2015), and the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Germany (2016), stand out. He has collaborated in several research projects, most of them funded by Ministries and Departments of Education. As a result of his work, communications have been published at international conferences and various articles in international journals indexed in JCR, such as the British Journal of Educational Psychology and Contemporary Educational Psychology. His work lines cover academic performance, intellectual giftedness, skills assessment, psychometry and quantitative statistics applied to education (with special emphasis on IRT models, SEM models and media analysis). He is currently the PI of an emerging research project approved by ANEP and funded by the University of Alicante entitled: Quantitative analysis of university entrance exams (PAU): Identification of educational needs through the application of psychometric approaches.