Analysis of Past West Africa Examination Council / Senior Secondary Certificate Examination Physics Essay Test Items Parameters: Application of IRT Polytomous Model

Abstract

The study aimed at determining the quality of the WAEC SSCE Physics essay test items for 2015, 2016 and 2017, if they are acceptable when the item response theory(IRT) Polytomous model is applied. A descriptive survey research design was adopted and sampled 1000 senior secondary school students from the 27,615 students who registered for the 2018 senior school certificate physics examination in Delta State, Nigeria. Findings revealed that most of the May/June WAEC SSCE Physics essay test items for year 2015, 2016 and 2017 are not acceptable when the item response theory (IRT) Polytomous model is applied among as presented in this study. It was therefore recommended that test developers should always ensure proper test items validation before use. Keywords: Parameters, IRT, Polytomous Model, Test Items, WAEC, Physics, Essay Test. DOI: 10.7176/JEP/10-17-04 Publication date:June 30th 201