The Information Product Methods: A Unified Approach to Dual-Purpose Computerized Adaptive Testing

This article gives a brief summary of major approaches in dual-purpose computerized adaptive testing (CAT) in which the test is tailored interactively to both an examinee’s overall ability level, θ, and attribute mastery level, α. It also proposes an information product approach whose connections to the current methods are revealed. An updated comprehensive empirical study demonstrated that the information product approach not only can offer a unified framework to connect all other approaches but also can mitigate the weighting issue in the dual-information approach.