The May 1996 SEC Examination in mathematics : a study

Abstract

The study consists of an item analysis based on the examination scripts of a sample of 400 students made up of 100 males and 100 females who opted for Paper IIA and the same number of males and females who opted for Paper IIB, in all the set papers. The papers being offered were: a Mental Paper, Paper I (common, core paper), and an option of Paper IIA or Paper IIB. The Facility Level and Discrimination Index of each item were found, and the reliability (Split-half) of each paper determined. The significance of sex differences in the success rate for males and females was also determined by a t-test. The study reveals significantly higher achievement by males when compared to females. Students who opted for Paper IIA were found to perform better than those opting for Paper IIB in the Mental Paper and Paper I, that is, the common components. The Facility Level for each item reflects both the above statements. The majority of items were also found to be valid. Finally, the papers showed an acceptable level of correlation with each other.