The role of test-taking motivation in evaluating the results of low-stakes tests

Abstract

With the transformation of the main goals of measurement-assessment with an emphasis on diagnostic functions that aid learning, low-stakes tests are playing an increasingly important role in the teaching-learning process and in national and international assessments. Since performance on low-stakes tests has no effect on students’ academic progress, scores on these tests may show different results than those on high-stakes tests. This may stem from the fact that students do not necessarily make every effort to complete the tasks on the former, while their test-taking anxiety may have a significant performance-reducing effect on the latter. We deal with the first set of problems in more detail in this study. The proportion of properly motivated students depends on a number of factors. According to research available in the literature, the performance of more motivated individuals is typically higher than that of their unmotivated peers. Several methods can be used to raise the validity of the results for low-stakes tests, which can be divided into two large groups. The methods in the first group should be applied before completing the tests, with the aim of boosting the motivation of test-takers and thus achieving a more accurate, reliable assessment of their true knowledge. The methods classified in the other group measure the motivation of the test-takers during the test. After the test is completed, they filter out unmotivated answers or even unmotivated persons, thus increasing the validity of the test. Based on research results, both filtering out unmotivated answers/test-takers and increase of the candidates’ motivation clearly enhance the validity of the test results. The most accurate result can be achieved by combining different methods.