Assessing Learning in Small Sized Physics Courses

Abstract

We describe the construction, validation and testing of a concept inventory for an Introduction to Physics of Semiconductors course offered by the department of physics for undergraduate engineering students. By design, this inventory addresses both content knowledge and ability to interpret content via different cognitive processes described in Bloom's taxonomy. The primary challenge comes from the low number of test takers. Since the Rasch Model (aka 1PL IRT model), can be used with small sample sizes, we describe Rasch Modeling analysis and results for this concept inventory.