Detecting Gender Bias Through Test Item Analysis

摘要

Many physical science and physics instruc-tors might not be trained in pedagogically appropriate test construction methods.This could lead to test items that do not measurewhat they are intended to measure. A subgroup ofthese items might show bias against some groups ofstudents. This paper describes how the author becameaware of potentially biased items against females in hisexaminations, which led to the exploration of funda-mental issues related to item validity, gender bias, anddifferential item functioning, or DIF. A brief discus-sion of DIF in the context of university courses, aswell as practical suggestions to detect possible gender-biased items, follows.