The Effects of Item Order on Test Performance and Stress
AbstractThe objectives were to investigate the effect of item order on the performance of a mathematics test; on the amount of stress generated during a test; and on the performance of high and low test anxious Ss. Our major findings were, that the mean number of correct answers for test questions arranged in the difficult-to-easy order was significantly lower than the mean number of test questions arranged in the reverse order; and that item order had an effect on the stress generated during the test. The importance of this study to test constructors seems to be the evidence it provides against the practice of making the order of presentation of items in a test different for different examinees to reduce the chance of cheating.