Developing and Validating Sets of Algebra Word Problems.

The validation of key contextual features of algebra word problems was studied in two phases. In the first phase, five experts were asked to assess the appropriateness of the concepts in the problems and the adequacy of the assignment of the contextual features to the problems. In the second phase, construct validity was established by having 6 judges rate each of the 16 word problems in random order on the contextual features of familiarity, imageability, and variable type (discrete or continuous). A repeated measures analysis of variance for the construct validity of the key contextual features showed that when one rater or judge and one of the problems were removed, agreement between problems and the criterion were extremely high. When a step-down analysis on each key context feature and variable type was done without one judge, the results indicate a convergence on the constructs devised. In effect, judges agreed with each other, and were correct on 93.5 percent of the ratings, which is strong evidence for both construct validity and reliability of the 16 problems. Seven tables present study findings. (Author/SLD)