Use of Computerized Dynamic Assessment to Improve Student Achievement: Case Study

Recent studies have reported on the benefits of dynamic assessment (DA) in improving student learning and achievement through diagnostic monitoring of student misunderstandings, providing context-specific feedback, and assessing the improvement thereafter. Following these reports, a computer-based DA system has been developed by us for use in an undergraduate hydraulic engineering course. This case study presents data collected before and after implementation of this DA system that shows improvement in student performance. In this study, student performance is quantified by the percent of questions correctly answered in the fundamentals of engineering (FE) exam relative to the national average. Since implementation of the DA system in 2004, this measure for our students has increased from below national level [ $\text{mean}=0.942$ ; $\mathrm{SD}=0.068$ ] in nine administrations of the FE exam, to above national level ( $\text{mean}=1.068$ ; $\mathrm{SD}=0.028$ ) in the last five administrations. Based on this measure, performance of these students in fluid mechanics has been higher than that in the other subjects where DA was not used ( $\text{mean}=1.068$ ; $\mathrm{SD}=0.028$ versus $\text{mean}=0.854$ ; $\mathrm{SD}=0.029$ ). Performance of our students in fluid mechanics has also been higher than that of their peers in the Carnegie top tier programs ( $\text{mean}=1.068$ ; $\mathrm{SD}=0.028$ versus $\text{mean}=1.022$ ; $\mathrm{SD}=0.020$ ).