Fostering Expertise: Designing and Standardizing a Knowledge Test for Agricultural Scientists

Abstract

The study adheres to a methodology for creating and standardizing test items designed to assess the knowledge of Agricultural scientists. Initially, 75 test items were identified through literature review. Subsequently, through consultation with experts, a refined set of 60 items emerged after screening, enhancement, and editing processes. These items underwent item analysis, including item difficulty index and discrimination index based on ratings from a panel of 60 experts. Thirty-four test items were retained for the standardization phase from the initial 60 items. To assess the validity of the test items, point biserial correlation was conducted, resulting in the final selection of 30 items for the knowledge test. The reliability of the test items was evaluated using the Spearman Brown split-half coefficient, yielding a value of 0.911, indicating high reliability and fairness for the study. Consequently, the standardized items proved the suitability for measuring the knowledge of Agricultural scientists.