When I used to be a department head, we had the same problem and came up
with a test that satisfied the Board of Regents requirements, but did little
else. It certainly gave no new information that we did not already know
from grades and grade point averages. There was no incentive for the
students to do well since they did not have to pass to graduate.
I am not sure that APS/AIP has any interest in this topic and it might be
more appropriate for AAPT. If there is enough concern and interest, it may
be possible to make this part of AAPT's test inventory. There are some
definite costs involved and it might be very difficult to put together a one
size fits all kind of test. Trying to standardize a test has all kinds of
problems associated with it which is why the AAPT tests are not currently
standardized.
Warren W. Hein
Associate Executive Officer
American Association of Physics Teachers
One Physics Ellipse
College Park, MD 20740-3845
Voice: 301-209-3323
FAX: 301-209-0845
E-mail: whein@aapt.org http://www.aapt.org/ http://www.psrc-online.org/