Assessment Analytics for Digital Assessments Identifying, Modeling, and Interpreting Behavioral Engagement

In educational assessment, behavioral engagement refers to the extent to which learners actively participate in the assessment process and are motivated to perform well. Behavioral engagement plays a crucial role in the design, use, and interpretation of educational assessments because learners who are engaged in the assessment process are likely to perform better and retain the information being assessed than those who fail to make enough effort when responding to test items. To date, researchers have identified various indicators of behavioral engagement in digital assessments, such as spending sufficient time on each item or task, attempting to answer all questions, and interacting with the assessment environment. Assessment analytics can enable researchers to use these indicators to track, analyze, and interpret learners’ behavioral engagement in digital assessments. This chapter discusses the role of behavioral engagement in digital assessments, including computer-based tests and intelligent tutoring systems. We examine research on behavioral engagement and explain how it can be utilized in assessment analytics. As we describe state-of-the-art methods for modeling and interpreting behavioral engagement, we also present real-life case studies to illustrate these methods.