Paper Key : IRJ************381
Author: Solomon Chukwu Ohiri,Romy O. Okoye
Date Published: 18 Oct 2023
Abstract
The research aimed at examining whether the 2019-2021 West African Examinations Council (WAEC) MayJune mathematics multiple-choice questions exhibited gender differential item functioning (DIF) in Owerri Education Zone 1 of Imo State. A survey research design was employed. The number of sampled candidates used in the study was 2,484 secondary school students. This comprised 1,178 male and 1,306 female students. Through simple random sampling, two schools were obtained from the co-educational secondary schools in each of the five Local Government Areas. All SS3 students in the sampled schools were used for the study. Two research questions were formulated to guide the study. The instruments used for the study were the 2019, 2020 and 2021 MayJune Multiple-choice mathematics questions set by the West African Examinations Council (WAEC). Each of the instruments consisted of 50-items. To detect the items that functioned differentially by gender, a software called STATA 15 of the logistics regression which is one of the classical test theory methods of DIF detection was applied. The results of the analysis revealed that some items functioned differentially based on gender. Twelve items (24%) in 2019, fifteen items (30%) in 2020 and eleven items (22%) in 2021 respectively, functioned differentially based on gender of the students. Sequel to the findings of the study, it was concluded that the WAEC MayJune mathematics multiple-choice questions of 2019, 2020 and 2021 sets were not free from differential item functioning (DIF). It was also recommended among others that (1) West African Examinations Council and other Examination bodies should be carrying out differential item functioning analysis for all test items as part of test development process (2) Mathematics teachers should leave no stone unturned in devising ways of teaching those topics identified to be functioning differentially across groups.