Modern Psychometrics for Digital Assessment in Education

A special issue of Education Sciences (ISSN 2227-7102). This special issue belongs to the section "Education and Psychology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 December 2026 | Viewed by 477

Editors


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Guest Editor
Department of Educational and Psychological Studies, College of Education, University of South Florida, 4202 E. Fowler Ave, Tampa, FL 33620-7750, USA
Interests: diagnostic classification modelling; cognitive diagnosis assessment; differential item functioning; validation of achievement and psychological data
Department of Educational and Psychological Studies, College of Education, University of South Florida, 4202 E. Fowler Ave, Tampa, FL 33620-7750, USA
Interests: educational measurement and psychometrics; item response theory; cognitive diagnostic models; data science methods

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Education Sciences is pleased to announce the Special Issue Modern Psychometrics for Digital Assessment in Education. The rapid expansion of digital learning environments, online testing platforms, and AI-driven educational technologies has created unprecedented opportunities—and challenges—for assessment in education. Traditional psychometric approaches are being reimagined to meet the demands of adaptive testing, large-scale online assessments, and data-rich digital ecosystems (e.g., response time).

This Special Issue aims to highlight cutting-edge research that applies modern psychometric theories and methods to digital assessment contexts. We invite authors to submit original research articles that explore methodological innovations, theoretical advances, and practical applications of psychometrics in technology-enhanced learning and assessment. Submissions should emphasize how psychometric approaches can improve validity, reliability, fairness, and equity in digital assessment contexts, while also addressing implications for practice in educational assessment.

We particularly encourage the submission of interdisciplinary work that bridges psychometrics, educational measurement, learning analytics, data science, and educational technology.

Research areas include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • Application of modern psychometric models (e.g., IRT, Rasch, Bayesian approaches, diagnostic classification modelling) to digital assessments;
  • Adaptive testing and computerized diagnostic assessment design;
  • Response time modelling in digital testing environments;
  • Validity and reliability studies in online and technology-enhanced testing environments;
  • Psychometric approaches to large-scale digital achievement data (e.g., TIMSS, PISA, PIRLS, TALIS);
  • Integration of learning analytics and psychometrics for personalized assessment;
  • Equity, fairness, and bias detection in digital assessments;
  • Methodological advances in automated scoring and AI-based assessment;
  • Cross-cultural and multilingual psychometric studies in digital contexts;
  • Practical implications of psychometric innovations in digital assessment.

Dr. Yi-Hsin Chen
Dr. Xin Qiao
Guest Editors

Emma E. Evudottir
Guest Editor Assistant

Manuscript Submission Information

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Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-anonymized peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Education Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2000 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • psychometrics
  • digital assessment
  • educational measurement
  • adaptive testing
  • item response theory
  • rasch models
  • bayesian methods
  • learning analytics
  • AI in psychometrics
  • response time analysis
  • fairness and equity
  • validity and reliability

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

26 pages, 1319 KB  
Article
Psychometric Modeling of Academic Engagement and Dropout Propensity in Higher Education: An Item Response Theory Analysis
by Christina Modiati, George S. Androulakis and Stefanos Balaskas
Educ. Sci. 2026, 16(7), 1096; https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci16071096 - 8 Jul 2026
Abstract
Student dropout remains a persistent challenge for higher education systems, with consequences for student trajectories, institutional efficiency, and equity. This study investigates the relationship between student dropout propensity and academic engagement in a sample of 3099 students from all departments of the University [...] Read more.
Student dropout remains a persistent challenge for higher education systems, with consequences for student trajectories, institutional efficiency, and equity. This study investigates the relationship between student dropout propensity and academic engagement in a sample of 3099 students from all departments of the University of Patras. It asks whether academic engagement is associated with multidimensional dropout propensity and whether the instruments provide sufficient psychometric precision for identifying students at different levels of risk. Using the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES-9) and the APrISE-15 instrument, Item Response Theory (IRT) was applied to evaluate item functioning and scale adequacy. Higher engagement was associated with lower dropout propensity at both IRT-score level (r = −0.55) and observed-score level (r = −0.58). Dedication showed the strongest facet-level association with dropout propensity (r = −0.53), while the economic and personal dropout domains were most informative at elevated risk levels. These findings highlight the value of precision-aware assessment for identifying domain-specific risk profiles and informing targeted student-support strategies, including academic advising, wellbeing-oriented support, financial counseling, and social-integration initiatives. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Modern Psychometrics for Digital Assessment in Education)
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