Over the past decade or so, a growing number of writers have argued that cognitive science and psychometrics could be combined in the service of instruction. Researchers have progressed beyond statements of intent to the hands-on business of researching and developing diagnostic assessments combining cognitive science and psychometrics, what I call cognitively diagnostic assessment (CDA). In this article, I attempt to organize the many loosely connected efforts to develop cognitively diagnostic assessments. I consider the development of assessments to guide specific instructional decisions, sometimes referred to as diagnostic assessments. Many of my arguments apply to program evaluation as well—assessments that reveal the mechanisms test takers use in responding to items or tasks provide important information on whether instruction is achieving its goals. My goal in this article is to characterize CDA in terms of the intended use of assessment and the methods of developing and evaluating assessments. Towards this goal, I (a) outline the societal trends that motivate the development of CDA, (b) introduce a framework within which the psychological and statistical aspects of CDA can be coordinated, and (c) summarize efforts to develop CDA in a five-step methodology that can guide future development efforts. Finally, I address some of the issues developers of CDA must resolve if CDA is to succeed.

Research-based learning in a teaching environment is an effective way to help bring the excitement and experience of independent bench research to a large number of students. The program described here is the second of a two-semester biochemistry laboratory series. Here, students are empowered to design, execute and analyze their own experiments for the entire semester. This style of laboratory replaces a variety of shorter labs in favor of an in depth research-based learning experience. The concept is to allow students to function in independent research groups. The research projects are focused on a series of wild-type and mutant clones of malate dehydrogenase. A common research theme for the laboratory helps instructors administer the course and is key to delivering a research opportunity to a large number of students. The outcome of this research-based learning laboratory results in students who are much more confident and skilled in critical areas in biochemistry and molecular biology. Students with research experience have significantly higher confidence and motivation than those students without a previous research experience. We have also found that all students performed better in advanced courses and in the workplace.

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Assessments labeled as formative have been offered as a means to improve student achievement. But labels can be a powerful way to miscommunicate. For an assessment use to be appropriately labeled “formative,” both empirical evidence and reasoned arguments must be offered to support the claim that improvements in student achievement can be linked to the use of assessment information. Our goal in this article is to support the construction of such an argument by offering a framework within which to consider evidence‐based claims that assessment information can be used to improve student achievement. We describe this framework and then illustrate its use with an example of one‐on‐one tutoring. Finally, we explore the framework's implications for understanding when the use of assessment information is likely to improve student achievement and for advising test developers on how to develop assessments that are intended to offer information that can be used to improve student achievement.

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