Students' cognitive levels in science subtest of undergraduate placement examination in Turkey

Abstract

The Undergraduate Placement Examination (UPE) determines students’ future careers in three hours. The content of the UPE, its quality, and the cognitive level of the items, must have high selectivity features in terms of getting students into higher education programs. The aim of this study is: to classify UPE science items in accordance with Bloom’s Taxonomy, to determine the difficulty parameters of those items, and the cognitive levels of the students who take the UPE according to science subtests. Four science pre-service teachers classified 30 science items in regards to Bloom’s Taxonomy. Quantitative exploratory research was employed as a research design. Quantitative analyses were carried out by using SPSS. Sample science responses of 3382 randomly selected students were analysed. It was found that there were 4 knowledge level items, 10 comprehension level items, 11 application level items, and 5 analysis level items as defined by Bloom’s Taxonomy. Moreover, it was observed that students generally encountered difficulty when responding to science items. The results show that students were more likely to answer knowledge and comprehension level items.