PSYCHOMETRIC AND EDUMETRIC VALIDITY OF DIMENSIONS OF GEOMORPHOLOGICALKNOWLEDGE WHICH ARE TAPPED BY CONCEPT MAPPING

The validity of several dimensions of knowledge which were inferred fr om concept maps was assessed for its psychometric and edumetric aspect s. Data were collected from 14 students who enrolled in the university first-year introductory geomorphology course and in its prerequisite introductory geology course. They took an objective geomorphology test , the tree construction task, and the Standardized Concept Structuring Analysis Technique (SConSAT) version of concept mapping. Comparisons among these dimensions of knowledge before and after the geomorphology course yielded convergent evidence. For the psychometric perspective, the SConSAT version of concept mapping and tree construction had simi lar knowledge structure representations, and the cognitive map correct ness was moderately positively correlated with the objective test but not with the geomorphology course test. For the edumetric perspective, the majority of the dimensions of knowledge structures from the SConS AT showed large improvements following the geomorphology course. This evidence shows that the knowledge structure dimensions have moderate t o good construct validity which warrant their widespread use for evalu ating learning outcomes in both experimental and classroom settings. ( C) 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.