Examining successful and unsuccessful time management through process data: two novel indicators of test-taking behaviors

Test-taking behavior is a potential source of construct irrelevant variance for test scores in international large-scale assessments where test-taking effort, motivation, and behaviors in general tend to be confounded with test scores. In an attempt to disentangle this relationship and gain further insight into examinees’ test-taking processes, researchers can now utilize process and timing data to obtain a more comprehensive view of test-taking behaviors, such as test-taking effort. The purpose of this study is to propose and evaluate two novel response-based, standardized indicators of test-taking behaviors that utilize a combination of examinee response and process (timing) data to better understand and describe test-taking effort in ILSAs. These indices were empirically estimated with USA data from two booklets from e-TIMSS 2019 in mathematics for grade 4. In addition, their predictive validity was examined with respect to achievement estimates. Their network of associations with other relevant variables such as motivation, interest in the subject, as well as across subjects were also examined to test their intra-individual stability in e-TIMSS.