The Effects of Order of Test Administration on Environmental Attitudes

Abstract

A study was conducted to determine the effects of the order of test administration on attitude scores. Four separate knowledge tests were developed based on the content of four issues of NatureScope, an interdisciplinary environmental education supplement developed by the National Wildlife Federation. A sample of fifth- and sixth-grade students took one of the four knowledge tests in conjunction with a measure of environmental attitudes. Approximately half of the students took the attitude measure followed by the knowledge measure; the testing order was reversed for the remaining students. The findings of this study indicate that attitude scores may be significantly altered by the order of test administration.