A Cognitive and Metacognitive Diagnostic Assessment System: TATSUJIN Test ICT

In this paper, we present the TATSUJIN Test ICT, an assessment tool developed to visualize students' academic difficulties. The original TATSUJIN Test was designed by Imai et al. [1] as a Cognitive Diagnostic Assessment test at a wide range of elementary-school-age children. This test reveals inference abilities in elementary students, supported by schemas and executive functions. Currently, efforts to improve teaching based on the academic difficulties unveiled by the TATSUJIN Test are yielding substantial impact. Receiving voices from junior high school teachers that they wish to use the TATSUJIN test for their students, we adjusted the test questions for junior high school students and developed the TATSUJIN Test ICT. This version allows students to answer the TATSUJIN Test in a computer-based testing (CBT) environment. We conducted a survey in public junior high schools with students aged 13-14 (N=335). The results showed that junior high school students face struggles similar to those of elementary school students. Additionally, we found that numerical intuition could be a suitable proxy for general cognitive ability, and we could identify problems more susceptible to the influence of prior knowledge. Our findings provide a new perspective for a deeper understanding of the cognitive abilities and difficulties of junior high school students.