Development and Evaluation of a Terminology Size Estimation Test: Targeting the Field of Library and Information Science

Abstract

This research proposes a terminology size estimation test that estimates the number of technical terms known by an individual as a convenient method of measuring the amount of knowledge of the individual in a specialized field. This paper reports on the development and evaluation of the terminology size estimation test targeting the field of Library and Information Science. To develop the test, we created three test sets of 50 technical terms each, designed an estimation algorithm, and developed a web application based on previous research on vocabulary size estimation using word familiarity. For the evaluation of the test, two experiments were conducted with 81 participants to evaluate the usefulness of the test. The evaluation experiments showed that the test had a certain degree of reliability and validity and was useful as a method of measuring the amount of knowledge. The convenience of the test was also confirmed by the fact that the average response time for a test set was 2.61 minutes. It is expected that students will utilize this test to measure their amount of knowledge and to assess their level of learning achievements.