In order to analyze the instructional program structure, it is important to clarify the logical relationships in the set of instructional test items corresponding to individual objectives in the program. This paper presents an analysis method for hierarchical structure among instructional test items, i.e. a new "Ordering Theory", called an IRS (Item Relational Structure) analysis. First, a new definition on a prerequisite relationship is introduced, and fundamental properties of the definition are presented. Next, the construction method of a synthesized item relational structure -the IRS graph- is presented. Also, an example of the IRS graph is shown. Moreover, this paper shows effectiveness of this structuring method from a test theoretical point of view. Last, this paper compares the IRS analysis with two similar ordering methods, based on a practical example.
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