A Method for Comparing Knowledge Structures Concerning Their Adequacy

A knowledge domain is represented in knowledge space theory by a finite set Q of problems. The knowledge of a subject in the domain is described by the subset of problems from Q that the subject is able to solve. The set of all possible knowledge states of subjects is called the knowledge structure on Q. A crucial problem is how a hypothetical knowledge structure, obtained for example by querying an expert, can be evaluated empirically. We describe a method for comparing two knowledge structures concerning their ability to describe a set of empirically observed response patterns. Our comparison method is tested in two simulation studies. The results of these studies show that the method is highly accurate in its evaluation of knowledge structures. Copyright 2001 Academic Press.