Placing construct definition at the heart of assessment: research, design and a priori validation

In this chapter, we will first highlight Professor Cyril Weir’s major research into the nature of academic reading. Using one of his test development pro- jects as an example, we will describe how the construct of academic reading was operationalised in the local context of a British university by theoreti- cal construct definition together with empirical analyses of students’ reading patterns on the test through eye-tracking. As we progress through the chapter we reflect on how Weir’s various research projects fed into the development of the test and a new method of analysing eye-tracking data in relation to differ- ent types of reading.