EFFECT OF COGNITIVE DIAGNOSTIC ASSESSMENT ON UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS' RESEARCH ATTITUDE IN THE UNIVERSITY OF MAIDUGURI

This study investigated the effect of Cognitive Diagnostic Assessment (CDA) on undergraduate students' research attitudes in Educational Research Methods and Statistics courses at the University of Maiduguri, Nigeria. The study adopted a quasi-experimental, nonequivalent control group pretest–posttest design. The study included 185 final-year undergraduate students, purposively selected from five departments in the Faculty of Education at the University of Maiduguri, because they had enrolled in the Educational Research Methods and Statistics courses. The study included 185 final-year undergraduate students, purposively selected from five departments in the Faculty of Education at the University of Maiduguri, because they had enrolled in the Educational Research Methods and Statistics courses. Five intact classes were assigned to either the experimental or control condition. The experimental group comprised 93 students who received Cognitive Diagnostic Assessment feedback, while the control group comprised 92 students who received conventional summative feedback. Data were collected using a validated 40-item Research Attitude Scale (RAS) with a Cronbach's alpha reliability coefficient of 0.84. The intervention utilized a Q-matrix-based Cognitive Diagnostic Assessment framework to provide individualized diagnostic feedback across key research competency domains. Descriptive statistics showed that the experimental group recorded a substantially greater improvement in research attitude scores than the control group, with a mean gain of 45.42 compared with 8.11, respectively. Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA), controlling for pretest scores, revealed a statistically significant treatment effect, F(1, 182) = 400.485, p < .001, Partial η² = .688, indicating a large effect of Cognitive Diagnostic Assessment on students' posttest research attitude scores. The findings demonstrate that individualized diagnostic feedback significantly enhances students' research attitudes, reduces research-related anxiety, and promotes mastery of essential research competencies more effectively than traditional grading practices. The study recommends integrating Cognitive Diagnostic Assessment into undergraduate research methodology courses to improve students' research attitudes and support more effective learning experiences in Nigerian universities.