Chapter 6: Writing Objective Test Items

Graduate SchoolEDUC 243 – Educational Evaluation

2nd SemesterSchool Year 2016-2017

Narrative ReportChapter 6: Writing Objective Test Items

1) What is an objective test items?2) Examples of an objective test items

a) True or False Advantages & Disadvantages Suggestions for writing true or false test items

b) Matching Type Advantages & Disadvantages Suggestions for writing matching type test items

c) Multiple Choice Advantages & Disadvantages Suggestions for writing multiple choice test items

d) Completion Test Advantages & Disadvantages Suggestions for writing completion test items

3) Guidelines for writing test items

Submitted to:DR. JAMES L. PAGLINAWAN

Professor

Submitted by:SHELAMIE M. SANTILLAN

EDUC 243 Student

Writing Objective Test Items 2nd Sem. S.Y. 2016-2017

What is an objective test? measure both your ability to remember facts and figures and your

understanding of course materials.

What are the examples of an objective test items?1) True or False 2) Matching Type3) Multiple Choice4) Completion Test

What is true or false test items?

are quick & easy to write ,…but good true-false items are not that easy to write.consider the following true-false items.

SUGGESTIONS FOR WRITING TRUE OR FALSE TEST ITEMS:1. True or false test should be clearly explained before students begin the

test.

Example:Directions: Read each of the following statements. If the statement is true, underline the word True. If the statement is false, underline the word False.

True False 1.The green coloring material of the plant leaf is called chlorophyll.True False 2. Petal and sepal are two synonymous word.

2. Construct statements that are definitely true or definitely false, w/o additional qualifications. This will avoid students from being confused because of wrong usage of words.

Example of POOR Statement:The vice-president of the Phils. is elected to that province only. True/False?The vice-president of the Phils. is elected nationwide. True/False?

3. Use relatively short statements. The shorter the statements are, the better the understanding will be done.

Example of POOR statement:a. Aristotle thought that a falling object’s acceleration & speed depended on its

mass. While Galileo disagreed & said that all objects fall w/ the same acceleration regardless of their weight/mass. TRUE/FALSE? (Poor)

b. Aristotle’s view of science differs from Galileo’s. TRUE/FALSE? (Better)

SHELAMIE M. SANTILLAN – MAED Student 2


4. Keep true & false statements approximately the same length. Some statements have tendencies to be longer to be absolutely true & false.

5. Avoid using double- negative statements.6. Avoid the following:a. Verbal clues, absolutes, & complex sentences.b. broad general statements, usually not true/false w/o clarificationc. Terms denoting indefinite degree (e.g., large, long time, regularly), absolutes

(e.g., never, only, always)d. Placing items in systematic order (e.g., TTFF, TFTF, & so on); e. taking statements directly from the text & presenting them out of context.

ADVANTAGES OF TRUE-FALSE ITEMS:1. Because T-F questions tend to be short, more material can be covered than with

any other item format. Thus, T-F items tend to be used when a great deal of content has been covered.

2. T-F questions take less time to construct, but avoid taking statements directly from the text and modifying them slightly to create an item.

3. Scoring is easier with T-F items, but avoid having students write “true” or ‘false” or a “T” or “F”. Instead, have them circle “T” or “F” provided for each item.

DISADVANTAGES OF TRUE-FALSE ITEMS:1. Although sometimes complex questions can be asked using T-F items.2. T-F questions presume that the answer to the question or issue is unequivocally

true or false. It would be unfair to ask student to guess at the teacher/s criteria for evaluating the truth or statement.

3. T-F questions allow for and sometimes encourage a high degree of guessing. Generally, longer examinations are needed to compensate for this.

Matching Type

Consist of a column of key words on the left side of the page Column of options on the right side of the page Where students are required to match the options associated w/a given key

word/sKeywords:

Column A Column B Premises Responses

_____1. Person who provides schooling for children A. Facilitator _____2. Person who enables a group to find a solution B. Tutor _____3. Persons who instructs adults in a classroom. C. Trainer

D. Teacher



Faulty problem of the matching item: Homogeneity Order of Lists Easy Guessing Poor Directions Too Many Correct Responses Ambiguous Lists

SUGGESTIONS FOR WRITING MATCHING ITEMS:1. Keep questions & options short & homogeneous. This is the most violated tip.

Homogeneity is a matter of degree and what is homogeneous to one group may be heterogeneous to another.

2. Make sure that all the options are plausible (believable) distractors for each description to ensure homogeneity of lists.

3. Use longer phrases as questions 7 shorter phrases as options. Longer premises are really helpful because it explains the statement while shorter premises make the answer in an objective mode.

4. Keep questions & options short & homogeneous. This is the most violated tip. Homogeneity is a matter of degree and what is homogeneous to one group may be heterogeneous to another.

5. Make sure that all the options are plausible (believable) distractors for each description to ensure homogeneity of lists.

6. Use longer phrases as questions 7 shorter phrases as options. Longer premises are really helpful because it explains the statement while shorter premises make the answer in an objective mode.

ADVANTAGES OF MATCHING ITEMS:1. Matching Type items are usually simple to construct and score.2. Matching Type items are usually suited to measure associations between facts.3. Matching questions can be more efficient than Multiple Choice questions because

they avoid repetition of options in measuring of associations.4. Matching questions reduce the effects of guessing

DISADVANTAGES OF MATCHING ITEMS:1. Matching questions tend to ask students trivial information.2. They emphasize memorization.3. Most commercial answer sheets can accommodate no more than five options,

thus limiting the size of any particular matching item.



Multiple Choice

Used to measure knowledge outcomes & other types of learning outcomes. Student choose one answer from a number of choices supplied. Most commonly used format in measuring student achievements in different

levels of learning.

Multiple choice question is consists of : Stem – text of the question Options – choices provided after the stem The key – correct answer in the list of options Distracters – incorrect answers in the list of options

Http://Theelearningcoach.Com/Elearning_design/Rules-for-multiple-choice-questions/

SUGGESTION FOR WRITING MULTIPLE CHOICE:1. Include as much of the item possible, keeping the response options as short as

possible. However, include only the material needed to make the problem clear

and specific. Be concise – don’t add extraneous information.

2. Be sure that there is one and only one correct or clearly best answer.

3. Eliminate unintentional grammatical clues, and keep length and form of all the

answer choices equal. Rotate the position of the correct answer from item to item

correctly.

4. In most cases it is more important for the student to know what a specific item of

information is rather than what it is not.


http://Theelearningcoach.Com/Elearning_design/


5. Include from 3-5 options (2-4 distractors plus one correct answer) to optimize

testing for knowledge rather than encouraging guessing. It is not necessary to

provide additional distractors for an item simply to maintain the same number of

distractors for each item. This usually leads to poorly constructed distractors that

add nothing to test validity and reliability.

6. To increase the difficulty of a multiple-choice item, increase the similarity of

content among the options.

7. Use the option “none of the above” sparingly and only when the keyed answer

can be classified unequivocally as right or wrong. Don’t use this option when

asking for a best answer.

8. Avoid using “all of the above”. It is usually the correct answer and makes the

item too easy for the students with partial information.

ADVANTAGES OF THE MULTIPLE CHOICE ITEM:1. M-C questions have considerable versatility in measuring objectives from the

knowledge to the evaluation level.2. Since writing is minimized, a substantial amount of course material can be

sampled in a relatively short time.3. Scoring is highly objective, requiring only a count of the number of correct

responses.4. M-C items can be written so that students must discriminate among options that

vary in degree of correctness. This allows students to select the best alternative and avoids the absolute judgments found in true-false items.

5. Since there are multiple options, effects of guessing are reduced.

6. M-C items are amenable to item analysis, which permits a determination of which items are ambiguous or too difficult.

DISADVANTAGES OF THE MULTIPLE CHOICE ITEM:1. Can be time consuming to write2. If not carefully written, M-C questions can sometimes have more than one

defensible correct answer.



Completion Test

An objective type of test that includes series of sentences which certain important words of phrase has been omitted for the pupils to fill in a sentence may contain one or more blanks and the sentences may be disconnected or organized into a paragraph. Each blank counts one point.

SUGGESTION FOR WRITING COMPLETION TEST:1. If at all possible, items should require a single-word answer, or a brief and definite statement. Avoid statements that are so indefinite that they may be logically answered by several items.

POOR ITEM: World War II ended in ______. BETTER ITEM: World War II ended in the year _____.2. Be sure the question or statement poses a problem to the examinee. A direct question is often more desirable than an incomplete statement (it provides more structure.)

3. Be sure the answer that the student is required to produce is factually correct. Be sure the language used in the question is precise and accurate in relation to the subject matter area being tested.

4. Omit only key words; don’t eliminate so many elements that the sense of the content is impaired:

POOR ITEM: The ____ type of test items is usually more ____ than the _____type.BETTER ITEM: The supply type of test item is usually graded less objectively than the _____ type.

5. Word the statement such that the blank is near at the end of the sentence rather than near the beginning. This will prevent awkward sentences.

6. If the problem requires a numerical answer, indicate the units in which it is to be expressed.

ADVANTAGES OF THE COMPLETION TEST:1. Construction of a completion question is relatively easy.2. Guessing is eliminated since the question requires recall.3. Completion questions take less time to complete than multiple-choice items, so greater amounts of content can be covered.

DISADVANTAGES OF THE COMPLETION TEST:1. Completion questions usually encourage a relatively low level of response

complexity.



2. The responses can be difficult to score since the stem must be general enough so as not to communicate the correct answer. This can unintentionally lead more than one defensible answer.

3. The restriction of an answer to a few words tends to measure the recall of specific facts, names, places, events as opposed to more complex behaviors.

GUIDELINES FOR WRITING TEST ITEMS1. Begin writing items far enough in advance that you will have time to revise it.

2. Match items to intended outcomes at the proper difficulty level to provide a valid

measure of instructional objectives. Limit the question to the skill being assessed.

3. Be sure each item deals with an important aspect of the content area and not

with the trivia.

4. Be sure that the problem posed is clear and unambiguous.

5. Be sure that each item is independent of all other items. The answer to one item

should not be required as a condition for answering the next item. A hint to one

answer should not be embedded in another item.

6. Be sure the item has correct or best answer on which experts would agree.

7. Prevent unintended clues to the answer in the statement or question.

Grammatical inconsistencies such as a or an give clues to the correct answer to

those students who are not well prepared for the test.

8. Avoid replication of the textbook in writing test items, don’t quote directly from

textual materials. You’re usually not interested in how well the student

memorized the text. Besides, taken out of context, direct quotes from the text are

often ambiguous.

9. Avoid trick or catch questions in an achievement test. Don’t


Chapter 6: Writing Objective Test Items

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