TEST

CONSTRUCTIO
N
Presented by:
Aretha Maposa

Are you the kind of

teacher who ask the
following questions?

The poem The Raven ______

a. was written by Edgar Allan Poe
b. was written by Elizabeth
Browning
c. was written by Omar Khayyan
d. was written by Jose Garcia Villa

 Is it NOT true that Magellan

discovered the Philippines?

When did the People Power

Revolution take in the
Philippines?
A.
B.
C.
D.

February 23, 1986

after the Snap Election
March 1, 1956
after Valentines Day in 1986

 Who was the author of the

book quoted in the
footnote of Chapter 1 of
the present textbook

If you answered YES to

any of the choices
presented then you are in
the RIGHT PLACE!

Sit back and relax!

Enjoy the ride!

YOUR STUDENTS ARE

NOT LEARNING!!!!

13% of students who fail

in class are caused by
faulty test questions

WORLDWATCH
The Philadelphia Trumpet
August 2005

 It is estimated that 90% of

all test questions asked in the
US are of Low level knowledge and comprehension
(Wilen, W.W., 1992)

 Low level doesnt mean easy:

Write an essay explaining the decline and
fall of the Roman Empire incorporating at
least five of the seven causes discussed in
class from the writings of Gibbon and
Toynbee

High level doesnt mean hard:

Which movie did you like more, WALL-E or

Cars? Why?

Outline:
Part I
Principles in Test
Construction and
administration
Test Blueprint
Steps in Preparing
Test Questions
Preparing Multiple
Choice Questions
Preparing True or
False Questions

Part II
Review of Part I
Preparing Matching
Type Questions
Preparing Sentence
Completion Questions
Preparing Essay
Questions
Other types of Test
Questions
Wrap-up/Things to
Remember

The Purpose of Testing

To provide a record for assigning
grades.
To provide a learning experience for
students.
To motivate students to learn.
To serve as a guide for further study.

The Purpose of Testing

To assess how well students are
achieving the stated goals of the
lesson.
To provide the instructor with an
opportunity to reinforce the stated
objectives and highlight what is
important for students to remember.

Principles of Test Construction

Validity the extent to which the
test measures what it intends to
measure
Reliability the consistency with
which a test measures what it is
supposed to measure
Usability the test can be
administered with ease, clarity
and uniformity

Principles of Test
Construction

Standardisation

The process of Standardisation includes:

1. The scaling of test items in term of
difficulty, and
2. The establishment of norms.

Evaluation
The evaluation of test results,
involving as it does all the
problems of scoring and weighting
of items and the assignment of
relative weights to tests used in a
battery, it surrounded with highly
technical considerations.

Other Things to Consider

Scorability easy to score
Interpretability test results can
be properly interpreted and is a
major basis in making sound
educational decisions
Economical the test can be
reused without compromising the
validity and reliability

To be able to prepare a good

test, one has to have a

mastery of the subject

matter, knowledge of the
pupils to be tested, skill in
verbal expression and the use
of the different test format
Evaluating Educational Outcomes
(Oriondo & Antonio)

5 Most Commonly used

Test Format
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Multiple Choice
True or False
Matching Type
Fill-in the blanks (Sentence Completion)
Essay

General Steps in Test Construction

DRAFT
OUTLINE
ORDER

PRODUCE A

T.O.S.

TEST

ANALYZE

SUBMISSION

OUTLINE:

the unit learning objectives or

the unit content or major
concepts to be covered by the
test

Table of Specifications
(TOS)
A two way chart that relates the
learning outcomes to the course
content
It enables the teacher to prepare a
test containing a representative
sample of student behavior in each of
the areas tested.

Tips in Preparing the Table

of Specifications (TOS)

Dont make it overly detailed.

It's best to identify major ideas and skills

rather than specific details.

Use a cognitive taxonomy that is most

appropriate to your discipline, including nonspecific skills like communication skills or
graphic skills or computational skills if such are
important to your evaluation of the answer.

Tips in Preparing the Table

of Specifications (TOS)

Weigh the appropriateness of the

distribution of checks against the students'
level, the importance of the test, the
amount of time available.

MATCH the question level appropriate to

the level of thinking skills

Examples of Student Activities and

Verbs for Blooms Cognitive Levels
Table 2.1 in Jacobs & Chase (1992:19)
Blooms Cognitive
Level
Knowledge

Student Activity

Comprehension

Explaining/interpreting
the meaning of material

Application

Using a concept or
principle to solve a
problem

Remembering facts,
terms, concepts,
definitions, principles

Words to Use in Item

Stem
Define, list, state,
identify, label, name,
who?, when?, where?,
what?
Explain, predict, interpret,
infer, summarize, convert,
translate, account for,
give example, paraphrase
Apply, solve, show, make
use of, modify,
demonstrate, compute

Examples of Student Activities and

Verbs for Blooms Cognitive Levels
Table 2.1 in Jacobs & Chase (1992:19)
Blooms Cognitive
Level
Analysis

Synthesis

Evaluation

Student Activity
Breaking material down
into its component parts to
see interrelationships/
hierarchy of ideas

Words to Use in Item

Stem

Differentiate,
compare/contrast,
distinguish ____from
____, how does
____relate to ___, why
does ____work
Producing something new or Design, construct, develop,
original from component
formulate, imagine,
parts
create, change, write a
poem or short story
Making a judgment based
Appraise, evaluate,
on a pre-established set of justify, judge, which would
criteria
be better?

Tips in Preparing the Table

of Specifications (TOS)
The following array shows the most
common questions types used at various
cognitive levels.
Factual Knowledge
Multiple Choice
True/False
Matching Type
S. Completion
Short Answer/RRT

Application
Multiple Choice
Short Answer
Problems
Essay

Analysis and
Evaluation
Multiple Choice
Essay

Activity:
Prepare a short TOS using the
selection in your activity sheet.

DRAFT the questions covering

the content in the outline

ORDER the selected questions

logically.

Place simpler items at the beginning

to ease students into the exam.
Group item types together under
common instructions.
If desirable, order the questions
logically from a content standpoint
(e.g. chronologically or by conceptual
groups, etc.)

Test
PUT the questions away for one or
two days before rereading them or
have someone else review them for
clarity.
TEST the questions by actually
taking the test.

 ANALYZE the items to give you

an idea whether the questions
were well-written or poorly
written as well as if there were
problems in understanding
instruction.

General Rules in Writing Test

Questions
Number test questions continuously.
Keep your test question in each test group
uniform.
Make your layout presentable.
Do not put too many test questions in one
test group.

T or F: 10 15 questions
Multiple Choice: max. of 30 questions
Matching type: 5 questions per test group
Others: 5 10 questions

Some additional guidelines to

consider when writing items are
described
below:
1.
Avoid humorous
items. Classroom testing is
very important and humorous items may
cause students to either not take the exam
seriously or become confused or anxious.
2. Items should measure only the construct of
interest, not ones knowledge of the item
context.
3. Write items to measure what students know,
not what they do not know. (Cohen & Wallack)

Multiple Choice Test

What to Look for on

Multiple Choice Tests

When checking the stems for correctness:

Ensure that the stem asks a clear
question.
Reading level is appropriate to the
students
The stem is grammatically correct.
Negatively stated stems are
discouraged.

What to Look for on

Multiple Choice Tests

Example:
What is the effect of releasing a ball in
positive gravity?
a) It will fall down. correct
b) It will retain its mass. true but unrelated
c) It will rise. false but related
d) Its shape will change. false and unrelated

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Use negatively stated stems sparingly and
when using negatives such as NOT,
underline or bold the print.
2. Use none of the above and all of the above
sparingly, and when you do use them, don't
always make them the right answer.
3. Only one option should be correct or clearly
best.

Multiple Choice Questions:

4. All options should be homogenous and
nearly equal in length.
5. The stem (question) should contain only
one main idea.
6. Keep all options either singular or plural.
7. Have four or five responses per stem
(question).

Multiple Choice Questions:

7. When using incomplete statements place
the blank space at the end of the stem
versus the beginning.
8. When possible organize the responses.
9. Reduce wordiness.
10.When writing distracters, think of incorrect
responses that students might make.

Examples
1. Sheldon developed a highly controversial

theory of personality based on body type and

temperament of the individual. Which of the
following is a criticism of Sheldon's work?
a. He was influenced too much by the
Freudian psychoanalysis.
b. His rating of physique and temperament
were not independent.
c. He failed to use empirical approach.
d. His research sample was improperly
selected.

Examples
Better: (Eliminate excessive
wording and irrelevant
information)
1. Which of the following is a
criticism of Sheldon's theory of
personality?

Examples
1. The receptors for the vestibular
sense are located
a. in the fovea.
b. in the brain.
c. in the middle ear.
d. in the inner ear.

Examples
Better: (Include in the stem any word(s)
that might otherwise be repeated in
each option.)
1. The receptors for the vestibular senses
are located in the _______.
a. fovea
b. brain
c. middle ear
d. inner ear

Examples
1. Which is not a major technique
for studying brain function?
a. Accident and injury
b. Cutting and removing
c. Electrical stimulation
d. Direct phrenology

Examples
Better: (Use negatively stated
stems sparingly. When used,
underline and/or capitalize the
negative word.)
1. Which is NOT a major technique
for studying brain function?

Examples
4. ________________ is the least form
of behavior disorder.
a. Psychosis
b. Panic disorder
c. Neurasthenia
d. Neurosis

Examples
Better: (When using incomplete
statements avoid beginning with
the blank space.)
1. The least severe form of behavior
disorder is __________________.

Examples
1. The number of photoreceptors in
the retina of each human is about
a. 115 million
b. 5 million
c. 65 million
d. 35 billion

Examples
Better: (When possible, present
alternatives in some logical order.)
1. The number of photo receptors in
the retina of each human is about
a. 5 million
b. 35 million
c. 65 million
d. 115 million

Examples
6. Latane and Darley's smoke-filled
room experiment suggested that
people are less likely to help in
groups than alone, because people
a. in groups talk to one another.
b. who are alone are more attentive.
c. in groups do not display pluralistic
ignorance.
d. in groups allow others to define
the
situation as a non-emergency

Examples
Better: (All alternatives should be
approximately equal in length.)
6. Latane and Darley's smoke-filled room
experiment suggested that people are less
likely to help in groups than alone, because
people in groups
a. talk to one another
b. are less attentive than people who are
alone
c. do not display pluralistic ignorance
d. allow other to define non-emergencies

Advantages
Quick and easy to score, by hand or
electronically
Can be written so that they test a wide
range of higher-order thinking skills
Can cover lots of content areas on a
single exam and still be answered in a
class period

Disadvantages
Often test literacy skills: if the student reads the
question carefully, the answer is easy to recognize
even if the student knows little about the subject
(p. 194)
Provide unprepared students the opportunity to
guess, and with guesses that are right, they get
credit for things they dont know
Expose students to misinformation that can
influence subsequent thinking about the content
Take time and skill to construct (especially good
questions)

Activity:
Prepare two multiple choice questions
based on the selection in your activity
sheet.

True or False

What to Look for on

True/False Tests
Each statement is clearly true or
clearly false.
Trivial details should not make a
statement false.
Statements are written concisely
without more elaboration than
necessary.
Statements are NOT quoted
exactly from text.

Tips in Making True/False Tests

Give emphasis on the use of quantitative
terms than qualitative terms.
Avoid using of specific determiners which
usually gives a clue to the answer.

False = all, always, never, every, none, only

True = generally, sometimes, usually,
maybe, often

Discourage the use of negative

statements.
Whenever a controversial statement is
used, the authority should be quoted.
Discourage the use of pattern for answers.

Examples:
Find the errors, and/or problems with
the following true-false tests.

____ 1. Repetition always strengthens

the tendency for a response
to occur.
(Using "always" usually means the
answer is false.)

Examples:
_____ 2. The process of extinction is
seldom immediate but
extends over a number of
trials.
(Words like "seldom" usually
indicate a true statement.)

Examples:
_____ 3. The mean, median, and mode are
measures of central tendency,
whereas the standard deviation
and range are measures of
variability.
(Express a single idea in each statement.)
e.g.The mean and standard
deviation are measures of
central tendency.

True or False Questions

Advantages
Quick and easy to score
Disadvantages
Considered to be one of the most unreliable forms
of assessment (p. 195)
Often written so that most of the statement is true
save one small, often trivial bit of information that
then makes the whole statement untrue
Encourage guessing, and reward for correct guesses

Activity:
Prepare two true or false questions
based on the selection in your activity
sheet.