Designing tests - Pros, Cons & Tips
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The document outlines various types of test items (true/false, matching, multiple choice, short answer, and essay) along with their advantages, disadvantages, and tips for creating effective questions. True/false tests are quick and assess knowledge level but can encourage guessing; matching tests maximize coverage with minimal space but are time-consuming; multiple choice tests are versatile but challenging to construct. Short answer and essay tests promote in-depth knowledge and reasoning but may be subjective and labor-intensive to grade.
Designing tests - Pros, Cons & Tips
- 2. True/False Good for: • Knowledge level content • Evaluating students understanding of popular misconceptions • Concepts with two logical responses
- 3. Advantages • Can test large amount of content • Students can answer 3-4 questions per minute
- 4. Disadvantages • They are easy • It is difficult to discriminate between students that know the material and students who don‘t • Students have a 50-50 chance of getting the right answer by guessing • Need a large number of items for high reliability
- 5. Tips for Writing Good True/False items • Avoid double negetives • Avoid long/complex sentences • Use specific determinants with caution:never,only,all,none,always,could, might,can,may, sometimes,generally,some,few • Use only one central idea in each item • Don‘t emphasize the trivial (unimportant) • Use exact quantitative language • Don‘t lift items straight from the book
- 6. Matching Good for: • Knowledge level • Some comprehension level, if appropriately constructed
- 7. Types: • Terms with definitions • Phrases with other phrases • Causes with effects • Parts with larger units • Problems with solutions
- 8. Advantages • Maximum coverage at knowledge level in a minimum amount of space/preparation time • Valuable in content areas that have a lot of facts
- 9. Disadvantages • Time consuming for students • Not good for higher levels of learning
- 10. Tips for Writing Good Matching items • Give good directions on basis for matching • Use items in response column more than once (reduces the effects of guessing) • Use homogenous material in each exercise • Make all responses plausible (reasonable) • Put all items on a single page • Put response in some logical order (chronological, alphabetical, etc.) • Responses should be short
- 11. Multiple Choice Good for: • Application, synthesis, analysis and evaluation levels
- 12. Types: • Question/Right answer • Incomplete statement • Best answer
- 13. Advantages • Very effective • Versatile (adaptable) at all levels • Minimum of writing for students • Can cover broad range of content
- 14. Disadvantages • Difficult to construct good test items • Difficult to come up with plausible distractors/alternative responses
- 15. Tips for Writing Multiple Choice items • Stem should present single, clearly formulated problem • Stem should be in simple , understood language; delete extraneous words • Avoid a ― all of the above‖—can answer based on partial knowledge (If one is incorrect or two are correct, but unsure of the third…..)
- 16. • Avoid ‗none of the above‖ • Make all the distractors plausible/homoegenous • Don‘t overlap response alternatives (decreases discrimination between students who know the material and those who don‘t) • Don‘t use double negetives
- 17. • Present alternatives in logical or numerical order • Place correct answer at random • Make each item independent of others on test • Way to judge a good stem: students who know the content should be able to answer before reading the alternatives • List alternative on separate lines, indent, separate by blank line, use letters vs. numbers for alternative answers • Need more than 3 alternatives, 4 is best
- 18. Short Answer Good for: • Application, synthesis, analysis and evaluation levels
- 19. Advantages • Easy to construct • Good for who, what, where, when content • Minimizes guessing • Encourages more intensive study-student must know the answer vs. recognizing the answer
- 20. Disadvantages • May overemphasize memorization of facts • Take care – questions may have more than one correct answer • Scoring is laborious
- 21. Tips for Writing Good Short Answer Items • When using with definitions: supply term, not the definition-for a better judge of student knowledge • For numbers, indicate the degree of precision/units expected • Use direct questions, not an incomplete statement • Try to phrase question so there is only one answer possible
- 22. Essay Good for: • Application, synthesis, and evaluation levels
- 23. Types: • Extended response: synthesis and evaluation levels; a lot of freedom in answers • Restricted response: more consistent scoring, outlines parameters of responses
- 24. Advantages • Students less likely to guess • Easy to construct • Stimulates more study • Allows students to demonstrate ability to organize knowledge, express opinions, show originality
- 25. Disadvantages • Subjective, potentially unreliable scoring • Time consuming to score
- 26. Tips for Writing Good Essay Items • Provide reasonable time limits for thinking and writing • Avoid letting them to answer a choice of questions (You won‘t get a good idea of the broadness of student achievement when they answer a set of questions • Give definitive task to student- compare, analyze, evaluate, etc
- 27. • Use checklist point system score with a model answer: write outline, determine how many points to assign to each part • Score one question at a time-all at the same time • Have a scoring rubric complex tasks