Objective testing - a report during my masters school
- 1. OBJECTIVE TESTING Prepared by : ALEXIS JOHN B. BENEDICTO Bachelor of Secondary Education (Major in English) Publication Adviser “The Herald” , Former Editor in Chief of the Clarion, Most outstanding Student Teacher, Most outstanding English Teacher, Journalism Awardees, Most Promising Photojournalist, Champion in Editorial Cartooning (teachers category), English Coordinator, Back to back Champion Coach in the Division and Regional English Language Festival (Editorial Writing) Artist, Singer, Dancer
- 2. What’s the difference? Objective assessment is a form of questioning which has a single correct answer. Subjective assessment is a form of questioning which may have more than one correct answer (or more than one way of expressing the correct answer). There are various types of objective and subjective questions. Objective question types include true/false answers, multiple choice, multiple-response and matching questions. Subjective questions include extended-response questions and essays. Objective assessment is well suited to the increasingly popular computerized or online assessment format. Subjectivity can be a personal expression of assessment of expressing a CORRECT answer. Subjective assessment is a form of questioning which may have more than one correct answer and/or more than one way of expressing the correct answer, whereas opinion might in addition to- also consist of unsubstantiated information, in
- 3. Objective and Subjective Testing are terms used to refer to the scoring of tests. all tests items no matter how they are devised, required candidates to exercise a subjective judgment. (Ex. An Essay Test) furthermore, all tests constructed subjectively by The tester, who decides which areas of language to test, how to test those particular areas, and what kind of items to use for this purpose. thus, it is only the scoring of a test that can be described as Objective. This means that a testee will occur the same mark no manner which examiner marks the test.
- 4. Subjective or Objective? 1. You went to live in Cairo two years ago. Someone asks you how long you have lived there?
- 5. The item is largely subjective since the response maybe whatever students wish to say. Some answers will be better than others, thus perhaps causing a problem in the scoring of the item. How for instance ought each of the following answers to be marked? Ans. 1: I’ve been living in Cairo since 1986 Ans. 2: I didn’t leave Cairo since 1986 Ans. 3: I have lived in the Cairo for about two years. Ans. 4: From 1986 Ans. 5: I came to live here before 1986 and I still live here. Ans. 6: Since 1986 my home is in Cairo.
- 6. It is difficult to achieve reliability because there are so many different degrees of acceptability and ways of scoring all the possible responses. Example: Complete the sentences by putting the best word by each blank. 1. ‘Is your home still in Cairo?’ ‘Yes, I’ve been living here_____1986. a. for b. on c. in d. at e. since
- 7. Objective Test frequently criticised on the grounds that they are simpler than subjective tests. another criticism is that objective tests of the multiple choice type encourage guessing. An objective test will be a very poor test if: -the test items are poorly written; -irrelevant areas and skills are emphasized in the tests simply because they are ‘testable’; and -it is confined to languages-based usage and neglects the communicative skills involved.
- 8. It should never be claimed that objective tests can do those tasks which they are not intended to do. As already indicated, they can never test the ability to communicate in the target language, nor can they never evaluate actual performance. A GOOD CLASSROOM TEST WILL USUALLY CONTAIN BOTH SUBJECTIVE AND OBJECTIVE TEST ITEMS.
- 9. Multiple-Choice Items: General One of the most widely used types of items in objective tests. One of the most difficult and time consuming types of items to construct, numerous poor multiple choice now abound. The chief criticism of the multiple-choice item, however is that frequently it does not lend itself to the testing of language as communication.
- 10. Before Constructing any test items the test writer must: Determine the actual areas to be covered by multiple-choice items and the number of items to be included in the test. The test must be long enough to allow for a reliable assessment of a testee’s performance and short enough to be practicable. The number of items included in a test will vary according to the level of difficulty, the natures of the area being tested, and purpose of the test.
- 11. STEM- initial part of each multiple-choice item. OPTIONS/RESPONSES/ALTERNATIVES- the choices from which the students selects their answers. Two Types of Option: 1. answer, correct option or key 2. distractors- to distract the majority of poor students from the correct option
- 12. General Principle in Constructing a Multiple-Choice Test 1. Each multiple-choice item should have only one answer. 2. Only one feature at a time should be tested: it is usually less confusing for the testees and it helps to reinforce a particular teaching point. Impure items word order and sequence of tenses are tested simultaneously. 3. Each option should be grammatically correct when placed in the stem, except of course in the case of specific grammar test item items. 4. All multiple choice items should be at a level appropriate to the proficiency level of the testees.
- 13. 5. Multiple-Choice items should be as brief and as clear as possible. 6. In many tests, items are arranged in rough order of increasing difficulty.
- 14. Multiple-Choice Items: The Stem, The Correct Option, The Distractors
- 15. The Stem 1. The primary purpose of the stem is to present the problem clearly and concisely. 2. The stem may take the following forms. a. an incomplete statement b. a complete statement c. a question 3. The stem should usually contain those words or phrases which would otherwise have to be repeated in each option. 4. The stem should allow for the number of choices which have been decided upon.
- 16. The Correct For normal purposes of testing, this should be clearly the correct or best option: thus, it is most important that each item should be checked by another person. Note: The correct option should be approximately the same length as the distractors.
- 17. The Distractor Plausible Distractors are best based on: a. mistakes in the students’ own written work. b. their answers in previous tests, c. the teacher’s experience, and d. a contrastive analysis between the native and target languages.
- 18. Rememaber: 1. Distractors should be reasonably attractive and plausible. 2. For most purposes, each distractor should be grammatically correct when it stands by itself: otherwise testees will be exposed to incorrect forms. 3. Distractors should not be too difficult nor demand a higher proficiency in language than the correct option. 4. Capitals are only used in options which occur at the beginning of a sentence.