Types of Assessment: Matching Questions
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The document discusses the fundamentals of matching questions as an assessment tool, highlighting their structure, construction guidelines, and the pros and cons of using them. It emphasizes their effectiveness in measuring learners' abilities to identify relationships between similar items, presenting several advantages for both instructors and students and some drawbacks. Ultimately, matching questions are deemed a reliable and efficient assessment format with clear instructional recommendations.
Types of Assessment: Matching Questions
- 1. Types of Assessment Matching Questions (Advantages and Disadvantages) Dr. Muhammad Ayyoub Assistant Professor Department of Economics June 15, 2020 1 / 22
- 2. Overview 1 Learning objectives 2 Definition and structure 3 Construction guidelines 4 Pros and cons of ‘Matching Questions’ 5 Summary 6 References 2 / 22
- 3. Learning Objectives • To understand the fundamentals of ‘Matching Questions’ as an assessment tool of measuring the learners’ ability. • To explore the advantages and disadvantages of ‘Matching Questions’. 3 / 22
- 4. Matching Questions • Matching Test Items or Matching Objectives • provide a way for learners to connect a word, sentence or phrase in one column to a corresponding word, sentence or phrase in a second column. 4 / 22
- 5. Matching Questions (Cont’d) • MQs can be created with using text on both sides or a mix of text with media.1 • One question can be paired with multiple responses. • Items in Column A are numbered and the items in Column B are labeled with capital letters. • Unmatched answer choices are distractors. 1 Such as images, audio or video. 5 / 22
- 6. Structure MQs consist of two columns — left and right. ——–.1) Left Column A). Right Column ——–.2) Column A B). Column B ——–.3) Premises C). Responses ——–.4) Clues D). Matches ——–.5) Stimuli E). Options 6 / 22
- 7. Structure (Cont’d) ——–.1) Left Column A). Right Column • Match the description from Column A with its corresponding item in Column B.2 • Directions: 3 On the line next to each economic phrase in Column A print the letter of economic challenge in Column B that shows one of the major economic issues of the economy of Pakistan. Each economic issue in Column B can be used only once.4 2 Here is a poorly executed matching question. 3 This is an illustration of ‘two-part directions’. 4 This is an example of well executed matching question. 7 / 22
- 8. When to Use Matching? The matching test item format: • provides a change of pace for self-check and review activities. • is effective to measure the learners’ ability to identify the relationship or association between similar items. • works best when the course content has many parallel concepts. 8 / 22
- 9. When to Use Matching? (Cont’d) Parallel Concepts • Terms & definitions • Objects or pictures and labels • Symbols & proper nouns • Causes & effects • Scenarios & responses • Principles & scenarios to which they apply 9 / 22
- 10. A General Example 10 / 22
- 11. An Illustration from Economics Column A (Premises) Column B (Responses) ——–.1) Microeconomics A) Wealth of Nations ——–.2) Macroeconomics B) Harrod and Domar ——–.3) J. M. Keynes C) Partial Equilibrium ——–.4) Growth Theory D) Principles of Economics ——–.5) Adam Smith E) General Equilibrium F) ‘General Theory’ F) Game Theory G) Milton Friedman 11 / 22
- 12. Construction Guidelines • Two-part directions (how?, the basis?). • Parallel content (a common approach). • Keep premises limited and short. • Unequal responses — use more responses than there are premises.5 • Keep responses plausible. • Add premises in a logical order. 5 Adding distractors. 12 / 22
- 13. Construction Guidelines (Cont’d) • Do not use too many items per question. • Add clear instructions/directions. • One correct answer. • Shuffle premises and responses. • Clueless — do not include hints through grammar etc. • Question developers should be aware of the structure and the technical aspects. 13 / 22
- 14. Advantages for Instructors • Provide an excellent objective measurement of students’ achievement or ability. • Allow to cover more content in one question. • Excellent for intermittent knowledge checks. • Ceteris paribus, quick and easy to create and mark. • Promote time efficiency for academics during peak assessment periods. 14 / 22
- 15. Advantages for Learners • Great for learners who have a lower reading level. • Easy to read and understand. • No negative marking. • More engaging for participants. • Create a positive examination environment.6 6 As all alternative options are indeed correct, it reminds the students of what they do know. 15 / 22
- 16. Advantages for All • Provide scoring efficiency and accuracy. • A way to add some variety to testing activities. • Less chance for guessing than other assessment types — highly reliable test assessment.7 • Probe the students’ differential knowledge.8 7 According to Chandratilaket et. al. (2011), the chance of guessing is only 12.5% if 8 options are suggested. 8 Since the students are required to distinguish between two closely related alternatives. 16 / 22
- 17. Advantages for All (Cont’d) • The context statement serves to focus and settle the student under examination. • Can be used more effectively to assess problem-solving ability rather than factual recall and concepts. • The best option in terms of discriminating between high and low performers. 17 / 22
- 18. Disadvantages • Simply recall of information. • Can take time to create questions. • Requires more time to respond. • Becomes disengaging, if having to search through too many matches. 18 / 22
- 19. Disadvantages (Cont’d) • Need huge and significant input. • If the questions are not well-designed, the possibility of guessing increases. 19 / 22
- 20. Summary • ‘Matching Questions’ format is an effective type of objective assessment, and is superior to many other ways of such assessment. • It helps to measure the learner’s ability of identifying the relationships between similar items or parallel concepts. • It is a highly reliable test assessment with many other significant advantages. 20 / 22
- 21. References Connie Malamed Tips For Writing Matching Format Test Items Retrieved from: http://theelearningcoach.com/ elearning_design/writing-matching-test-items/ Matching Questions Retrieved from: https://www.classmarker.com/learn/ question-types/matching-questions/ Chandratilake, M., Davis, M., Ponnamperuma, G. (2011). Assessment of medical knowledge: the pros and cons of using true/false multiple choice questions. The NationaL Medical Journal of India, 24(4), 225–228. 21 / 22
- 22. Thank you for your attention! Questions/Queries??? m.ayyoub@uosahiwal.edu.pk muhammad.ayyoub@outlook.com 22 / 22