Basic Testing Terminology
TYPES OF TESTS
Norm
-Referenced Test
• Scores a test by comparing a
person's performance to others
who are similar.
• The object of a norm-referenced
test is to compare a person's
performance to what is normal for
other people like him or her.
• Selection tests usually set by
outside specialists such as public
examining bodies and ministries of
education.
• These outside specialists often draw
up a syllabus or description of the
test they have designed.
Criterion
-Referenced Test
• To determine whether each
student has achieved specific
skills or concepts and to find out
how much students know
before instruction begins and
after it has finished.
• Measures specific skills which
make up a designated
curriculum.
• These skills are identified by
teachers and curriculum experts.
• For example, can the student
write a letter asking for a
information about something?
 Formative Test
• to monitor student learning to
provide ongoing feedback that can
be used by instructors to improve
their teaching and by students to
improve their learning.
• help students identify their
strengths and weaknesses and
target areas that need work
• help teachers recognize where
students are struggling and
address problems immediately.
• Example of formative assessments
: assessments include:
• draw a concept map in class
to represent their
understanding of a topic
Summative Test
• to evaluate student learning at the
end of an instructional unit by
comparing it against some
standard or benchmark.
• are given at the conclusion of a
specific instructional period, and
therefore they are generally
evaluative, rather than diagnostic.
• results are often recorded as
scores or grades that are then
factored into a student’s
permanent academic record.
• Examples of summative
• a midterm exam
• a final project
 Objective Test
• An objective item can be marked
very quickly and completely
reliable.
• Objective item has only one
answer or a limited number of
correct answers.
• Examples of objective questions:
• Multiple-choice items
• True/false items
• Ordering or re-arrangement
• Matching
Subjective Test
• Subjective questions offer better
ways of testing language skills and
certain areas of language.
• Subjective questions allows for much
greater freedom and flexibility in the
answers they require.
• They can only be marked by a
competent teacher or marker.
• Often there is no answer which is
100 percent right or 100 percent
wrong.
• Examples of subjective questions:
• Compositions
• Letters
• reports