TEST

CONSTRUCTION
“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 are of
“Low level” - knowledge and
comprehension
(Wilen, 1992)
• “Low level” doesn’t 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” doesn’t mean hard:
• Which movie did you like more, WALL-E or
Cars? Why?
Outline:
Part I Part II
 Principles in Test  Review of Part I

Construction  Preparing Matching

 Steps in Preparing Type Questions

 Preparing Sentence
Test Questions
 Preparing Multiple
Completion Questions
 Preparing Essay
Choice Questions
Questions
 Preparing True or
 Other types of Test
False Questions Questions
 Wrap-up/Things to

Remember
“The evaluation of pupils’
progress is a major aspect of
the teacher’s job.“
Evaluating Educational Outcomes
(Oriondo & Antonio)
Explain the message of the comic strip.
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.
Characteristics of Good Tests
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
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. Multiple Choice
2. True or False
3. Matching Type
4. Fill-in the blanks (Sentence Completion)
5. Essay
Source: Turn-out of Test Questions in SSI (2003-2007)
General Steps in Test Construction
DRAFT
OUTLINE

ORDER

PRODUCE A TEST ANALYZE

T.O.S.

SUBMISSION
 OUTLINE:
– the unit learning objectives or
– the unit content or major
concepts to be covered by the
test

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 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)
• Don’t 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
non-specific 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
DRAFT the questions covering
the content in the outline

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 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.)
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 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.

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• 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.
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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
Multiple Choice Test
STRUCTURE OF A TEST
1. Stem
is the beginning part of the item
that presents the item as a problem
to be solved, a question asked of the
respondent, or an incomplete
statement to be completed, as well
as any other relevant information.
SAMPLE OF A STEM

If a=1, b=2. What is a+b?

STRUCTURE OF A TEST
2. Options
The options are the possible
answers that the examiner can
choose from, with the correct
answer called the KEY and the
incorrect answers called
DISTRACTORS.
SAMPLE OF OPTIONS
If a=1, b=2. What is a+b?
A. 2 B.3
C.4 D.10

Letter B – is the key while

the rest are distractors
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.
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.