Multiple-choice test items

Sample Multiple-Choice Item



(a)	Item Stem: Which of the following is a chemical change?
(b)	Response Alternatives:	a.	Evaporation of alcohol
b.			Freezing of water
*c.			Burning of oil
d.			Melting of wax

*correct response

Advantages In Using Multiple-Choice Items

Multiple-choice items can provide ...

• versatility in measuring all levels of cognitive ability.
• highly reliable test scores.
• scoring efficiency and accuracy.
• objective measurement of student achievement or ability.
• a wide sampling of content or objectives.
• a reduced guessing factor when compared to true-false items.
• different response alternatives which can provide diagnostic feedback.

Limitations In Using Multiple-Choice Items

Multiple-choice items ...

• are difficult and time consuming to construct.
• lead an instructor to favor simple recall of facts.
• place a high degree of dependence on the student's reading ability and instructor's writing ability.

Suggestions For Writing Multiple-Choice Test Items

9. When possible, present alternatives in some logical order (e.g., chronological, most to least, alphabetical).
At 7 a.m. two trucks leave a diner and travel north. One truck averages 42 miles per hour and the other truck averages 38 miles per hour. At what time will they be 24 miles apart?

10. Be sure there is only one correct or best response to the item.

11. Make alternatives approximately equal in length.

12. Avoid irrelevant clues such as grammatical structure, well known verbal associations or connections between stem and answer.

13. Use at least four alternatives for each item to lower the probability of getting the item correct by guessing.

14. Randomly distribute the correct response among the alternative positions throughout the test having approximately the same proportion of alternatives a, b, c, d and e as the correct response.

Use the alternatives "none of the above" and "all of the above" sparingly. When used, such alternatives should occasionally be used as the correct response.

Table of Contents

True-False Test Items

Sample True-False Item: Simple
The acquisition of morality is a developmental process.	True	False
Sample True-False Item: Complex
The acquisition of morality is a developmental process.	True	False	Opinion
Sample True-False Item: Compound
The acquisition of morality is a developmental process.
If this statement is false, what makes it false?	True	False


Advantages In Using True-False Items
True-False items can provide ...

 

• the widest sampling of content or objectives per unit of testing time.
• scoring efficiency and accuracy.
• versatility in measuring all levels of cognitive ability.
• highly reliable test scores.
• an objective measurement of student achievement or ability.
Limitations In Using True-False Items
True-false items ...
• incorporate an extremely high guessing factor. For simple true-false items, each student has a 50/50 chance of correctly answering the item without any knowledge of the item's content.
• can often lead an instructor to write ambiguous statements due to the difficulty of writing statements which are unequivocally true or false.
• do not discriminate between students of varying ability as well as other item types.
• can often include more irrelevant clues than do other item types.
• can often lead an instructor to favor testing of trivial knowledge.
  
  

Suggestions For Writing True-False Test Items

Matching Test Items

Sample Matching Test Item



Directions:

On the line to the left of each factual statement, write the letter of the principle which bests explains the statement's occurrence. Each principle may be used more than once.

Factual Statements	Principles
1. Fossils of primates first appear in the Cenozoic rock strata, while trilobite remains are found in the Proterozoic rocks. 2. The Arctic and Antarctic regions are sparsely populated. 3. Plants have no nervous system. 4. Large coal beds exist in Alaska.	a. There have been profound changes in the climate on earth. b. Coordination and integration of action is generally slower in plants than in animals. c. There is an increasing complexity of structure and functions from lower to higher forms of life. d. All life comes from life and produces its own kind of living organisms. e. Light is a limiting factor to life.

Advantages In Using Matching Items

Matching items
• require short periods of reading and response time, allowing you to cover more content.
• provide objective measurement of student achievement or ability.
• provide highly reliable test scores.
• provide scoring efficiency and accuracy.
Limitations In Using Matching Items

Matching items
• have difficulty measuring learning objectives requiring more than simple recall of information.
• are difficult to construct due to the problem of selecting a common set of stimuli and responses.

Suggestions For Writing Matching Test Items

Keep matching items brief, limiting the list of stimuli to under 10.

Include more responses than stimuli to help prevent answering through the process of elimination.

When possible, reduce the amount of reading time by including only short phrases or single words in the response list.

Table of Contents

Completion Test Items

Sample Completion Item

According to Freud, personality is made up of three major systems, the _________, the ________ and the ________.

Advantages In Using Completion Items
Completion items

• can provide a wide sampling of content.
• can efficiently measure lower levels of cognitive ability.
• can minimize guessing as compared to multiple-choice or true-false items.
• can usually provide an objective measure of student achievement or ability.

Limitations In Using Completion Items
Completion items

• are difficult to construct so that the desired response is clearly indicated.
• have difficulty measuring learning objectives requiring more than simple recall of information.
• can often include more irrelevant clues than do other item types.
• are more time consuming to score when compared to multiple-choice or true-false items.
• are more difficult to score since more than one answer may have to be considered correct if the item was not properly prepared.

Suggestions For Writing Completion Test Items

Essay Test Items

Sample Extended-Response Essay Item
Explain the difference between the S-R (Stimulus-Response) and the S-O-R (Stimulus-Organism-Response) theories of personality. Include in your answer (a) brief descriptions of both theories, (b) supporters of both theories and (c) research methods used to study each of the two theories. (10 pts. 20 minutes)

Sample Short-Answer Essay Item
Identify research methods used to study the S-R (Stimulus-Response) and S-O-R (Stimulus-Organism-Response) theories of personality. (5 pts. 10 minutes)

Advantages In Using Essay Items
Essay items

• are easier and less time consuming to construct than are most other item types.
• provide a means for testing student's ability to compose an answer and present it in a logical manner.
• can efficiently measure higher order cognitive objectives (e.g., analysis, synthesis, evaluation).

Limitations In Using Essay Items
Essay items

• cannot measure a large amount of content or objectives.
• generally provide low test and test scorer reliability.
• require an extensive amount of instructor's time to read and grade.
• generally do not provide an objective measure of student achievement or ability (subject to bias on the part of the grader).

Suggestions For Writing Essay Test Items

Suggestions For Scoring Essay Items

Analytical Scoring



Necessary Elements to be Included in Response	Points
Salaries are based on demand relative to supply of such services.	3
Excellent ball players are rare.	2
Ball clubs have a high demand for excellent players.	2
Clarity of Response	2
	____
	9 pts.


Global Quality

Assign scores or grades on the overall quality of the written response as compared to an ideal answer. Or, compare the overall quality of a response to other student responses by sorting the papers into three stacks:

 

Below Average Average Above Average

Read and sort each stack again devide into three more stacks

Below Average Average Above Average
/ | \ / | \ / | \
Below Avg. Above Below Avg. Above Below Avg. Above
Avg. Avg. Avg. Avg. Avg. Avg.

In total, nine discriminations can be used to assign test grades in this manner. The number of stacks or discriminations can vary to meet your needs.

Problem Solving Test Items

Example Problem Solving Test Item
It was calculated that 75 men could complete a strip on a new highway in 70 days. When work was scheduled to commence, it was found necessary to send 25 men on another road project. How many days longer will it take to complete the strip? Show your work for full or partial credit.

Advantages In Using Problem Solving Items
Problem solving items

• minimize guessing by requiring the students to provide an original response rather than to select from several alternatives.
• are easier to construct than are mu
  ltiple-choice or matching items.
• can most appropriately measure learning objectives which focus on the ability to apply skills or knowledge in the solution of problems.
• can measure an extensive amount of content or objectives.

Limitations In Using Problem Solving Items
Problem solving items

• generally provide low test and test scorer reliability.
• require an extensive amount of instructor time to read and grade.
• generally do not provide an objective measure of student achievement or ability (subject to bias on the part of the grader when partial credit is given).

Suggestions For Writing Problem Solving Test Items

Performance Test Items

Sample Performance Test Item
Assume that some of the instructional objectives of an urban planning course include the development of the student's ability to effectively use the principles covered in the course in various "real life" situations common for an urban planning professional. A performance test item could measure this development by presenting the student with a specific situation which represents a "real life" situation. For example,
An urban planning board makes a last minute request for the professional to act as consultant and critique a written proposal which is to be considered in a board meeting that very evening. The professional arrives before the meeting and has one hour to analyze the written proposal and prepare his critique. The critique presentation is then made verbally during the board meeting; reactions of members of the board or the audience include requests for explanation of specific points or informed attacks on the positions taken by the professional.

The performance test designed to simulate this situation would require that the student to be tested role play the professional's part, while students or faculty act the other roles in the situation. Various aspects of the "professional's" performance would than be observed and rated by several judges with the necessary background. The ratings could then be used both to provide the student with a diagnosis of his/her strengths and weaknesses and to contribute to an overall summary evaluation of the student's abilities.

Advantages In Using Performance Test Items
Performance test items

• can most appropriately measure learning objectives which focus on the ability of the students to apply skills or knowledge in real life situations.
• usually provide a degree of test validity not possible with standard paper and pencil test items.
• are useful for measuring learning objectives in the psychomotor domain.

Limitations In Using Performance Test Items
Performance test items
• are difficulty and time consuming to construct.
• are primarily used for testing students individually and not for testing groups. Consequently, they are relatively costly, time consuming, and inconvenient forms of testing.
• generally provide low test and test scorer reliability.
• generally do not provide an objective measure of student achievement or ability (subject to bias on the part of the observer/grader).

Suggestions For Writing Performance Test Items

• Prepare items that elicit the type of behavior you want to measure.
• Clearly identify and explain the simulated situation to the student.
• Make the simulated situation as "life-like" as possible.
• Provide directions which clearly inform the students of the type of response called for.
• When appropriate, clearly state time and activity limitations in the directions.
• Adequately train the observer(s)/scorer(s) to ensure that they are fair in scoring the appropriate behaviors.