INTRODUCTION
Effective test construction is germane to ensuring sound evaluation of learners and instructional objectives. The implication of faulty test construction is far reaching as it affects all known spheres of learning outcome evaluation. It can lead teachers into reaching inaccurate conclusions about students’ abilities across cognitive, affective and psychomotor domains. Thus, when test items are poorly constructed, it poses great challenge to students’ overall educational achievements. Most teachers are either lacking in knowledge of or reluctant in adhering to the basic principles of classroom test items constructions. This article outlines salient principles and techniques in test items construction specifically for teachers with a view to improving the standard of their learning assessments. The article includes practice questions for teachers to keep track and reflect on what they have learnt. Happy reading!
DEFINITION OF CONCEPTS | SETTING OF CONTEXTS
Test | Assessment | Measurement | Evaluation
It’s difficult especially for those outside the teaching profession to understand the differences that exist among these concepts. In setting the context for this article, I will make attempts to explain their differences. These are briefly outlined below:
Assessment:
This is the process of gathering information to monitor progress and make educational decisions. Methods in test assessment include; tests, measurement and evaluation. In a nutshell, test, measurement and evaluation are all subsets of assessment.
Test:
According to Dickson, et al. (2020), tests are methods used to determine students’ ability to complete certain tasks or demonstrate mastery of a skill or knowledge of content. In other words, a test comprises of well-designed items that holistically measures realistic learning outcomes which represent expected behavioural patterns.
Measurement:
Measurement is a process used in determining the level of student’s competence in numerical terms with a view to quantifying the level of knowledge or skills acquired by the student.
Evaluation:
Procedures used to determine whether a student meets predetermined criteria that qualify him/her for certain educational services. Evaluation is hinged on two important items — criteria and evidence. Evaluation is further divided into two types — formative and summative evaluation. Formative evaluation is conducted before the beginning or the end of a program while summative evaluation is the evaluation done after the completion of a program or a class.
Practice Question
1. Distinguish between the following concepts: assessment, test, measurement and evaluation.
2. What is the difference between formative and summative evaluation?
TYPE OF TESTS
Teachers conduct the following tests — placement, performance, achievement and diagnostic tests. In the course of our teaching career, we must have been tasked at one time or the other to conduct one or more of these tests on our learners. These tests are briefly discussed below.
i. Placement Test:
This is also known as an entrance test… it is usually administered by a school on new students seeking to be admitted into the school. The test is aimed at determining their knowledge or competence across various subjects that could qualify them for an entry into appropriate classes. This test is usually conducted before the teacher is given the privilege to teach the learner.
ii. Achievement Test:
This is used to measure learners’ knowledge and competence acquired after a given period of time and classroom instruction in particular grade level. This test comes after the teacher had had an encounter with the learner(s) via planned classroom instruction. This test can be administered daily, weekly, termly or at the end of an academic session; it usually involves writing and answering questions.
iii. Performance Test
This is use to measure learners’ competence in performing a task or an activity. This test is similar to achievement test but greatly differs on method and interest. While achievement test centers only on the learners writing answers
iv. Diagnostic Test
A diagnostic test is a test designed to locate specific learning deficiencies in case of specific individuals at a specific stage of a learning lesson, so that specific effort could be made to overcome those deficiencies. It is a type of assessment given at the beginning of the instruction. It aims to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the students regarding the topic to be discussed (Pavithra, 2018).
Practice Questions
1. Briefly explain Diagnostic and Achievement Tests.
2. What is the difference between performance and placement tests?
RATIONALE FOR CONDUCTING TESTS IN EDUCATION
Tests serve different purposes in different contexts and for different groups. In Education, tests are generally used for placement and diagnostic purposes as well as for measuring learners’ academic achievement and performance. More elaborately, the purpose of testing that will be discussed in this paper will however be strictly limited and applied to learners and educational institutions.
In an unpublished article titled, “Skills for Test Construction in Schools”, Jaafar (Year Unknown) outlined purposes for Testing for students and institutions. These have been revised and reproduced below:
Rationale for Conducting Tests on Students
The reasons for conducting tests in this context include but not limited to the following:
i. Measure students’ knowledge and competence acquired after a given period of time and classroom instruction in particular grade level.
ii. Identify students’ areas of weakness that need some urgent remedial actions.
iii. Assigning grades to students after showing evidence of competence and knowledge in a particular subject.
iv. Identifying scholarship recipients.
Rationale for Conducting Tests in an Institution
Some of the purposes for conducting tests in an institution are:
i. Tests serve as tools for program evaluation in an institution
ii. Test can be used for placement purposes especially for new students seeking to be admitted in the institution.
iii. For curriculum evaluation — identifying strong or weak areas in the curriculum.
iv. To certify competence.
v. To license individuals for practice in an occupation or profession.
TEST ITEMS FORMAT
The ideal item format to be used in tests construction is determined by different factors. These factors include:
i. The purpose of the test;
ii. Content coverage;
iii. Ease of scoring;
iv. The number of students to be tested;
v. The skills to be tested;
vi. The difficulty level desired;
vii. The physical facilities available for reproducing the test;
viii. The age of the students; and
ix. The teacher’s skill in producing the different types of items
The essay and objective tests are the commonly used tests in educational assessment
1. Objective Test
It is a test format which has a single correct answer. This test is also known as Selected-Response Items.
The test comes in different types, namely: true/false answers, Multiple-Choice, Multiple-Responses and Matching Questions; as well as Sentence Completion or Fill in the Blank forms.
The test has its own pros and cons or strengths and weaknesses. These are outlined below:
Pros of the Objective Test
i. The scoring is easy. The test is sometimes objective and reliable.
ii. All the tasks in the test are well structured.
iii. The test permits broad content coverage.
iv. They can be used to measure both simple and complex learning outcomes.
v. More appropriate to be used on learners at knowledge (recall) level
Cons of the Objective Test
i. It takes long period of time and great deal of effort to construct valid, reliable and fair objective test items
ii. The test can be used to measure some practical and problem-solving items as well as interpersonal skills.
2. Essay Test:
It is a form of test which may have more than one way of expressing the correct answer. It is equally known as Constructed-Response Items. The test comes mainly in two forms, namely: extended-response questions and restricted response questions. Just like the objective test discussed above, this test comes with its own strengths and weaknesses.
Pros:
i. Essay tests can be used to measure the highest level of learning outcomes such as analysis, synthesis and evaluation.
ii. It is easy to construct.
Cons:
i. It is difficult to score
ii. It is subjective and sometimes unreliable.
QUALITIES OF EFFECTIVE TEST ITEMS
Reliability | Validity | Fairness
i. Effective test items must be reliable; that is, a given test item must measure what it claims to measure consistently. This further implies that If a student is subjected to the same test items over and over again, he/she will get the same result.
ii. Effective test items must be valid; that is, a given test item must measure what it claims to measure precisely. This aids teacher/examiner in reaching valid conclusion on the competence of his/her student in the area being tested
iii. Effective test items must be fair; that is, a given test item must align with the level of cognitive abilities of learners within the same groupings. The task for the examiner/teacher is to ensure there is a link between what was taught and what is being tested.
Planning for Test Items Constructions
Just as in any other endeavour, planning is germane to effective tests construction. Most teachers by practice are usually in haste to set questions without making adequate plans. Thus, as a consequence, they end up framing questions that fail to completely capture what they are expected to measure. In other words, test items constructed without a plan are more often than not unreliable, ineffective and inaccurate.
It is usually a good rule of thumb to ponder over the following fundamental questions while planning for test items constructions as opined by Dickson, et al. (2020):
1. What is the construct to be measured?
2. What is the population for which the test is intended?
3. Who are the test users and what are the intended interpretations and uses of the test scores?
4. What test content, cognitive demands, and format to be used in framing the questions to align with intended interpretations and uses?
Providing the right answers to these questions will lead the examiner/teacher to outline the following basic steps in educational assessment process:
i. Setting targets and objectives;
ii. Selecting appropriate test forms, items and techniques;
iii. Administering the test;
iv. Measuring the outcome; and
v. Evaluating the result.
General Rules/Principles in test item construction
Ja’afar (Year Unknown) outlined the following general rules and principles in test item construction:
i. Frame your test items on a daily basis during the course of your teaching.
ii. Generate more items for proper selection
iii. Group together items of the same format.
iv. Order the test from easy to hard, this will build confidence and reduce test anxiety
v. Space the items for readability to students
vi. Keep an item’s stem and response options on the same page.
vii. Place supporting materials immediately above any related items.
viii. Proofread the test and check any typos or grammatical errors.
ix. Review the answer key: ensure that correct answers are distributed evenly.
x. Don’t start any test item with dash sign _____
xi. Try to make the options provided close to each other in terms of meaning for distraction.
xii. Maintain same length of options given as much as possible.
xiii. Put time and scores on items set.
xiv. Avoid giving alternative chance of answering questions but rather the best form is to answer all.
xv. Avoid using options of none of the above or all of the above.
xvi. Vary the correct answer’s position.
xvii. Make it clear
xviii. Target appropriate reading level
xix. Avoid the use of opinion based materials in items
xx. Items should neither be too easy nor too difficult for the test takers.
Scoring Test Items
i. Prepare your marking scheme
ii. Make sure your marking is fair, accurate and unbiased
iii. It is a good practice make your marking less harsh and less generous
iv. Make sure to give timely feedbacks to learners on their performance in your test.
v. Document their performance properly for evidence and future use.
Practice Questions
1. What are the qualities of effective test items?
2. Outline any five fundamental questions to consider when planning for test items constructions.
3. List seven (7) general rules in test item construction.
4. What are the advantages of objective tests over essay tests
5. State 3 factors that can affect items format used in tests construction.
6. What are the purposes of conducting tests on students?
References
Adom, Dickson & Adu-Mensah, Jephtar & Dake, Dennis. (2020). Test, measurement, and evaluation: Understanding and use of the concepts in education. International Journal of Evaluation and Research in Education (IJERE). 9. 109–119. 10.11591/ijere.v9i1.20457.
https://www.slideshare.net/rkbioraj24/diagnostic-test-112578263
Jaafar, Isa D. (Year Unknown) Skills for Test Construction in Schools
