In this module, we learned that items are individual questions or tasks in a test. And tests are essentially a collection of items. The test then is a sample of question from the much larger sampling space that contains all the potential questions. In designing and constructing items, it should be item structure and format. It is a typical multiple choice item that gives the problem scenario in one or more sentences. The options include the correct answer, called the “key option” and various incorrect answers called “disasters”. Interpretative exercise item, it is used for testing the application of knowledge and cognitive processes. It also provides a more analytical and diagnostic measure of individual cognitive processes.
There are evaluations of the quality of the items and these are the following:
The judgmental evaluation, the informal feedback is the first step in these judgmental evaluations is to obtain some informal feedback regarding the language used, content and context of each question. The sensitivity report is related to the informal feedback process is slightly more formal process. The content validation is a critically important judgmental process, the items in the test must form a representative and relevant.
The statistical evaluation, the item is the writing process to the statistically evaluate the items in order to determine the quality of items, which should be kept or revised.
The summary, the common suggestion is to generate more items than needed, so that we may discard some of the items after the judgmental and statistical evaluations. When decisions are made to discard the items, caution should be taken not to distort the representation of the items. That is, the proportion of the items in various content areas should remain consistent with the test specification we should consider revising these items instead of deleting them.
The guidelines in administering the test
Ø Provide a quite, comfortable setting.
Ø Provide a good psychological setting by encouraging the students to do their best.
Ø Discourage cheating through seating arrangement, circulating around the room, and enforcement of rules and penalties.
Ø Help students keep on track of time.
Some Psychological Consideration
o Student benefit – when the students have been exposed to good testing practice, many of them are enthusiastic concerning the return of the test and are willing to discuss the items which they have missed.
o Optimum motivation – informing the students ahead about the test and the nature of the test can encourage them to study ahead of time and expect a high result of test.
o Test Anxiety – can cause distraction on the part of the student in taking the test.
Some Physical Condition
o Acclimation – some students have difficulty in becoming accustomed to a new climate or a different environment. For this reason, testing should, if possible, be carried out in the regular classroom were the class meets.
o Noise – high noise levels during testing may result in lower scores.
o Lighting – rooms that has inadequate light can affect the performance of the students.
o Heating and Ventilation – it is also important to consider the temperature of the room and the ventilation. A too hot or too cold temperature can have an effect on the students during the test.
Some guidelines in Scoring a Test
v Test scores should be based upon topics that were taught and items that are clearly written.
v Make sure the same rules are used to score all students.
v Be alert for following distracters that may impede the objectivity of essay scores: writing styles, grammar and spelling, neatness, scorer fatigue, prior student performance and carry over effects.
v Define what constitute a good answer before administering an essay question,
v Score all answers to the first essay question before moving on to the succeeding essay question.
v Read essay questions a second time after initial scoring.
v Carry out post-test review in order to locate faulty items and when necessary to make scoring adjustments.
To score selection items, the teacher compares a key which least the correct answer to each question, to the answers given by the students. The number of matches indicates the students score. Objective scoring refers to those tests where independent scorers will arrive at the same or similar scores. On the other hand, subjective scoring refers to those tests where independent scorers would not arrive at the same or similar scorers.
There are factors to consider when constructing a good test and these are the following:
Validity – it is the degree to which the test measures what is intended to measure the usefulness of the test for a given purpose. It is always reliable.
Reliability – it refers to the consistency of score obtain by the same person when retested by using the same instrument or the one parallel to it. It is the consistency and accuracy. It refers then to the extent to which the test is dependable, self-consistent and stable. A reliable test however, is not always valid.
Administrability – the test should directed uniformly to all the students so that the scores obtained will not very due to factors other than difference of the student’s knowledge and skills. There should have a clear provision of instruction for the students, proctors and even the one who will check the test or the scorer.
Scorability – The test should be easy to score, directions for scoring is clear, provide answer sheet and answer key.
Appropriateness – the test item that teacher construct must assess the exact performance called for in the learning objectives. The test item should require the same performance of the student as specified in the learning objectives.
Adequacy – the test should contain a wide sampling of items to determine the educational outcomes or abilities so that the resulting scores are representatives of the total performance in the areas measured.
Fairness – the test should not be bias to the examiners. It should not be offensive to any examinees sub groups. A test can only be good if it is also fair to all test takers.
Objectivity – It represents the agreement of two or more raters a test administrator concerning the score of the student. If the two raters who assess the same student on some test cannot agree on scores, the test lacks objectivity. A test is said to be objective if it is free from personal biases in interpreting its scope as well as in scoring responses.
There are two uses of test: Productive and Unproductive uses of test
Productive uses of test
Learning analysis: Tests are used to identify the reason or causes why students do not learn and the solutions to help them learn.
Improvement of curriculum: Poor performance in a test may indicate that the teacher is not explaining the material effectively, the textbook is not clear, the students are not properly taught.
Selection: When enrollment opportunity or any other opportunity is limited, a test can be used to screen those who are more qualified.
Research: Test can be feedback tools to find effective methods of teaching and learn more about students, their interests, goals and achievements.
Evaluation of Learning Programs: Test should evaluate the effectiveness of each element in a learning program.
Unproductive Uses of Test
Grading: Test should not be used as the only determinants in grading student.
Labeling: it is often a serious disservice to label a student, even if the label is positive.
Threatening: Test loss their validity when used as disciplinary measures.
Unannounced Testing: Surprised tests are generally not recommended.
Allocating Funds: Some schools exploit tests to solicit for funding.
Classification of Test
Throughout the years, psychologists and educators have cooperatively produced new and better tests and scales that measure the students’ performance with greater accuracy. These test may be classified:
1. Administration
a. Individual – given orally and requires the examinees’ constant attention since the manner of answering may be as important as the score.
b. Group – for measuring cognitive skills to measure achievements. Most tests in schools are considered group test where different test takers can take the test as a group.
2. Scoring
a. Objective – independent scores agree on the number of points the answer should receive.
b. Subjective – answers can be scored through various ways. These are then the given different values by scores, the essays and performance test.
3. Sort of response being emphasized
a. Power – allows examinees a generous time limit to be able to answer every item. The questions are difficult and this difficulty is what is emphasized.
b. Speed – with severely limited time constraints but the items are easy and only a few examinees are expected to make errors.
4. Types of response the examinees must make
a. Performance – requires students to perform a task. This is usually administered individually so that the examiner can count the errors and measure the time the examinee has performed in each task.
b. Paper and Pencil - examinees are ask to write on paper.
5. What is measured
a. Sample – limited representative test designed to measure the total behavior of the examinee, although no test can exhaustively measure all the knowledge of an individual.
b. Sign Test – diagnostic test designed to obtain diagnostic signs to suggest that some form of remediation is needed.
6. Nature of the groups being compared
a. Teacher-made-Test – use within the classroom and contains the subject being taught by the same teacher who constructed the test.
b. Standardized Test – constructed by test specialist working with curriculum experts and teachers.
In summary, uses and classification of test in education, is an attempt to measure a person’s knowledge, intelligence, or other characteristics in a systematic way. There are many uses and classification of tests. Teachers give test to discover the learning abilities of their students and also to see how well the students have learned a particular subject. Some test help people choose a vocation and other tests help them understand their own personality.
In the future when we will teach our students, the lessons we learned in this module will be a great help in assessing our students’ learning for we knew the keys in effective testing. In order to evaluate what exactly the students’ learn, teachers must first construct good and effective tests that would exactly measure their learnings. In administering the test, good physical condition of environment is also needed to get a good result for it affects the students in taking the test. Scoring must also be systematic to avoid too much spending of time in checking the papers. There are many classifications of tests and using them may vary to depending on its purposes.
There are evaluations of the quality of the items and these are the following:
The judgmental evaluation, the informal feedback is the first step in these judgmental evaluations is to obtain some informal feedback regarding the language used, content and context of each question. The sensitivity report is related to the informal feedback process is slightly more formal process. The content validation is a critically important judgmental process, the items in the test must form a representative and relevant.
The statistical evaluation, the item is the writing process to the statistically evaluate the items in order to determine the quality of items, which should be kept or revised.
The summary, the common suggestion is to generate more items than needed, so that we may discard some of the items after the judgmental and statistical evaluations. When decisions are made to discard the items, caution should be taken not to distort the representation of the items. That is, the proportion of the items in various content areas should remain consistent with the test specification we should consider revising these items instead of deleting them.
The guidelines in administering the test
Ø Provide a quite, comfortable setting.
Ø Provide a good psychological setting by encouraging the students to do their best.
Ø Discourage cheating through seating arrangement, circulating around the room, and enforcement of rules and penalties.
Ø Help students keep on track of time.
Some Psychological Consideration
o Student benefit – when the students have been exposed to good testing practice, many of them are enthusiastic concerning the return of the test and are willing to discuss the items which they have missed.
o Optimum motivation – informing the students ahead about the test and the nature of the test can encourage them to study ahead of time and expect a high result of test.
o Test Anxiety – can cause distraction on the part of the student in taking the test.
Some Physical Condition
o Acclimation – some students have difficulty in becoming accustomed to a new climate or a different environment. For this reason, testing should, if possible, be carried out in the regular classroom were the class meets.
o Noise – high noise levels during testing may result in lower scores.
o Lighting – rooms that has inadequate light can affect the performance of the students.
o Heating and Ventilation – it is also important to consider the temperature of the room and the ventilation. A too hot or too cold temperature can have an effect on the students during the test.
Some guidelines in Scoring a Test
v Test scores should be based upon topics that were taught and items that are clearly written.
v Make sure the same rules are used to score all students.
v Be alert for following distracters that may impede the objectivity of essay scores: writing styles, grammar and spelling, neatness, scorer fatigue, prior student performance and carry over effects.
v Define what constitute a good answer before administering an essay question,
v Score all answers to the first essay question before moving on to the succeeding essay question.
v Read essay questions a second time after initial scoring.
v Carry out post-test review in order to locate faulty items and when necessary to make scoring adjustments.
To score selection items, the teacher compares a key which least the correct answer to each question, to the answers given by the students. The number of matches indicates the students score. Objective scoring refers to those tests where independent scorers will arrive at the same or similar scores. On the other hand, subjective scoring refers to those tests where independent scorers would not arrive at the same or similar scorers.
There are factors to consider when constructing a good test and these are the following:
Validity – it is the degree to which the test measures what is intended to measure the usefulness of the test for a given purpose. It is always reliable.
Reliability – it refers to the consistency of score obtain by the same person when retested by using the same instrument or the one parallel to it. It is the consistency and accuracy. It refers then to the extent to which the test is dependable, self-consistent and stable. A reliable test however, is not always valid.
Administrability – the test should directed uniformly to all the students so that the scores obtained will not very due to factors other than difference of the student’s knowledge and skills. There should have a clear provision of instruction for the students, proctors and even the one who will check the test or the scorer.
Scorability – The test should be easy to score, directions for scoring is clear, provide answer sheet and answer key.
Appropriateness – the test item that teacher construct must assess the exact performance called for in the learning objectives. The test item should require the same performance of the student as specified in the learning objectives.
Adequacy – the test should contain a wide sampling of items to determine the educational outcomes or abilities so that the resulting scores are representatives of the total performance in the areas measured.
Fairness – the test should not be bias to the examiners. It should not be offensive to any examinees sub groups. A test can only be good if it is also fair to all test takers.
Objectivity – It represents the agreement of two or more raters a test administrator concerning the score of the student. If the two raters who assess the same student on some test cannot agree on scores, the test lacks objectivity. A test is said to be objective if it is free from personal biases in interpreting its scope as well as in scoring responses.
There are two uses of test: Productive and Unproductive uses of test
Productive uses of test
Learning analysis: Tests are used to identify the reason or causes why students do not learn and the solutions to help them learn.
Improvement of curriculum: Poor performance in a test may indicate that the teacher is not explaining the material effectively, the textbook is not clear, the students are not properly taught.
Selection: When enrollment opportunity or any other opportunity is limited, a test can be used to screen those who are more qualified.
Research: Test can be feedback tools to find effective methods of teaching and learn more about students, their interests, goals and achievements.
Evaluation of Learning Programs: Test should evaluate the effectiveness of each element in a learning program.
Unproductive Uses of Test
Grading: Test should not be used as the only determinants in grading student.
Labeling: it is often a serious disservice to label a student, even if the label is positive.
Threatening: Test loss their validity when used as disciplinary measures.
Unannounced Testing: Surprised tests are generally not recommended.
Allocating Funds: Some schools exploit tests to solicit for funding.
Classification of Test
Throughout the years, psychologists and educators have cooperatively produced new and better tests and scales that measure the students’ performance with greater accuracy. These test may be classified:
1. Administration
a. Individual – given orally and requires the examinees’ constant attention since the manner of answering may be as important as the score.
b. Group – for measuring cognitive skills to measure achievements. Most tests in schools are considered group test where different test takers can take the test as a group.
2. Scoring
a. Objective – independent scores agree on the number of points the answer should receive.
b. Subjective – answers can be scored through various ways. These are then the given different values by scores, the essays and performance test.
3. Sort of response being emphasized
a. Power – allows examinees a generous time limit to be able to answer every item. The questions are difficult and this difficulty is what is emphasized.
b. Speed – with severely limited time constraints but the items are easy and only a few examinees are expected to make errors.
4. Types of response the examinees must make
a. Performance – requires students to perform a task. This is usually administered individually so that the examiner can count the errors and measure the time the examinee has performed in each task.
b. Paper and Pencil - examinees are ask to write on paper.
5. What is measured
a. Sample – limited representative test designed to measure the total behavior of the examinee, although no test can exhaustively measure all the knowledge of an individual.
b. Sign Test – diagnostic test designed to obtain diagnostic signs to suggest that some form of remediation is needed.
6. Nature of the groups being compared
a. Teacher-made-Test – use within the classroom and contains the subject being taught by the same teacher who constructed the test.
b. Standardized Test – constructed by test specialist working with curriculum experts and teachers.
In summary, uses and classification of test in education, is an attempt to measure a person’s knowledge, intelligence, or other characteristics in a systematic way. There are many uses and classification of tests. Teachers give test to discover the learning abilities of their students and also to see how well the students have learned a particular subject. Some test help people choose a vocation and other tests help them understand their own personality.
In the future when we will teach our students, the lessons we learned in this module will be a great help in assessing our students’ learning for we knew the keys in effective testing. In order to evaluate what exactly the students’ learn, teachers must first construct good and effective tests that would exactly measure their learnings. In administering the test, good physical condition of environment is also needed to get a good result for it affects the students in taking the test. Scoring must also be systematic to avoid too much spending of time in checking the papers. There are many classifications of tests and using them may vary to depending on its purposes.