Chapter No: 03

Type of Achievement Test

Subjective VS Objective:
Subjective information or writing is based on personal opinions, personal interpretations,
personal points of view, personal emotions and judgment. So, it based on individual opinion or
experience.
Objective: Objective means impartial, neutral, unbiased so it is not influenced by personal feelings
or bias. So objective information or writing is fact-based, measurable and observable.

Constructing Objective Test items.

Objective test items are highly structured test items. It requires the pupils to supply a word or
to select the correct answer from the given options. In objective type test the answer of the
item is fixed one and predetermined. In objective type test the response can be marked right
or wrong without personal opinion.
Different types of Objective tests.
The most common objective test questions are
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Selective Types: Following types are included in selective type test.
2. Multiple-choice,
3. True false
4. Matching items.
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Supply types: Following types are included in supply type test.
1. Fill in the Blanks
2. Short Answer
1. Multiple choice questions -
Probably the most commonly used objective question are the multiple-choice question.
Multiple-choice question consists of two parts:
i. the stem - the statement or question.
ii. the choices - also known as the distractors. There are usually 3 to 5 options. that will
complete the stem statement or question
Students/candidates/examinee have to select the correct choice, from the given options that
completes the thought expressed in the stem. There is a 20% chance that you will guess the
correct choice if there are 5 choices listed. Although multiple choice questions are most often
used to test your memory of details, facts, and relationships, they are also used to test your
comprehension and your ability to solve problems. Reasoning ability is a very important skill
for doing well on multiple choice tests.

• stem - the text of the question

• options - the choices provided after the stem
• the key - the correct answer in the list of options
• distracters - the incorrect answers in the list of options
2. True-False Questions
The true-false question has only two options. Your chances are always 50-50 with this type
of item. These test items measure the ability of the students to identify and match correct or
wrong statements of the facts, definitions, terms, principles and the like.
3. Matching Questions
Matching questions give students opportunity for guessing. Matching items occur in two
columns along with direction on the basis of which the two columns are to be matched. The
first column for which matchings are made called as ‘premises’ and the second column for
which the selections are made are called ‘Responses’. On the basis of which the matching
will be made are described in the ‘Directions’.
Advantages of Objective Type Items
 • Quick and easy to score, by hand or electronically
• Can be written so that they test a wide range of higher-order thinking skills
• Can cover lots of content areas on a single exam and still be answered in a class period
• It possesses very powerful discriminating power.
• Variety of learning objectives can be measured with the help of objective type items.
• These are more valid and reliable.
• It possesses objectivity in scoring.
Disadvantages of Objective Type Items
Often test literacy skills: “if the student reads the question carefully, the answer is
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easy to recognize even if the student knows little about the subject”
Provide unprepared students the opportunity to guess, and with guesses that are right,
•
they get credit for things they don’t know
Take time and skill to construct (especially good questions)
•
Encourage guessing, and reward for correct guesses
•
Encourage students to memorize terms and details, so that their understanding of the
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content remains superficial
Characteristics of Objective type test:

Followings are the characteristics of Objective type test.

1. Objective type tests are pin-pointed and fixed a single, definite answer.
2. Objective type test ensure perfect objectivity in scoring.
3. In Objective type tests scoring do not vary from examiner to examiner.
4. Objective type test covers a wide range of content.
5. It can be scored objectively and easily.
6. The scoring will not vary from time to time or from examiner to examiner.
7. Objective type test reduces role/habit of cramming of expected questions.
8. Objective type tests have greater reliability and better content validity.
9. This type of question has greater motivational value.
10. It possesses economy of time, for it takes less time to answer than an essay test.
11. N Objective type test comparatively, many test items can be presented to students.
 12. It also saves a lot of time of the scorer.
13. It eliminates extraneous (irrelevant) factors such as speed of writing, fluency of
expression, literary style, good handwriting, neatness, etc.
14. It measures the higher mental processes of understanding, application, analysis,
prediction and interpretation.
15. It permits stencil, machine or clerical scoring. Thus scoring is very easy.
Limitations of Objective Type Test:
1. In Objective type test ability like to organize matter, ability to present matter logically
etc., cannot be evaluated.
2. In Objective type test guessing is possible.
3. No doubt the chances of success may be reduced by the presence of a large number of
items.
4. If a respondent marks all responses as correct, the result may be misleading.
5. Construction of the objective test items is difficult while answering them is quite easy.
6. They demand more of analysis than synthesis.
7. Linguistic/language ability of the testee is not at all tested.
8. Printing cost considerably greater than that of an essay test.
Guidelines/Rules for Constructing Objective Type Test Items:
1. Item writer should have a thorough understanding of the subject matter;
2. Item writer should have a thorough understanding of the pupils tested;
3. Each item must be clearly expressed i.e. there must be precision/accuracy in
writing the test items.
4. Objective type test must be for important facts and knowledge and not
for unimportant details.
5. Avoid ambiguous statements.
6. Each item should be subjected to one and only one interpretation.
7. Quantitative rather than qualitative words should be used.
8. Words such as few, many, low, high, large, etc. are vague, indefinite, and,
therefore, should be avoided.
9. Use good grammar and sentence structure to improve clarity.
 10. Avoid lifting statements exact from the text-book.
11. The use of text book language in a test encourages a pupil to memories rather
than to understand the subject matter.
12. Avoid negative questions whenever possible.
13. An unselective use of the negative should be avoided. It takes more time to
answer.
14. Directions to questions should be specific.
15. Ambiguous wording and double negatives should be avoided in questions.
Scoring Test:
Scoring the test is very important, because on the basis of scoring examiner and
administration have to make decisions about the candidates. So, following points should
be considered while scoring the test.
1. Developing a proper scoring scheme.
2. Score all answers papers of one question at one time before going to the next one.
3. Suggest the best possible answer and give the proper weightage to various points.
4. let the final grade by the average of the two scorers given to a particular test.
5. Write comments to the examinee's responses, and mention errors on their papers.
6. While scoring apply uniform standards to all the papers.
7. Recheck script to avoid any mistakes in scoring.
8. Score the answer sheet without looking at the students’ name.
Essays Type Test
In classroom testing essay type test are popularly used. Especially it is intensively used in
higher education. Learning out comes concerning ability to recall, organize and integrate
ideas and ability to express oneself in writing can be measured with the help of essay type
test.
Essay type tests are those tests in which examinees are asked to discuss, enumerate,
compare, state, evaluate, analyze, summarize the specific topic through writing. In essay
type test students have to write their own ideas. Essay questions provide a complex quick
that requires written responses, which can vary in length from a couple of paragraphs to
many pages.
Essay questions are supply or constructed response type questions and can be the

best way to measure the students' higher order thinking skills, such as applying,

organizing, synthesizing, integrating, evaluating, or projecting while at the same

time providing a measure of writing skills. The student has to formulate and write

a response, which may be detailed and lengthy. The accuracy and quality of the

response are judged by the teacher.

Essay questions provide a complex prompt that requires written responses, which

can vary in length from a couple of paragraphs to many pages. Like short answer

questions, they provide students with an opportunity to explain their

understanding and demonstrate creativity, but make it hard for students to arrive

at an acceptable answer by bluffing. They can be constructed reasonably quickly

and easily but marking these questions can be time-consuming and grade

agreement can be difficult.

Essay questions differ from short answer questions in that the essay questions are

less structured. This openness allows students to demonstrate that they can

integrate the course material in creative ways. As a result, essays are a favoured

approach to test higher levels of cognition including analysis, synthesis and

evaluation. However, the requirement that the students provide most of the

structure increases the amount of work required to respond effectively. Students

often take longer time to compose a five paragraph essay than they would take to

compose paragraph answer to short answer questions.

Essay items can vary from very lengthy, open ended end of semester term papers

or take home tests that have flexible page limits (e.g. 10-12 pages, no more than

30 pages etc.) to essays with responses limited or restricted to one page or less.

Essay questions are used both as formative assessments (in classrooms) and

summative assessments (on standardized tests). There are 2 major categories of

essay questions -- short response (also referred to as restricted or brief) and

extended response.

1. Restricted Response: more consistent scoring, outlines parameters of

responses

2. Extended Response Essay Items: synthesis and evaluation levels; a lot of

freedom in answers
 Restricted Response Essay Items
An essay item that poses a specific problem for which a student must recall proper
information, organize it in a suitable manner, derive a defensible conclusion, and
express it within the limits of posed problem, or within a page or time limit, is
called a restricted response essay type item. The statement of the problem
specifies response limitations that guide the student in responding and provide
evaluation criteria for scoring.

Example 1:
List the major similarities and differences in the lives of people living in
Islamabad and Faisalabad.
Example 2:
Compare advantages and disadvantages of lecture teaching method and
demonstration teaching method.

When Should Restricted Response Essay Items be used?

Restricted Response Essay Items are usually used to:-
Analyze relationship
Compare and contrast positions
State necessary assumptions
Identify appropriate conclusions
Explain cause-effect relationship
Organize data to support a viewpoint
Evaluate the quality and worth of an item or action
Integrate data from several sources

Extended Response Essay Type Items

An essay type item that allows the student to determine the length and complexity
of response is called an extended-response essay item. This type of essay is most
useful at the synthesis or evaluation levels of cognitive domain. We are interested
in determining whether students can organize, integrate, express, and evaluate
information, ideas, or pieces of knowledge the extended response items are used.

Example:
Identify as many different ways to generate electricity in Pakistan as you can?
Give advantages and disadvantages of each. Your response will be graded on its
accuracy, comprehension and practical ability. Your response should be 8-10
pages in length and it will be evaluated according to the RUBRIC (scoring
criteria) already provided.
Over all Essay type items (both types restricted response and extended response) are

Good for:
Application, synthesis and evaluation levels

Types:
Extended response: synthesis and evaluation levels; a lot of freedom in answers
Restricted response: more consistent scoring, outlines parameters of responses

Advantages:
Students less likely to guess
Easy to construct
Stimulates more study
Allows students to demonstrate ability to organize knowledge, express
opinions, show originality.

Disadvantages:
Can limit amount of material tested, therefore has decreased validity.
Subjective, potentially unreliable scoring.
Time consuming to score.

Tips for Writing Good Essay Items:

Provide reasonable time limits for thinking and writing.
Avoid letting them to answer a choice of questions (You won't get a good
idea of the broadness of student achievement when they only answer a set
of questions.)
Give definitive task to student-compare, analyze, evaluate, etc.
Use checklist point system to score with a model answer: write outline,
determine how many points to assign to each part
Score one question at a time-all at the same time.