Lesson 4 Development of Varied Assessment Tools

Lesson 5

Course Outcomes:

1. describe through examples the role of measurement, assessment, and

evaluation in determining the progress of students towards attaining the
desired learning outcomes; (P.O.C.c); (P.O.D.d); (P.O.E.c)
2. apply critical perspectives in a form of investigation and inquiry in finding
solutions to the commonly faced problems in the assessment.
(P.O.C.d); (P.O.D.d); (P.O.E.b)

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILO’s)

The students will be able to…

 identify and explain the characteristics of the various types of objective
tests; (CLO.K.3)
 plan test with the table of specification; (CLO.K.3)
 construct different types of objective and subjective test for a chosen
subject; and (CLO.S.1)
 follow the guidelines in constructing written response tests. (CLO.V.1)

Time Element: Six (6) Hours

INTRODUCTION:

In this chapter we are concerned with developing objective type tests for
assessing the attainment of educational objectives based on Bloom’s Taxonomy.
For this purpose, we restrict our attention to the following types of paper-and-
pencil tests:

a. true-false items
b. multiple-choice types items
c. matching items
d. enumeration
e. completion and
 f. essays
These first four types of objective tests are used to test the first four to five
levels of the hierarchy of education objectives while the last (essay) is used for
testing higher-order thinking skills.(Blogasiaph, 2019)

Preliminary Questions:

1. What is the significance of the objectives test in

evaluating the students?
2. What are the important steps in planning for a test?

Planning a Test and Construction of Table of Specifications

(TOS)

Planning a test and Constructing the Table of Specifications (TOS)

The important steps in planning for a test are:

 Identify the test objectives
 Deciding on the type of objective test to be prepared
 Preparing a Table of Specifications (TOS)
 Constructing the draft test items
 Try-out and validation

Identify the objectives Test Objectives. An objectives test, if it is to

be comprehensive, must cover the various levels of Bloom’s taxonomy. Each
objective consists of a statement of what is to be achieved and, preferably, by
how many percent of the student.
Example: We want to construct a test on the topic:
“Subject-Verb Agreement in English “for a Grade V class.
The following are typical Objectives;
 Knowledge/Remembering. The student s must be able to
identify the subject and the verb in a given sentence.
 Comprehension/Understanding. The students must able to
determine the appropriate form of a verb to be used given the
subject of a sentence.
 Application/Applying. The students must be able to write
sentences observing rules and on subject-verb agreement.
  Evaluation/Evaluating. The students must be able to evaluate
whether or not a sentence observes rules on subject-verb
agreement.
 Analysis/Analyzing. The student must be able to break down a
given sentence into its subject and predicate.
 Synthesis/Creating. The students must be able to formulate
rules to be followed regarding the subject-verb agreement.
Deciding on the type of objective test. The test objectives guide the
kind of objective test that will be designed and constructed by the teacher. For
instance, for the first four (4) levels, we may want to construct a multiple-choice
type of test while for application and judgement, we may opt to give an essay
test or a modified essay test.
Preparing a table of specifications (TOS). A table of specifications
or TOS is a test map that guides a teacher in constructing a test. The TOS
ensures that there is a balance between items that test lower thinking skills and
those which test higher-order thinking skills (or a balance between easy and
difficult items) in the test. The simplest TOS consists of four (4) columns: (a)
level of the objective to be tested, (b) statement of objective, (c) item numbers
where such an objective is being tested, and (d) number of items and
percentage out of the total for that particular objective. A prototype table is
shown below:

Table of Specification Prototype

ITEM
LEVEL OBJECTIVE NUMBERS NO. %
Knowledge Identify subject- 1,3,5,7,9 5 14.29%
verb
Comprehension Forming 2,4,6,8,10 5 16.67%
appropriate verb
forms
Application Determining 11,13,15,17,19 5 16.67%
subject and
predicate
Analysis Formulating rules 12,14,16,18,20 5 16.67%
on agreement
Synthesis/Evaluation Writing of Part II 10pts 33.32%
sentences
observing rules on
subject-verb
agreement
TOTAL 35 100%

Table 1. Table of Specification (Blogasiaph, 2019)

 In the table of specification, we see that five items deal with knowledge
and these items are items 1,3,5,7,9. Similarly, from the same table, we see that
five-item represent an analysis, namely: 12,14,16,18,20. The first levels of
Bloom’s taxonomy are equally represented in the test while synthesis (tested
through essay) is weighted equivalent to ten (10) points or double the weight
given to any of the first four levels. The Table of Specification guides the teacher
in formulating the test. The TOS also ensures that each of the objectives in the
hierarchy of educational objectives is well represented in the test. As such, the
resulting test that will be constructed by the teacher will be more or less
comprehensive. Without the Table of Specification, the tendency for the test
maker is to focus too much on facts and concepts at the knowledge level.

Constructing the Test items. The actual construction of the test

items follows the TOS. As a general rule, it is advised that the actual number of
items to be constructed in the draft should be double the desired number items,
For instance, if there are five (5) knowledge level item should be included in the
final test form, then at least (10) knowledge level items should be included in the
draft. The subsequence test try-out and item analysis will most likely eliminate
many of the constructed items in the draft (either they are too difficult, too easy,
or non-discriminatory), hence it will necessary to construct more items than will
be included in the final test form.
Item Analysis and try-out. The test draft is tried out to a group of
pupils or students. The purpose of this try out is to determine the;(a) Item
characteristics through item analysis, and (b) Characteristics of the test itself-
validity, reliability, and practicality. (Blogasiaph, 2019)

Types of Paper and Pencil Test

https://www.scribd.com/presentation/421654459/
Development-of-Varied-Assessment-Tools(Cindy Bacsin,
n.d.)

https://drive.google.com/drive/u/2/folders/
1fXt3gaX5ZfBDbsGpAQ9NFwaLMb4ATOjJ

Constructing a True-False Test

Binomial-choice test are test that have only two (2) options each such as true or
false, right or wrong, good or better and so on. A student who knows nothing of
the content of the examination would have 50% chance of getting the correct
answer by sheer guess work. Although correction-for-guessing formulas exist, it
is best that the teacher ensures that a true-false item is able to discriminate
properly between those who know and those who are just guessing. A modified
true-false test can offset the effect of guessing by requiring students to explain
their answer and disregard a correct answer if the explanation is incorrect. Here
are some rules the thumb in constructing true-false items.

Rule 1. Do not give hit (inadvertently) in the body of the question.

Example: The Philippines gained its dependence in 1898 and therefore
celebrated its centennial year in 200. ___
Rule 2. Avoid using the words “always”, “never”,” often” and other adverbs that
tend to be either always true or always false.
Example: Christmas always falls on a Sunday because it is a Sabbath day. ___
Rule 3. Avoid long sentence as these tend to be “true” Keep sentences short.
Example: Tests need to be valid, reliable and useful, although, it would require a
great amount of time and effort to ensure that tests possess these test
characteristics. ___
The following example illustrate what can go wrong in long sentences:
Example: Test need to be valid, reliable and useful since it takes very little
amount of time, money and effort to construct tests with these characteristics
Rule 4. Avoid trick statement with some mirror misleading word or spelling
anomaly, misplaced phrases, etc. A wise student who does not know the subject
matter may detect Avoid trick statement with some mirror misleading word or
spelling anomaly, misplaced phrases, etc. A wise student who does not know the
subject matter may detect this strategy and thus get the answer correctly.
Example: True or False. The Principle of our school is Mr. Albert P. Panadero.
Rule 5. Avoid quoting verbatim from reference materials or textbooks. This
practice sends the wrong signal to the students that it is necessary to memorize
the textbook word for word and thus, acquisition of higher-level thinking skill is
not given due importance.
Rule 6. Avoid specific determines or give-away qualifiers. Student quickly learn
that strongly worded statement is more likely to be false that true, for example,
statements with “never” “no” “all” or “always”. Moderately worded statements are
more likely to be true than false. Statements with “many” “often” “sometimes”
“generally” “frequently” or “some” should be avoided.
Rule 7. With true or false questions, avoid a grossly disproportionate number of
either true or false statements or even patterns in the occurrence of true and
false statements. (Blogasiaph, 2019)
Multiple Choice Tests
A generalization of the true-false test, the multiple-choice type of test offers the
student test consist of two parts:

1. The stem, and

2. The option.

In the set of options, there is a “correct” or “best” option while all the others are
considered “distracters”. The distracters are chosen in such a way that they are
attractive to those who do not know the answer or are guessing but at the same
time, have no appeal to those who actually know the answer. It is this feature of
multiple-choice type test that allow the teacher to test higher order thinking skills
even if the options are clearly stated. As in true-false items, there are certain
rules of thumb to be followed in constructing multiple choice test.
Guidelines in Constructing Multiple Choice Items
1. Do not use unfamiliar words, terms and phrases. The ability of the item to
discriminate or its level of difficulty should stem from the subject matter
rather than from the wording of the question.
Example: What would be the system reliability of a computer system
whose slave and peripherals are connected in parallel circuits and each
one has a known time to failure probability of 0.05?
2. Do not use modifiers that are vague and whose meanings can differ from
one person to the next such as: much, often, usually, etc.
Example: Much of process of photosynthesis takes place in the:
a. Bark
b. Leaf
c. Stem
3. Avoid complex or awkward word arrangements. Also, avoid use of
negatives in the stem as this may add unnecessary comprehension
difficulties.
Example:
(Poor) As president of the Republic of the Philippines, Corazon
Cojuangco Aquino would stand next to which President of the Philippines
Republic subsequent to the 1986 EDSA Revolution.
(Better) Who was the President of the Philippines after Corazon C.
Aquino.
4. Do not use negatives or double negatives as much statement tend to be
confusing. It is best to use simpler sentences rather than sentences that
would require expertise in grammatical construction.
Example:
 (Poor) which of the following will not cause inflation in the Philippine
economy?
(Better) Which of the following will cause inflation in the Philippine
economy?
Poor: What does the statement “Development patterns acquired during
the formative years are NOT Unchangeable” imply?
A.
B.
C.
D.
Better: What does the statement “Development patterns acquired during
the formative years are changeable” imply?
A.
B.
C.
D.

5. Each item stem should be as short as possible; otherwise you risk testing more
for reading and comprehension skills.
6. Distracters should be equally plausible and attractive.

Example: The short story: May Day’s Eve, was written by which Filipino author?
a. Jose Garcia Villa
b. Nick Joaquin
c. Genoveva Edrosa Matute
d. Robert Frost
e. Edgar Allan Poe

7. All multiple-choice options should be grammatically consistent with the stem.

8. The length, explicitness, or degree of technicality of alternatives should not be
the determinants of the correctness of the answer. The following is an example
of the rules:

Example: If the three angles of two triangles are congruent, then the triangles
are:
a. Congruent whenever one of the sides of the triangles are congruent.
b. Similar
c. Equiangular and therefore, must also be congruent
d. Equilateral if they are equiangular
9. Avoid stem that reveal the answer to another item.
10. Avoid alternatives that are synonymous with others or those that include or
overlap others.

Example: What causes ice to transform from solid to liquid state?

a. Change in temperature
b. Changes in pressure
c. Change in the chemical composition
d. Change in heat level

11. Avoid presenting sequence items in the same order as in the text.
12. Avoid use of assumed qualifiers that many examinees may not be aware of.
13. Avoid use of unnecessary words of phrases, which are not relevant to the
problem at hand (unless such discriminating ability is the primary intent of
evaluation). The item’s value is particularly damage if the unnecessary material
is designed to distract or mislead. Such items test the student’s reading
comprehension rather that knowledge of the subject matter.

Example: The side opposite the thirty-degree angle in a right triangle is equal to
half the length of the hypotenuse. If the sine of a 30-degree is 0.5 and its
hypotenuse is 5, what is the length of side opposite the 30-degree angle?
a. 2.5
b. 3.5
c. 5.5
d. 1.5

14. Avoid use of non-relevant source of difficulty such as requiring a complex

calculation when only knowledge of a principle is being used.
15. Avoid extreme specificity requirements in responses.
16. Include as much of the item as possible in the stem. This allows less repetition
and shorter choice options.
17. Use the “None of the above” option only when the keyed answer is totally
correct. When choice of the “best’ response is intended “none of the above” is
not appropriate, since the implication has already been made that the correct
response may be partially inaccurate.
18. Note that use of “all of the above” may allow credit for partial knowledge. In a
multiple option item, (allowing only one option choice) if a student only knew that
two (2) options were correct, he could then deduce the correctness of “all of the
above”. This assumes you are allowed only one correct choice.
19. Having compound response choices may purposefully increase difficulty of an
item.
20. The difficulty of a multiple-choice item may be controlled by varying the
homogeneity or degree of similar of responses. The more Homogeneous, the
more difficult the item. (Blogasiaph, 2019)
 Example: (Less Homogeneous)
Thailand is located in:
a. Southeast Asia
b. Eastern Europe
c. South America
d. East Africa
e. Central America

(More Homogeneous)
Thailand is located next to:
a. Laos and Kampuchea
b. India and China
c. China and Malaya
d. Laos and China
e. India and Malaya

Matching Type and Supply Type Items

The matching type items may be considered as modified multiple-choice type
items where the choices progressively reduce as one successfully matches the
items on the left with the items on the right.
Example: Match the items in column A with the items in column B.

1. B.

___ 1. Magellan a.First President of the Republic

___2. Mabini b. National Hero
___3. Rizal c. Discovered the Philippines
___4. Lapu-lapu d. Brain of Katipunan
___5. Aguinaldo e. The great painter

F. Defended Limasawa island

A variant of the matching type items is the data sufficiency and comparison type
of test illustrated below:
Example: Writ G if the item on the left is greater that the item on the right; L if the
item on the left is less than the item on the right; E if the item on the left equals
the item on the right and D if the relationship cannot be determined.
(Development of Varied Assessment Tools, n.d.)

B.

Square root of 9 __________ a. -3

Square of 25 __________ b. 615

36 inches __________ c. 3 meters

4 feet __________ d. 48 inches

1 kilogram __________ e. 1 pound

Essays
Essays, classified as non-objectives tests, allow for the assessment of higher
thinking skills. Such tests require students to organize their thoughts on a subject
matter in coherent sentences in order to inform an audience. In essay test,
students are required to write one or more paragraphs on specific topic.
Essay question can be used to measure attainment of a variety of objectives.
Stecklein (1955) has listed 14 types of abilities that can be measured by essay
items:

1. Comparisons between two or more things

2. The developmental and defense of an opinion
3. Questions of cause and effect
4. Explanations of meanings
5. Summarizing of information in a designated area
6. Analysis
7. Knowledge
8. Illustrations of rules, principles, procedures, and applications
9. Applications of rules, laws, and principles to new situation
10. Criticisms of the adequacy, relevance, or correctness of a concept,
idea, or information.
11. Formulation of new questions and problems
12. Reorganization of facts
13. Discriminations between objects, concepts, or events
14. Inferential thinking

Noted that all these involve the higher-level skills mentioned in bloom’s
taxonomy.
The following are rules of thumb which facilitate the scoring of essays:
Rule 1. Phrase the direction in such a way that students are guided on the key
concepts to be included.
Example: Write an essay on the topic: “Plant Photosynthesis” using following
keywords and phrases: chlorophyll, sunlight, water, carbon dioxide, oxygen, by-
product, stomata.
Plant Photosynthesis
Nature has its own way of ensuring the balance between food producers and
consumers. Plants are considered producers of food for animals. Plants produce
food for animals through a process called photosynthesis. It is a complex
process that combines various natural elements on earth into the final product
which animals can consume in order to survive. Naturally, we all need to protect
plants so that we will continue to have food on our table. We should discourage
burning of grasses, cutting trees and illegal logging. If the leaves of plants are
destroyed, they cannot perform photosynthesis and animals will also perish.
Rule 2. Inform the student on the criteria to be used for grading their essays.
This rule allows the students to focus on relevant and substantive materials
rather than on peripheral and unnecessary facts and bits of information.
Example: Write an essay on the topic: “Plant Photosynthesis” using the
keywords indicated. You will be graded according to the following criteria:
a. Coherence, b. Accuracy of statement, c. Use of keywords d. Clarity and,
e.extra points for innovation
Rule 3. Put a time limit on the essay test.
Rule 4. Decide on your essay grading system prior to getting the essays of your
students.
Rule 5. Evaluate all of the students’ answer to one question before proceeding to
the next question.
Rule 6. Evaluate answer to essay question without knowing the identity of the
writer.
Rule 7. Whenever possible, have two or more persons grade each answer.
Rule 8. Do not provide optional questions.
Rule 9. Provide information about the value/weight of the question and how it will
be scored.
Rule 10. Emphasize higher-level thinking skills. (Blogasiaph, 2019)
 Let’s have some mental exercises to test your understanding.

A. Give non-examples of each of the following rules of thumb in the construction

of a true-false test. Improve on the non-examples for them to become good
examples of test.

1. Avoid giving hints in the body of the questions.

2. Avoid using the words “always,” “never,” and other such adverbs,
which tend to be always true or always false.

3. Avoid long sentences which tend to be true. Keep sentences short.

4. Avoid a systematic pattern for true and false statement.

5. Avoid ambiguous sentences which can be interpreted s true and false

at the same time false.

B. Give non examples of each of the following rules of thumb in the construction
of multiple-choice test. Improve on the non-examples for them to become good
examples of test.

1. Phrase the stem to allow for only one correct or best answer.

2. Avoid giving away the answer in the stem.

3. Choose distracters appropriately.

4. Choose distracters so that they are all equally plausible and attractive.

5. Phrase questions so that they will test higher order thinking skills.

6. Do not ask subjective questions or opinions for which there are no

right or wrong answers.
Do the following performance task,

A. Construct a 10-item matching type test to this competency: Identify

the computer system – i.e parts, other components.
B. Construct a 10-item supply type test to assess this competency:
Identify farm tools according to use (Grade 7-8 Curriculum Guide,
Agriculture Fishery.)
C. Justify each rule used in constructing an essay type of test.
D. Construct 20-item data sufficiency test.
E. In a 100-item test, what types of objective tests will you include?
Justify your answer.
F. In the sample essay “Plant Photosynthesis” given in this section, why
would you give a zero (0) score to the student writing this essay?
Justify your answer.

Example: write an essay on the topic: “Plant Photosynthesis” using

the following keywords and phrases: chlorophyll, sunlight, water,
carbon dioxide, oxygen, by-product, stomata.

Plant Photosynthesis

Nature has its own way of ensuring the balance between

food producers and consumers. Plants are considered producer of
food for animals. Plants produce food for animals through a process
called photosynthesis. It is a complex process that combines various
natural elements on earth into the final product which animals can
consume in order to survive. Naturally, we all need to protect plants
so that we will continue to have food on our table. We should
discourage burning of grasses, cutting of trees and illegal logging. If
the leaves of plants are destroyed, they cannot perform
photosynthesis and animals will also perish.

G. Give an example of a supply type of test that will measure higher

order thinking skills (beyond mere recall of facts and information.)
H. In what sense is a matching type test a variant of a multiple-choice
type of test? Justify your answer.
I. In what sense is a supply type of a test considering a variant of
multiple-choice type of test? (Hint: In supply type, the choices are not
 explicitly given). Does this make the supply type of test more difficult
that closed multiple-choice type of test? How?
J. Choose learning competencies from K to 12 Curriculum Guide.
Construct aligned paper-and-pencil test observing guidelines in test
constructions.

No assignment

References:

(Cindy Bacsin, n.d.)

(Blogasiaph, 2019)
Assessment of Learning 1 Rosita L. Navarro, Ph.D.
Rosita G. Santos, Ph.D.
Brenda B. Corpuz, Ph.D.