Matching

Type Test
 DEFINITION
- N.E Gronlund (1985) define the type of assessment
test as, “The matching exercise consists of two parallel
columns, with each other, number of symbol in the
other column. The items in the columns for which a
match is sought are called premises and the items in
the column for which the selection is made are called
responses”.
- In general, matching items consist of a column of
stimuli presented on the left side of the exam page
and a column of responses placed on the right side of
the page. Students are required to match the response
associated with a given stimulus.
 Limitations:

The matching exercise use for assessment

limit it to measure the ability to identify the
relationship between two things. Its
limitations include the difficulty for
removing irrelevant clues and the difficulty
of finding significant homogeneous
materials.
 examples
C OL UM N A Column B
Principles
Factual Statements

1. Fossils of primates first appear a. There have been profound changes in

in the Cenozoic rock strata while the climate on earth.
trilobite remains are found in the b. Coordination and integration of
Proterozoic rocks. action is generally slower in plants than
2. The Arctic and the Antarctic in animals.
regions are sparsely populated. c. There is an increasing complexity
3. Plants have no nervous system. structure and functions from lower to
4. Large coal beds exist in Alaska. higher forms of life.
d. All life comes from life and produces
its own kind of living organism.
e. Light is limiting factor life.
 In matching items, a good
practice is to switch to the
matching format only when it
becomes apparent that the
same alternatives are being
repeated in several multiple
choice items.
 examples

• Which test item is least useful for educational diagnosis?

a. True-false item
b. Short-answer item 
c. Multiple choice item
 Which test item provides the highest score by
guessing? 
a. True-false item
b. Short-answer item 
c. Multiple choice item 
• Which test item is difficult to score objectively? 
a. True-false item
b. Short-answer item
c. Multiple choice item
 Advantages of Using Matching Test
 

Items
1.Require short period of reading and response time,
allowing the teacher to cover more content.
2. Provide objective measurement of student
achievement or ability.
3. Provide highly reliable test score. 
4.Provide scoring efficiency and accuracy.
 Disadvantages of Using
Matching Test Items

1. Have difficulty measuring learning

objectives requiring more than simple
recall of information. 
2. Are difficult to construct due to the
problem of selecting a common set of
stimuli and responses. 
 Suggestions for Writing Matching
Test Items
1. Include directions which clearly state the basis for matching the
stimuli with the responses. Explain whether or not a response can
be used more than once and indicate where to write the answer. 
Poor: Directions: Match the following
Better: Directions: On the line to the left of each identifying
location and characteristics in Column I, write the letter of the country
in column II that is best defined. Each country in column II may be
used more than once.
2. Use only homogeneous material in matching items.
Poor: Directions: Match the following. 
1.  __ Water A. NaCI
2. __ Discovered Radium B. Fermi 
  3. __ Salt C. NH3
4. __ Year of the First Nuclear Fission D. H2O
by man E. 1942
5. __ Ammonia F. Curie
  Better: Directions: On the line to the left of each compound in column I, write the letter of the
compound’s formula presented in column II. Use each formula only once.

Column I Column II 

1. ___ Water A. H2SO4
2. ___ Salt B. HCI
3. ___ Ammonia  C. NaCI 4
4. ___ Sulfuric Acid  D. H2O 
E. H2HCI
 3.Arrange the list of responses in some systematic order if possible - chronological,
alphabetical.
Directions: On the line to the left of each definition I, write the letter of the
defense mechanism in column II that is described. Use each defense mechanism only
once. 

Column I  Column II 

Undesirable Desirable
___ 1. Hunting for reasons to support one’s A. Rationalization  A. Denial of reality 
belief.  B. identification  B. Identification
___ 2. Accepting the values and norms of C. Projection C. Introjection
others as one’s own even if they are contrary D. Introjection D. Projection own
to previously to previously held values. E. Denial of realty E. Rationalization
___ 3. Attributing to other’s unacceptable
impulses thoughts and desires. 
 ___ 4. Ignoring disagreeable situations,
thoughts and desires.
4. Avoid grammatical or other clues to the correct response.
Poor: Directions: match the following in order to complete the sentences on the left.
1. Igneous rocks are formed A. a hardness of 7 
2. The formation of coal requires B. with crystalline rock 
3. Age ode is filled C. a metamorphic rock
4. Feldspar is classified as D. through the solid formation of molten

Better: Avoid sentence completion due to grammatical clues.

Note:
1. Keep matching items brief, limiting the list of stimuli to under 10.
2. Include more responses than stimuli to help prevent answering through the process
of elimination. 
3. When possible, reduce the amount of reading time by including only short phrases
or single words in the response list.
 Guidelines for Constructing Matching
1. Two-part directions. Your clear directions at the
start of each question need two parts: 1) how to
make the match and 2) the basis for matching the
response with the premise. You can also include
whether items can be re-used, but often pre-built
templates don’t allow for this.
2. Parallel content. Within one matching test item, use
a common approach, such as all terms and definitions
or all principles and the scenarios to which they apply.
3. Plausible answers. All responses in Column B should be plausible answers to
the premises in Column A. Otherwise, the test loses some of its reliability because
some answers will be “give-aways.”
4. Clueless. Ensure your premises don’t include hints through grammar (like
implying the answer must be plural) or hints from word choice (like using the
term itself in a definition).
5. Unequal responses. In an ideal world, you should present more responses than
premises, so the remaining responses don’t work as hints to the correct answer.
This is not often possible when using a template.
6. Limited premises. Due to the capacity limitations of working memory, avoid a
long list of premises in the first column. A number that I’ve come across is to keep
the list down to six items. Even less might be better, depending on the
characteristics of your audience.
7. One correct answer. Every premise should have only one correct response.
Obvious, but triple-check to make sure each response can only work for one
premise.
 They are effective when you need to measure the
learner’s ability to identify the relationship or
association between similar items. They work best
When to when the course content has many parallel concepts. 
For Examples:
use • Terms and Definitions
• Objects or Pictures and Labels
matching • Symbols and Proper Names
• Causes and Effects
type? • Scenarios and Responses
• Principles and Scenarios to which they apply
THANK YOU
:)