DISTINGUISHING AND

CONSTRUCTING VARIOUS
PAPER-AND-PENCIL-TESTS
Selected response type includes:
true-false items, multiple-choice type
items and matching type.
Constructed-response type of
test includes: enumeration,
completion and essay.
Planning a Test and Construction of Table of
Specifications (TOS)
The important steps in planning for a test are:
• Identifying test objectives / lesson outcomes
• 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
• Identifying Test Objectives
• Knowledge/ Remembering
• Comprehension/ Understanding
• Application/ Applying
• Analysis/ Analyzing
• Evaluation/Evaluating
• Synthesis/ Creating
• Deciding on the type of
objective test
• Preparing a table of
specifications (TOS)
• Constructing the test items
• Item analysis and try-out
5.2. Types of Paper-and-Pencil Test
Developing of paper-and-pencil tests requires careful
planning and expertise in terms of actual test construction.
The more seasoned teachers can produce true-false items
that can test even higher order thinking skills and not just
rote memory learning. Essays are easier to construct than the
other types of objective test, but the difficulty in scoring
essay examinations teachers from using this particular form
of examination in actual practice.
5.3. Constructing Selected-Response Type
5.3.1 True-False Test
–is considered Binomial-choices or alternate response
test. This includes right or wrong, yes or no, good or bad,
check or cross out and so on.

Guidelines for constructing Alternate-Response Test

Rule 1: Do not give a hint (inadvertently) in the body of
the question.
Example: The Philippines gained its independence in
1898 and therefore celebrated it centennial year in
2000._______
Rule2: Avoid using the words “always “, “never”, “often”
and other words that tend to be either always true or always
false.
Example: Christmas always falls on Sunday because it
is a Sabbath day.___
Rule 3: Avoid long sentences 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.__________
Rule 4: Avoid trick statements with some minor misleading
word or spelling anomaly, misplaced phrases, etc. A wise
student who does not know the subject matter may detect this
strategy and this get the answer correctly.
Example: The Raven was written by Edgar Allen Poe.
Rule 6: 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 skills is not
given due importance.
Rule 6: Avoid specific determiners or give-away qualifiers.
Students quickly learn that strongly worded statements are
more likely to be false than true.
Example: Statements with never, no, all or always.
Moderately worded statements are mote likely to be true
than false. Such as; many, often, sometimes, generally,
frequently or some usually should be avoided.
Example: Executives usually suffer from hyperacidity.
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.

1. T 6. F 1. T 6. F
2. F 7. F 2. F 7. T
3. F 8. F or 3. T 8. F
4. F 9. F 4. F 9. T
5. F 10. F 5. T 10. F
5.3.2. Multiple Choice Tests
It offers the student with more than two options per
items to choose from. Each item in a multiple choice test
consists of two parts: The stem and the options. In the set
of options, there is a correct or best option while the
others are considered distracters. The distracters is
chosen in such a way that they are attractive to those
who do not know the answer or just guessing but at the
same time, have no appeal to those who actually know
the answer.
Guidelines for Constructing Multiple Choice Items
1. Do not use unfamiliar words, terms, and phrases.
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 the 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 Philippine 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 such statements 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?
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 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.
Example: As compared to the autos of the 1960s autos in the 1960s_______.
A. Traveling slower B. bigger interiors C. to use less fuel
D. contain more safety measures
8. The length, explicitness, or degree of technicality of alternatives should not be the
determinants of the correctness of the answer. T he following is an example of this rule:
Example: If the three angles of two triangles are congruent, t he n 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 stems that reveal the answer to another item.
Example:
Which group will most strongly focus its teaching on the interest of the
child.
A.Progressivist C. Perrenialist
B. Essentialist D. Reconstructionist

10. Avoid alternatives that are synonymous with others or those that include
or overlap others.
Example:
What causes ice cream to transform from solid state to liquid state?
A. Change in temperature
B. Changes in pressure
C. Change in the chemical composition
D. Change in heat levels
15. Pack the question in the stem. Here is an example of a question
which has no question. Avoid it by all means.
Example: The Roman Empire________.
a. had no central government
b. had no definite territory
c. had no heroes
d. had no common religion
16. 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 T he above” is not appropriate, since the implication has
already been made that the correct response may be partially
inaccurate.
17. 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 options were correct, he could then deduce
the correctness of “all of the above”. This assumes you are allowed only
one correct choice.

18. Better still use “none of the above” and “all of the above sparingly
but best not use them at all.

19. Having compound respond choice item may purposefully increase

difficulty of an item.
Example:
(Less Homogeneous)
Thailand is located in:
a. Southeast Asia
b. Eastern Europe
c. South America
d. Central America

(More Homogeneous)
a. Laos and Kampuchea
b. India and China
c. China and Malaysia
d. Laos and China
e. India and Malaysia
5.3.3 Matching Type
Guidelines for Constructing Matching Type of Test
1. Match homogenous not heterogenous items. If you want your
students to match authors with their literary works, in one column
will be authors and in the second column must be literary works.
 2. The stem (longer in construction than the options) must be
in the first column while the options (usually shorter) must be
in the second column.
3. The options must be more in number than the stems to
prevent the student from arriving at the answer by mere
process of elimination.
4. To help the examinee find the answer easier, arrange the
options alphabetically or chronologically, whichever is
applicable.
5. Like any other test, the direction of the test must be given.
The examinees must know exactly what to do.
5.4 Constructing Supply Type or Constructed- Response Type
Like the multiple choice test, the items in this kind of test consist of a
stem and a blank where the students would write the correct answer.
Example: The study of life and living organism is
called_____________.

5.4.1. Completion Type of Test

It is however, possible to construct supply type of tests that will test
higher order of thinking as the following example shows:
Example: Write an appropriate synonym for each of the following.
Each blank corresponds to a letter:
Metamorphosis: _ _ _ _ _ _
Flourish: _ _ _ _
 Guidelines for the Formulation of a Completion Type of Test
1. Avoid over mutilated sentences like this test item. Give enough clue to
the student. The ______ produced by the _______ is used by the green
______to change the ______ and _______ into ________. This process
is called _________.
2. Avoid open-ended item. There should be only one acceptable answer.
This item is open-ended, hence no food test item.
Ernest Hemingway wrote______.
3. The blank should be at the end or near to the end of the sentence. The
question must first be asked before an answer is expected. Like the
matching type of test, the stem (where the question is packed) must be in
the first column.
 4. Ask question on more significant item not on trivial
matter.
Jose Rizal was born on June ____, 1861.
5. The length of the blanks must not suggest the answer.
So better to make the blanks uniform in size.
A part of speech that names persons, places or things
is _________.
A word used to connect clauses or sentences or to
coordinate words in the same clause is called
_________.
Thank You!!!😊