Types of Test Items

• In normal testing, there are usually four major types

namely:
• Essay type.
• Objective type
• Oral test
• Practical test
 Essay Type Test Items

• An essay type of test may be described as

learners assessment which challenges their
capability for coherent discussion(in written
form) of concepts and ideas being tested.
• Essay item formats are considered to be that type
of test in which the testee is given the freedom of
expression in describing, explaining, comparing,
or reasoning.
• Until recently the essay type of examination was the only
procedure used to assess learners especially on
achievement tests.
• There are two types of essay items:
• Short essay
• Long essays
• The short essay require brief treatments of the
subjects- as answering brief questions.
• Long essay questions require extended response.
A single response may not be considered
adequate for a long essay question.
 Advantages Of Essay Test
• It does not require considerable time to prepare
(easy to construct)
• It helps to assess organizational ability of the
testee
• It challenges learners ability to discriminate
between important and less significant facts.
• It reduces the chance of copying or any other
examination malpractices.
• It reduces the process of guessing
• It challenges the learners ability to recall
important facts within a limited time.
• It tests the ability to develop a reasoned argument
and put forward opinion supported by evidence.
• It improves learners writing skills and logical
organization of thoughts.
Disadvantages Of Essay Test.
• It may favor the verbally fluent.
• It samples limited areas of the content/subject
matter.
• Grading of essay is usually susceptible to “halo
effect” Interrater and intra rater reliability is low.
• It is time consuming and scoring.
• Examiners mood, personal opinion and bias
could influence the process of assessment.
• Inefficient for test of knowledge outcome.
 Guidelines for Construction of
Essay Test
• Use simple and unambiguous language.
• Provide direction on how the questions are to be
answered.
• Where option are given care should be taken to
see that questions are equivalent in difficulty.
• Provide a marking scheme to improve objectivity.
• Should be marked blind, without the teacher
knowing the name of the essay writer.
• The marks awarded should agree with the weight
of the essay.
• Scoring criteria must be very clear, e.g. content,
organization, logic, structure, presentation,
secretarial skills etc.
 OBJECTIVE TEST

• An objective test is a structured question

response type of assessment, which is noted for
its objectivity in scoring.
• This is a test in which there is only one way to
write or present the correct answer.
• There are two ways to write forms of objective
tests: the select type ( true-false, matching,
multiple choice) and the supply type (short
answers).
• The two types of objective test items are at times
referred to as recognition and recall respectively.
• The different formats of objective test are:
• True/ False
• Completion items
• Matching items
• Multiple choice
 True/False Items

• These are test items presented in form of

statements in which the learner is to judge
whether the statement is true or false.
• This are also called alternative responses as
Yes/No or Agree/Disagree may be used.
 ADVANTAGES

• Enables one to cover a wide range of knowledge

• Scoring efficiency and accuracy
• Versatility in measuring all levels in the cognitive
domain
• Highly reliable test scores
• Takes very little time to answer
• Assists learners in acquiring and retaining new
information
• An objective measurement and attainment of
students achievement
 DISADVANTAGES

• Takes time to create

• Encourages guessing
• Hard to determine who knows the material and
who does not
• Can be too easy
• Users can just check an answer without any
comprehension of the question
• Teachers can write ambiguous
statements
 Guidelines for Construction of
True/ False Items
• Each statement used should be completely true or
false.
• Tests statements must be carefully written to
reduce clues which might increase guessing the
correct answer.
• Avoid quoting a statement directly from a test
book to avoid a clue by rote learning.
• Minimize the use of specific determinants (such
as All, Always, Except, sometimes)which can
provide clue to the correct answer.
• Use of negative statements should be avoided
because it is often misread.
• Avoid pattern of answers, therefore try to
alternate True/False answers and vary the
proportion and arrangement.
 Completion Items
• These are test items presented in incomplete
statements and learners are required to complete
or supply the missing term/terms.
• Completion questions require a student
to complete a statement that is missing one or
more key elements (words, phrases, numbers,
etc.).
• The stem usually contains one or more blanks in
which the learner is expected to affix his/her
answer to the question.
• There are three common variation of completion
items:
• i) The question variety.
• ii) The completion variety.
• iii) The association variety.
• Question. Give an example for each of the
above varieties.
 Guidelines for Completion of
Test Items
• Give students a reasonable basis for the response
desired. Avoid indefinite statements.
• For example, The university of Eastern Africa,
Baraton is-----------
• The university of Eastern Africa Baraton is
sponsored by __________
• Avoid vagueness and quotation from textbooks.
• Only significant words should be omitted in the
complete statements either at the beginning or at
the end of such statements.
• Prepare a scoring key containing all acceptable
answers.
• Decide if wrong spelling will be penalized or
disregarded.
• Give one point per blank space.
• Avoid over mutilation of sentences or paragraphs.
• Avoid giving students unwarranted clues to the desired
response. E.g. “a” “an” just before the blank
• lengthy and boring statements should be avoided.
• Give brief and clear instructions.
• Keeps blanks at the same length.
• Do not indicate the expected answer by varying
the length of the blanks
• Guard against the possibility that one item or part
of the test may suggest the correct response to
another item.
• Require a single word or short statement for the
answer.
• Ensure that there can only be a single correct
answer.
• Avoid putting several blanks close to each other.
• Ensure that students know exactly the kind and
specifity of the answer required.
• Specify the units in which a numeral answer is to
be given.
• Arrange the test in a way to facilitate scoring.
• Allow one point for each blank correctly filled.
• Avoid fractional credits or unequal weighing of
the items in a test.
• Select items to which only one correct response
is possible.
• Arrange the items as far as possible so that the
students responses are in a column at the right of
the sentences.
• Scoring is more rapid if the blanks are numbered
and the student is directed as where to write his
response in the appropriate numbered blanks.
• Prepare a key for scoring by writing on a copy of
the test all acceptable answers.
 Matching Items

• These are objective tests which appear in a

modified form of the multiple-choice item.
• Usually the exercise consists of two columns of
word or phrases.
• One column consists of the premises(questions or
problems to be answered) while the other column
contain the responses (the answers).
• From the two columns the learner is required to
make some sort of association between each
premise and response.
• For example countries and currencies.
Group A Group B
• Nigeria Birr
• Kenya Dollars
• Ghana Shillings
• Ethiopia Cedi
Naira
• The major disadvantage associated with matching
items is that the probability of guessing correctly
is increased as the problems are being solved.
• It is therefore desirable to have more items in one
column than the other.
 Guidelines for Construction of
Matching Items.
• The premises and responses may not necessarily be
the same however, they should be homogenous in a
matching set.
• There should be clear instruction indicating the
criteria for matching, e.g. joining lines or writing a
number or letter.
• More responses should be provided more than the
premises or otherwise matching will occur and
the right answers will be established through
guessing.
• Ensure that the options are plausible distractors
• Ensure that the descriptions list contain longer
phrases or statements than the option list.
 Multiple choice Items

• This is an objective test, which consists of a

statement or question and a number of responses
usually 4 or 5 options, one of which is the
expected correct response and the other options
are described as distractors.
• A multiple choice item usually has three parts
namely;
• Stem –which represents the problem or the
question, usually expressed in competition or
question form.
• Keyed option – this is the correct answer
• Incorrect options – or alternatives also called
distractors
• The distractors are plausible i.e. have similar
characteristics as the correct response but certain
unique characteristics disqualify the distractors
from being the correct response.
• Multiple choice items can test both lower and
upper order thinking.
• They are quick to mark and also very objective.
• They are widely used in formal tests, though they
may take some time to devise.
 ADVANTAGES

• Enables one to cover a wide area of knowledge

• Quick to answer
• Simple to analyze
• They are mobile friendly
 DISADVANTGES

• They can be time-consuming to create

• The data they produce is solely quantitative
• They can limit respondents in their answers
 Guidelines for Constructing
Multiple choice Items
• Make the question and requirements
unambiguous and in a language appropriate for
the students.
• Avoid negative statements.
• Keep the choices around the same length.
• Provide around four choices in order to reduce
guessing, and ensure that the distractors are
sufficiently close to the correct response as to be
worthy of consideration by students, i.e. make the
options realistic.
• Avoid giving grammatical cues in the choices
(e.g. the word ‘an’ in the stem requires an option
that begins with a vowel; the word ‘is’ in the stem
requires an option written in the singular.
• Ensure that one option does not contain more
information than another, as this suggests to
students that this is the correct option.
• Avoid the use of ‘all of the above’ or ‘non of the
above’ as these tend to become the option chosen.
• Avoid value and opinion statements as these are
contestable.
 Principles Of Test
Construction
• Identify the purpose/objective of the test
• Identify the test specification/ build a table of
specification.
• Select the content of the test
• Consider the form of the test/ test format.
• Write the test items
• Consider the layout of the test
• Consider the timing of the test
• Plan the scoring of the test
• Consider special adaptations to the test( eg
calculators, dictionaries, allowing the use of
notes)
• Editing of test items