Forms of a TEST

Formats or Types of
Questions
Refers to how the test questions are structured:

1. Selected response: It is a test format where the test-

taker selects an answer from a set of given options,
rather than generating their own response.
• Multiple Choice
• True/False
• Matching
Formats or Types of
Questions
Best Used For:
• Testing knowledge, comprehension, and recall
• Measuring large amounts of content efficiently
• Standardized testing (like SAT, TOEFL, etc.)

Limitations:
• Doesn’t assess deep thinking or problem-solving well
• Encourages guessing
• Hard to design good distractors (wrong answer options)
Formats or Types of
Questions
2. Limited Production: It is a test format where the test-
taker produces a short, somewhat open-ended or limited
response rather than selecting from given options. It falls
between selected response (like multiple choice) and
extended response (like essays).

•Fill-in-the-Blanks or Cloze tests

•Short Answer
•Labeling Diagrams
✅ Pros ❌ Cons
Harder to grade than
Less chance of guessing
multiple choice
Encourages active recall Can still be ambiguous
Useful for checking
accuracy
Not ideal for assessing
Often has one correct
complex thinking
answer, allowing fairly
objective grading
Formats or Types of
Questions
3. Extended Production: This is a type of test that
requires the test-taker to produce a longer, more detailed
response, often involving higher-order thinking,
explanation, or creative expression.

•Essay Questions
•Reports or Research Summaries
•Narrative or Creative Writing
•Problem-Solving with Justification
•Language Production Tasks (speaking or writing tasks in
language testing)
 Pros and Cons

Formats or Types of
Questions
✅ Pros ❌ Cons
Time-consuming to grade
Reveals deep understanding, analysis,
Responses may vary widely between
synthesis
test-takers
Encourages critical and original
Grading can be subjective
thinking, and creativity
Can integrate multiple skills or content
areas
Not ideal for large-scale testing
Measures communication skills and
argumentation
Formats or Types of
Questions
4. The Portfolio: It is a type of authentic, performance-based
assessment where a student collects and submits a series of
works over time to demonstrate learning, growth, and skills.
What can be included in a portfolio?
•Essays or research papers
•Artwork or design projects
•Lab reports or science experiments
•Presentations or videos
•Journals or reflective writing
•Drafts showing revisions and improvements
•Test results or skill checklists
 Pros and Cons

Formats or Types of Questions

✅ Pros ❌ Cons
Shows real progress, growth over Time-consuming to compile and
time and depth in learning assess
Encourages reflection and self-
evaluation (student ownership of Requires clear criteria to be fair
learning)
Allows for personalized demonstration
May lack standardization
of learning
Useful for project-based, practical or
Subjective if rubrics aren't clear
creative work
 TEST ITEMS
• Test items are the individual questions or tasks that
make up a test or assessment. Each item is designed to
measure a specific knowledge, skill, or competency in
the learner.
CLASSIFICATION OF TEST ITEMS
Test items can be classified based on various criteria, including:
1. Response Type

Type Description Examples

Fill-in-the-blank, Short
Limited Production Short, specific responses
answer
Long, open-ended Essays, Reports,
Extended Production
responses Portfolios
2. Production Level
Type Description Examples
The test-taker selects Multiple choice,
Selected Response
from given options True/False, Matching
The test-taker generates Fill-in-the-blank, Short
Constructed Response
their own answer answer, Essay
CLASSIFICATION OF TEST ITEMS
3. Scoring Method
Type Description Examples
Have clear, correct Multiple choice,
Objective Items
answers; easy to score True/False
Require judgment to Essay, Creative writing,
Subjective Items
score Oral responses
4. Test Format or Structure
Format Description
Words or parts are removed from text;
Cloze/Deletion
students fill in gaps
Matching Pairs of related items to be matched
Requires reasoning, steps, and final
Problem-solving
answer
Performance-Based Real-world tasks (e.g., presentations)
CLASSIFICATION OF TEST ITEMS
5. Learning Domain (Bloom’s Taxonomy)

Level Skills Measured Suitable Item Types

MCQs, T/F, Fill-in-the-
Knowledge Recall facts
blank
Comprehension Understand meaning Matching, Short answer
Apply knowledge to new
Application Problem-solving
situations
Analysis Break down into parts Essay, Case study
Projects, Extended
Synthesis Combine ideas creatively
writing
Evaluation Make judgments Critiques, Reflections
 ITEM DIFFICULTY
Item difficulty (p-value)

•Item difficulty refers to how easy or hard a test question

(item) is for a group of test-takers.

•It is quantified by the proportion of students who

answered the item correctly.
 ITEM DIFFICULTY
Formula:

Item Difficulty (p)= Number of students who answered correctly

Total number of students who answered the item\text{Item

Values range from 0 to 1.

• A higher p-value = easier item

A lower p-value = more difficult item
 ITEM DIFFICULTY
Interpretation:
Ideal test construction includes items with moderate difficulty (around 0.5)
to ensure a good spread of performance.

p-value Interpretation
0.90 – 1.00 Very easy
0.70 – 0.89 Easy
0.40 – 0.69 Moderate (ideal range)
0.20 – 0.39 Difficult
0.00 – 0.19 Very difficult
 ITEM DISCRIMINATION
Item discrimination (D-index)

•It indicates how well a test item distinguishes between

high-performing and low-performing students.

•A good item should be answered correctly more often by

students who do well on the whole test.
 ITEM DISCRIMINATION
Common Method (Upper-Lower Group Method):

Divide students into two groups:

•Upper group: top 27% performers

•Lower group: bottom 27% performers

Discrimination Index (D)= Correct in Upper Group − Correct in Lower Group

n n

**** n is the number of students in each group.

 ITEM DISCRIMINATION
Interpretation:
Negative discrimination index means low-performing students are
more likely to get it right than high-performing ones,
which suggests a flawed or trick question.
D-value Interpretation
0.40 and above Excellent discriminator
0.30 – 0.39 Good
0.20 – 0.29 Acceptable
0.00 – 0.19 Poor (revise or discard)
Problematic (possibly flawed or
Negative
misleading)

Ideal Test Items:

•Moderate difficulty (p ≈ 0.4 – 0.7)
•High discrimination (D ≥ 0.3)
 ITEM DISCRIMINATION
Why Are These Important?

•It helps identify which items to keep,revise, or discard

•Improve test validity and fairness

•Ensure the test effectively differentiates between levels of

ability
 Test Method Effect
Test Method Effect refers to how the format or method of testing
itself can influence a test-taker’s performance — independently of test takers’
actual knowledge or skills.

It is not the content being tested that causes differences in scores —

it’s how the test is designed or delivered.

It is important because if a test is supposed to measure someone's ability,

but performance is affected by the test method, the results can
become misleading or unfair.
 Test Method Effect
Examples of Test Method Effects:
1. Test Format
•A student may know the content well but perform worse on multiple-choice
than on short answer due to anxiety or confusion with distractors.
2. Mode of Delivery
•Online vs. paper-based testing can affect performance depending on a
student’s familiarity with technology.
4. Time Constraints
•A test may not truly reflect knowledge if the method (e.g., time-limited) causes
stress or penalizes slower test-takers.
5. Cultural Bias
•A test with culturally specific content may confuse students from different
backgrounds, affecting scores even if they have the required skills.
 Test Method Effect
Consequences of Test Method Effects:
•Reduces the validity of the test (i.e., it may not be measuring what it claims to
measure)
•Affects fairness across test-takers
•May result in false positives or negatives (overestimating or underestimating
ability)

How to Minimize Test Method Effects:

•Use clear and simple language
•Provide practice examples or familiarization sessions
•Choose the most appropriate item format for the skill being tested
•Avoid cultural bias in examples or contexts
•Ensure the test environment is consistent and accessible
•Use multiple types of items to assess the same objective
 Scoring a TEST
• Scoring is the process of assigning numerical
or qualitative values to a student’s responses
on a test. The goal is to quantify performance
so it can be interpreted, compared, and
evaluated.
 Scoring a TEST
Types of Scoring

1.Objective Scoring
•Used for items with clearly correct answers
•No judgment needed
•Fast, reliable, and consistent

•Multiple Choice
•True/False
•Fill-in-the-blank (if exact answer is expected)
•Matching
Scoring method:
Correct = 1 point, Incorrect = 0 points
 Scoring a TEST
2. Subjective Scoring
•Used for items that require judgment or interpretation
•Based on rubrics or scoring guides
•Can vary between scorers if not standardized

•Essays
•Oral responses
•Project work
•Open-ended or problem-solving questions
Scoring method:
Use rubrics with levels (e.g., 1–5 or 0–10) based on
specific criteria
 Scoring a TEST
3. Holistic vs. Analytic Scoring (for subjective items)

Type Description Use When

Quick judgments,
Holistic Overall impression
language fluency
Separate score for each
component (e.g., Detailed feedback
Analytic
grammar, content, needed, complex tasks
structure)
 Disadvantages Advantages
• It has to consider
• Halo effect influence of
all aspects.
one aspect over another.
• Easier to design,
• Compensatory scoring.
train graders and
• Cannot be used for
grade.
Holistic diagnostic reasons.
• Higher reliability
• Validation is weaker (2
because more
students with same
agreement as a
score, but unequal
whole.
profile).

• Not all parts equal to the • More detailed

whole can be included. feedback.
• Difficult to prepare. • Strengths and
• We have to break weaknesses can be
Analytic language into specific understood better.
skills (e.g. hard to • No carry over from
differentiate btw. one aspect to
grammar and another.
vocabulary)
 Scoring a TEST
Scoring Techniques
Raw Score
•The total number of points earned
e.g., 42 out of 50
Percentage Score
•(RawScore÷TotalPossibleScore)×100
e.g., (42 ÷ 50) × 100 = 84%
Scaled Score
•Converts raw scores to a consistent scale (e.g., 200–800 in SAT)
•Useful in standardized testing
Weighted Score
•Some items or sections carry more weight
e.g., Essay = 40%, MCQ = 60% of total
 Grading a TEST
• Grading a test involves assigning a value
(usually numerical or letter-based) to represent a
student's performance. It reflects how well a
student understood or mastered the material
assessed in the test.
 Grading a TEST
Types of Grading Systems
1. Absolute Grading
• Based on pre-set criteria or score ranges
• Common in schools and standardized exams

Score (%) Grade

90–100 A
80–89 B
70–79 C
60–69 D
Below 60 F
 Grading a TEST
2. Relative Grading (Norm-Referenced)
• Based on student performance in comparison to
peers
• Often uses a bell curve
• Only a certain percentage get each grade

Top 10% | A | | Next 20% | B | | Middle 40%| C | | Next 20%

| D | | Bottom 10%| F |
• Can be unfair in small classes or if all students perform
well
 Grading a TEST
3. Criterion-Referenced Grading
• Grades based on specific learning objectives or
rubrics
• Focuses on mastery of content, not how others
performed

4. Pass/Fail Grading
• Used in some practical or qualifying exams
• Students either meet a minimum standard or do not
 Grading a TEST
Steps in Grading a Test
1. Score individual items
1. Objective items (e.g., MCQs): use answer key
2. Subjective items (e.g., essays): use a rubric for consistent
evaluation
2. Calculate raw score
1. Total correct answers or points earned
3. Convert raw score to percentage or grade
1. e.g., 45/50 = 90% = A
4. Apply grading system (absolute, relative, etc.)
5. Give feedback
1. Highlight strengths, weaknesses, and areas to improve
 Grading a TEST

Grading Tools
• Rubrics: Predefined criteria for scoring open-ended
responses
• Answer Keys: For objective questions
• Gradebooks: Digital or paper systems to track scores
• Software: Learning management systems (e.g., Google
Classroom, Canvas) automate grading
 Scoring vs. Grading

Scoring Grading
Converting scores into a grade (A, B,
Assigning points to responses
C, etc.)
More detailed and raw More summarized
Happens first Happens after scoring