TYPES OF TEST ITEMS

 TYPES OF TEST ITEMS

Written tests are the most widely used of all evaluation tools. Hence a science teacher should master the skills of constructing test items. Construction of test calls for mastery of the subject matter and techniques of constructing each  item. A Constructor should take the following precautions while framing  items.

l The items should cover, as far as possible, the whole range of topics prescribed in the syllabus. No item or part of the item should be set which is outside the syllabus.

l More items should be set to test higher objectives. For this purpose items should be in the context of new situations.

l Items should provide clear direction to the students regarding the scope and length of responses.

l The language of the items should be simple and within the easy grasp of students.

 A written test is composed of a number of items or questions. Items differ on the basis of the type of responses demanded for. There are items in which responses are free while in certain others responses are fixed. In free response test item, the respondent has enough freedom to respond in his own way. In fixed response item respondent does not have this freedom, the response being controlled by the constructor. Generally three types of test items are commonly used. Fixed Response type: Objective type (New type) & Free response type: Short Answer type & Essay type

Objective Type Test Item: An objective type test item is one in which the response will be objective. The responses are made fixed and hence the freedom of the respondent to deviate is restricted.

They are: i. Supply type (Recall type)  ii. Selection type (Recognition type)

Supply type test items: The respondents have to supply the response. Eg: Simple recall and Completion type 

Selection type: The students have to select the responses from among the given responses. They are true-false type, multiple choice type, matching type.

Selection type:

1. True - False Items (Alternate Response Type): These are items which admit only two possible responses of which one is correct. The respondent is asked to read a statement and indicate in some specific manner suggested, whether it is true or false., right or wrong. correct or incorrect, agree or disagree, yes or no. It tests the ability to discriminate between misconceptions and scientific truth. It is suitable for young children who have poor vocabulary. Large sample of subject matter can be covered within a short period.The greatest drawback of true-false items is that the examinee makes guess. The chance of guess work is 50%. Generally they emphasise rote memorization. These can be attempted even by those who know nothing of the subject matter.

 Suggestions for construction of good true false items

l Avoid text book language.

l  Avoid double negatives. Eg. Neutrons are not absent in Hydrogen atom(Poor)

l Number of true statements should be approximately equal to the number of false statements.

l Avoid linguistic clues (all, every, none, etc.) usually associated with true or false statements. 

Eg: All plants give out Oxygen during day time(Poor). Green Plants give out Oxygen during day time (Improved) .

l  Limit true or false statement to a single idea Eg- Roots exhibit negative phototropism. positive geotropism and negative hydrotropism (Poor).

l Avoid long statements and complex sentence structure.

l Keep true and false statements approximately equal in length.

l  Each statement should be unequivocally true or false. It should not be partly true or partly false.

2. Multiple choice Test Item (Changing Alternative Type): These are items presenting four or more responses in which one is either correct or definitely better than the others. Here the chance of guess work is minimised. Multiple choice item consists of two parts. The first part of the item is called STEM presented in the form of a direct question or incomplete statements. The second part of the item is called Options or Alternatives or Responses, usually four or five in number. Among the options one is the keyed response and others are called distractors or misleads or foils. The stem gives data for the selection of the keyed response. The respondent has to read the stem and options and to select the correct or best alternative.

Suggestions for the Construction of Multiple Choice items

l  It is ridiculous to include a very obviously incorrect answer as a distractor. Eg:Which is the structural - functional unit of nervous A. Nephron B. Neutron C. Neuron D. Dendron (Poor due to option B)

l Avoid copied sentences from the text book in the stem or alternatives

l Each item should have four or five alternatives.

l  Avoid 'patterns' of correct answer.

l Be sure that only one correct/ best answer is given.

l If some of the terms used in the stem are repeated in the correct response, the same type of language is to be used in the other alternatives. Eg: The tubule of each nephron begins as a cup shaped capsule called,. A. Glomerulus B. Henle's loop C. Pelvis D. Bowman's capsule. (Poor due to capsule in option C).

l Avoid confusing the respondent with double negatives.

l Do not repeat in each option words or phrases which can be included in the stem. Eg: The difference between RNA and DNA is A. because of sugar and base B. because of sugar and phosphate C. because of phosphate and base D. because of sugar only (Poor).

l Responses or options should not overlap, include or be synonymous with one another. Eg: Horse is A. an ungulate B. a mammal C. a primate  D. a rodent (Poor due to option B).

l Avoid distractors that do not fit grammatically with the stem.

Eg: The bony portion of the gills of a fish is  A. Gill arch B. Gill filaments C. Gill slits D. Operculum (Poor due to options B and C)

l Be sure that no unintentional clues to the correct answer are given.

Eg: Anona is an   A. simple fruit   B. aggregate fruit C.composite fruit  D. Berry (Poor due to 'an' in the stem)

l If the item deals with the definition of a term, it is preferable to include the term in the stem and the definitions in the options.

Eg: The process of diffusion is the movement of molecules  A. higher concentration to lower concentration     B. lower concentration to higher concentration C. higher concentration to higher concentration D. lower concentration to lower concentration

l Each alternative when read along with the stem should present the same general appearance.

l Avoid 'All the above'; as far as possible. If it is used as keyed response, finding two options correct, respondent will select All the above' even if the third  is unknown. If All the above' is used as a distractor, on finding one option incorrect  the respondent can reject that option and 'All the above'.

l Use the option 'None of the above' only when the keyed answer can be classified unequivocally as right or wrong.

3. Matching Type Test Item: This is a modified version of the multiple choice test item.it is an economic version of multiple choice questions: ie:Condensation of several multiple choice questions. It consists of two parallel columns, the first column to be matched with the second column.The question column is Premises or stem and the answer column is responses or options.

Suggestion for constructing Matching Type Test Items:

l Give instruction for how to match', very clearly.

l Should not give the same number of items in premises and options. There should be more alternatives in the options column to reduce guess work. The test should not be too long (5 Items in the stem and 8 In the options).

l  Items in both the columns should be relatively homogeneous.

l All the items should appear on the same page of the question paper and not to be  carried over to the next page.

l Avoid grammatical differences like some singular and plural items in each column.

Supply Type Items

1. Simple Recall Type Test Items: This item  requires the respondent to recall a response  to a direct question.Typical response should be short preferably a word, a number or a phrase. It eliminates the chance of guessing. Eg: Which parts of the eye are transparent?

2. Completion Type Test Item: A completion type item consists of a series of sentences in which certain words are omitted and replaced by blanks. The respondents are expected to fill in the blanks with a word or a number or at the most a phrase. The probability of guess work is completely eliminated.

Suggestions for constructing completion type items:

l Avoid borrowing statements from the text book as this may encourage rote memory, 

l Avoid ambiguous statements. Be sure that the respondents will  know exactly what kind of answer you expect.

l Try to anticipate all possible answers that might be marginally correct.

l  Omit key words or phrases rather than trivial details.

l It is preferable not to begin with blank.

l There should be only one correct response for each blank. 

l Blanks should be of uniform length. 

l Do not omit too many words.

l Avoid irrelevant clues like a, an, in, on, etc. before blank.

l Avoid grammatical hints.

Advantages of objective type items:

l It can be scored objectively and easily. The scoring will not vary from time to time and from examiner to examiner. Scoring can be done even mechanically.

l It is a very good tool for ensuring coverage. A large amount of study material can be tested in a very short period of time.

l It reduces the subjective element of the examiner to the minimum. There is no chance to apply his personal likes and dislikes .

l  It reduces the role of luck and cramming of expected questions, as a result there is greater reliability and better content validity.

l  It promotes economy of time, it  takes less time to answer and correction of the answers.

l  It eliminates irrelevant factors such as speed of writing, fluency of expression, literary style. good handwriting, neatness, etc.

l It creates an incentive for pupils to build up a broad base to knowledge, skills and abilities.

l  If carefully planned  it can measure the higher mental processes of understanding. application, analysis, prediction and interpretations

Limitations of objective type items:

l  Difficulty in preparing good items: The objective type items are difficult to construct. Preparing good items require talent, imagination and efficiency.

l Problem of guessing: Correct answers to objective type questions can be guessed easily. Guessing cannot be checked. However, by increasing the number of option and applying the correction formula this limitation can be solved to a great extent.

l  Problem of cheating: Since the answer to an item is limited to a symbol, a letter or at the most a word it will be easy to copy answers from other script. This can rectified by mingling parallel forms of the same test and by prompt invigilation.

l  Emphasis on testing superficial knowledge: Too much emphasis is placed on recall of factual knowledge, while broad concepts are excluded .

l Inefficiency in testing complicated skills: The objective-type items intended to evaluate a single specification. It may be used to evaluate all objectives but  complex skills which may involve the combination  of different specific behaviours cannot be efficiently tested.

l High Printing Cost: Printing cost of an objective type tests than that of an essay type test.

Free Response Type Questions

Short Answer Type: Question requiring three value points at the most may be defined as a short answer type items. The term value points indicates a point to be given credit in the answer. Thus the length of the answer expected from a short answer question is very short. This diminishes subjectivity. In this way, it is an improvement type questions. Such questions are of great help in having a wide coverage of content and each item can be set to test a definite objective.

Eg: Mention any three applications of Genetic engineering.

Suggestions  for constructing short answer type items:

 Make questions simple, short and grammatically correct.

 Avoid abstract statements deviating from the main context.

 The item should deal with a single item of information.

Maximum length of expected answers should be precisely indicated.

Give clear, specific and complete directions.

Give due consideration to time allotted for the test.

Avoid subjective terms like 'Discuss'. What do you know about, etc.

Advantages of short answer type items:

l A relatively large portion of the content can be covered in a test.

l  It is easy to construct, because it measures a relatively simple learning outcome.

l It provides little opportunity for guessing as the examinee is required to supply specific information.

l It can be made quite objective by carefully fixing up the value points.

l It is useful in evaluating the ability to interpret diagrams, charts, graphs, etc-

l If carefully prepared, deep level objectives like understanding, application and problem solving skills can be evaluated.

Limitations of short answer type items:

l It is more subjective than the objective type of items.  

l It's excessive use may encourage a student to memorise facts and develop poor study habits.

l  Mechanical scoring is not possible because of the subjectivity.

Essay Type Items:  An essay-type test item is a free response test item.This is the age-old, traditional type of question, so well known and respondent is free to give the answer of a question as he likes. This is a type of question calling for a rather long answer covering a number of points and a variety of objectives. It helps in evaluating complex skills and other similar behavioural patterns.The essay type is the only means to evaluate pupils ability to express facts Ina organised manner, to assimilate and organise subject matter, to reason logically, to invite individual opinions and criticism.The test should neither be too general nor too specific. The direction and scope of the response should be well defined. The time factor should be given due consideration.

Advantages of essay type items:

l The essay type of questions are easy to prepare.

l The method of administering this type of test is simple.

l Essay type is quite useful in measuring certain very important abilities the child.

l Essay type items permit the examinee to write down comprehensively what he knows about something They promote originality and creative thinking.

l  They encourage grasp of language and ask for effective expression

l  The possibility of guess work can be eliminated.

l  They reduce chance of on the spot copying.

l They are helpful for appraisal of skills.

l The comprehension of the subject natter as a whole is encouraged.

Limitations of essay type items:

l Subjective in nature. If the same answer is evaluated by more than one examiner, the marks allotted will vary widely.

lThey cannot comprehensively cover the content. Such questions require a lot of time to answer. Therefore  it can cover only a few topics of the syllabus.

lThrough essay type items, proper evaluation of specific abilities of the student cannot be made. The students are encouraged to read cheap notes and ready made answers instead of trying to gain knowledge through self study. More stress is on memorisation rather than reflective thinking.

lSince the number of items is limited, there is an element of chance. This leads to selective study on the part of the students, which is not desirable. Such tests develop the spirit of unhealthy competition among the students.

lThe essay type examinations do not possess sufficient validity or reliability.

The objectivity of essay type questions also can be improved with proper care and scientific planning. The value points involved should be determined as precisely as possible . Precise scheme of valuation should be prepared and strictly followed at the time of valuation. These precautions will help in improving the quality of essay-type items.