Factors Influencing Test Construction and

Test Performance
Test Construction
Why do we need to study Test Construction?
 What is testing?

“ A test will predict performance levels, and the learner

will somehow reconstruct its part in meaningful
situations when necessary” (McCann, 2000)

“Testing is generally concerned with turning

performance into numbers.” (Baxter, 1997)
 What are tests for?
• Inform learners and teachers of the strengths and
weaknesses of the process.
• Motivate learners to review or consolidate specific material.
• Guide the planning/development of the ongoing teaching
process.
• Create sense of accomplishment.
• Determine if the objectives have been achieved.
• Encourage improvement.
Encourage Improvement!
 Barriers in Test Construction
Ms. 1 = confusing statements
Mr. 2 = difficulty vocabulary
Ms.3 = excessive wordiness
Mr.4 = complex sentence structure
Ms. 5 =unclear instructions
Mr. 6 = unclear illustrative materials
Mr. 7 = linguistic bound words
Ms. 8 = culturally bound words
 Characteristic of Good Tests

Validity – the extent to which the test measures what it

intends to measure.
Reliability – the consistency with which a test measures what
it is supposed to measure.
Usability – the test can be administered with ease, clarity
and uniformity.
 Other things to consider

Scorability – easy to score.

Interpretability – test results can be properly interpreted and
is a major basis in making sound educational decisions.
Economical – the test can be reused without compromising
the validity and reliability.
“ To be able to prepare a good test, one has to have a
mastery of the subject matter, knowledge of the pupils to
be tested, skill in verbal expression and the use of the
different test format”

Evaluating Educational Outcomes

(Oriondo & Antonio)
 5 Most Commonly Used Test
Format
1. Multiple Choice
2. True or False
3. Matching Type
4. Fill – in the blanks (Sentence Completion)
5. Essay

Source: Turn-out of Test Questions in SSI (2003-2007)

General Steps in Test
Construction
 Table of Specifications (TOS)

• A two way chart that relates the learning outcomes

to the course content.
• It enables the teacher to prepare a test containing a
representative sample of student behavior in each of
the areas tested.
 Tips in Preparing the Table of
Specifications (TOS)
• Don’t make it overly detailed.
• Its best to identify major ideas and skills rather than specific
details.
• Use a cognitive taxonomy that is most appropriate to your
discipline, including non-specific skills like communication
skills or graphic skills or computational skills if such are
important to your evaluation of the answer.
 Tips in Preparing the Table of
Specifications (TOS)
• Weigh the appropriateness of the distribution of checks
against the students level, the importance of the test, the
amount of time available.
• Match the question level appropriate to the level of
thinking skills.
 General Rules in Writing Test
Questions
• Number test questions continuously.
• Keep your test questions in each group uniform.
• Make your layout presentable.
• Do not put too many questions in one test group.
 Some additional guidelines to
consider items are described
below:
• Avoid humorous items. Classrooms testing is very important
and humorous items may cause students to either not to
take exam seriously, become confuse or anxious.
• Items should measure one’s knowledge of the item context
not their level of interest.
• Write items to measure what students know, not what they
do not know. (Cohen & Wallack)
 What to look for on Multiple
Choice Test
When checking the stems of correctness:
• Ensure that the stem asks a clear question.
• Reading level is appropriate to the students
• The stem is grammatically correct.
• Negatively stated stems are discouraged.
 Anatomy of a Perfect Multiple
Choice
Example:
What is the effect of releasing a ball in positive gravity?
a) It will fall “down”.
b) It will retain its mass.
c) It will rise.
d) Its shape will change
 Multiple Choice Questions
1. Use negatively stated stems sparingly and when using negatives
such as NOT, underline or bold the print.
2. Use none of the above and all of the above sparingly, and when
you do use them, don’t always make them the right answer.
3. Only one option should be correct or clearly best.
4. All options should be homogenous and nearly equal in length.
5. The stem (question) should contain only one main idea.
6. Keep all options either singular or plural.
7. Have four or five responses per stem (question).
 Multiple Choice Questions

8. When using incomplete statements place the blank space at

the end.
9. When possible organize the responses.
10. Reduce wordiness
11. When writing distracters, think of incorrect responses that
students might make.
 What to look for on True/False
Tests
• Each statement is clearly true or clearly false.
• Trivial details should not make a statement false.
• Statements are written concisely without more
elaboration than necessary.
• Statements are NOT quoted exactly from text.
 Tips in Making True/False
Tests
• Give emphasis on the use of quantitative terms that qualitative
terms.
• Avoid using of specific determiners which usually gives a clue to
the answer.
• False = all, always, never, every, none, only
• True = generally, sometimes, usually, maybe, often
• Discourage the use of negative statements.
• Whenever a controversial statement is quoted.
• Discourage the use of pattern for answers.
Source: www.fppt.info
 Parts of Matching Type
(Vertical Type)

Column A (Premise) Column B (Response)

Parts of Matching Type
(Horizontal Type)

Response

Premise
 What to look for on Matching
Type Tests
• The list of responses should be relatively short.
• Response options should be arranged alphabetically or
numerically.
• Directions clearly indicate the basis for matching.

• Can responses be used more than once?

• Where will you place your answer?
• Can students infer relationship or are they based on real world
logic?
 What to look for on Matching
Type Tests
• Position of matches should be varied.
Avoid using patterns.
• The choices of each matching set should be on one page
• There are more responses than premises in a single set if
responses cannot be used more than once.
 What to look for on Matching
Type Tests
• The premises are homogeneous as well as the responses and
are grouped as one item.
Example:
Set A: Provinces in Region 1
Set B: Provinces in CAR
• If responses can be used more than once, it should be
proportional to the number of premises.
Sentence Completion/ Fill–in the Blanks
 What to look for on Sentence
Completion Tests
• Only significant words are omitted.
• When omitting words, enough clues are left so that the
student who knows the correct answer can supply the
correct response.
• Ensure that grammatical clues are avoided.
• Blanks are at the end of the statement.
• The length of the responses are limited to single words or
short phrases.
• Questions are not lifted verbatim quotes from text.
Essay / Short Answer Test
 Types of Essay Items

Extended response type

• The test may be answered by the examinee in whatever
manner he wants.
Example: Do you think teachers should be allowed to work
abroad as domestic helpers? Explain your answer.
 Two Types of Essay Items

Restricted response type

• The test limits the examinees response may be answered by
the examinee’s responses in terms of length, content, style
or organization.
Example: Give and explain three reasons why the Government
should or should not allows teachers to work abroad as domestic
helpers.
 What to look for on Essay
Tests
• The task is clearly defined. The students are given an idea on
the scope and direction you intended for the answer to take.
The question starts with a description of the required
behavior to put them in the correct mind frame.
• The questions are written in the linguistic level appropriate
to the students.
• Questions require a student to demonstrate command of
background information, not simply repeating information.
 What to look for on Essay
Tests
• Questions regarding a students opinion on a certain issue
should focus not on the opinion but on the way it is
presented and argued.
• A larger number of shorter, more specific questions are
better, than, one or two longer questions.
 Proposed Criteria in Grading
Essay Test
• Ideas (20%)
• Weight of Evidence Presented (40%)
• Correct Usage (20%)
• Logical conclusions drawn from the evidence (20%)
 Proposed Criteria in Grading
Essay Test
• Ideas (20%)
• Weight of Evidence Presented (40%)
• Correct Usage (20%)
• Logical conclusions drawn from the evidence (20%)
 THANK YOU!

Source: https//:www.slideshare.net/ArnelISSI