Matching Items to

Specific Outcomes
Specific Learning Outcome: Defines
terms in students’ own words.
Directions: Define each of the following
terms in a sentence or two.
1.Cognitive
2.Evaluation
3.Measurement
4.Taxonomy
Specific Learning Outcome: Identifies
procedural steps in planning or a test.
1.Which one of the following steps should
be completed first in planning for an
achievement test?

A.Prepare the test specification.

B.Decide on the length of the test.
C.Select the types of the test items to use.
D.Define the intended learning outcomes.
Specific Learning Outcome: Identifies the
hierarchical order of the categories in the
cognitive domain of the taxonomy.
1.Which of the following categories in the
taxonomy indicates the highest level of
learning?

A.Analysis
B.Application
C.Comprehension
D.Synthesis
Specific Learning Outcome: distinguishes
between sound and unsound principles of
achievement testing.
Directions: Read each of the following statements.
If the statement indicates a sound principle of
achievement testing, circle the S; if it indicates an
unsound principle circle the U.

S U 1. The specific learning outcomes to be tested

should be stated in terms of student performance.
Specific Learning Outcome: Identifies
examples of properly stated learning
outcomes.
1. Which one of the following learning outcomes is
properly stated in performance terms?
A.Student realizes the importance of tests in teaching.
B. Student has acquired the basic principles of
achievement testing.
C.Student demonstrates a desire for more experience
in the test construction.
D.Student predicts the most probable effect of
violating a test construction principle.
Suggestion for Using and
Writing Test Items
Multiple Choice Items
Multiple choice item consists of 2 parts:
a.The Stem, which identifies the question or
problem; and
b. The response alternatives. Students are
asked to select one alternative that best
completes the statement or answers the
question.
Example
A. Item Stem B. Response Alternatives:

Which of the a.Evaporation of

following is a Alcohol
b.Freezing of Water
chemical c.Burning of Oil
change? d.Melting of Wax
Advantages of Using Multiple
Choice Items
Multiple choice items can provide:
1. Versatility in Measuring all levels of cognitive ability
2. Highly reliable test scores
3. Scoring efficiency and accuracy
4. Objective measurement of student achievement or ability
5. A wide sampling of content or objectives
6. A reduced guessing factor when compared to true-false
items
7. Different response alternatives which can provide diagnostic
feedback
Limitations of Multiple Choice
Items
1.Difficult and time consuming to construct
2.Lead a teacher to favor simple recall of
facts
3.Place a high degree of dependence on
the student’s reading ability and teacher’s
writing ability
Suggestion for Writing
Multiple Choice Items
1. When possible, state the stem as a direct
question rather than as an incomplete
statement.
Poor: Alloys are ordinarily produced
by…

Better: How are alloys ordinarily

produced?
2. Present a definite, explicit singular
question or problem in the stem.

Poor: Psychology

Better: The science of mind

and behaviors is called…
3. Eliminate excessive verbiage or
irrelevant information from the stem.
Poor: While ironing her formal, polo shirt
June burned her hand accidentally on the
hot iron. This was due to a transfer of heat
because…

Better: Which of the following ways of

heat transfer explains why June’s hand
was burned after she touched a hot iron?
4. Include in the stem any word(s) that
might otherwise be repeated in each
alternative.
Poor: In national elections in the united
States, the President is officially
a. chosen by the people
b. chosen by the electoral College*
c. chosen by members of Congress
d. chosen by the House of Representatives
4. Include in the stem any word(s) that
might otherwise be repeated in each
alternative.
Better: In national elections in the united
States, the President is officially chosen by
a. the people
b. members of congress
c. the electoral College
d. the House of Representatives
5. Use negatively stated questions sparingly.
When used, underline and /or capitalize the
negative word.
Poor: Which of the following is not cited as
an accomplishment of Arroyo
administration?

Better: Which of the following is NOT cited

as an accomplishment of Arroyo
administration?
6. Make all alternative plausible and
attractive to the less knowledgeable or
skillful student.
What process is most
nearly the opposite of
Photosynthesis?
Poor: Better:
a. Digestion a. Digestion
b. Relaxation b. Assimilation
c. Respiration*
c. Respiration*
d. Catabolism
d. Exertion
7. Make the alternative grammatically
parallel with each other and consistent with
the stem
 Poor: What would do most to advance the application
of atomic discoveries to medicine?
a. Standardized techniques for treatment of patients*
b. Train the average doctor to apply the radioactive
treatments.
c. Remove the restriction on the use of radioactive
substances.
d. Establishing hospital staffed by highly trained
radioactive therapy
specialist.
7. Make the alternative grammatically
parallel with each other and consistent with
the stem
 Better: What would advance the application of atomic
discoveries to medicine most?
a. Removal of restriction on the use of radioactive
substances.
b. Development of standardized techniques for
treatment of patients.
c. Addition of trained radioactive therapy specialists to
hospital staffs.
d. Training the average doctor in application of
radioactive treatments.
8. Make the alternatives mutually
exclusive.
Poor: The daily Better: what is the
minimum required daily minimum
amount of milk that a required amount of
10-year-old child milk a 10-year-old
should drink is child should drink?
a. 1-2 glasses a. 1 glass
b. 2-3 glasses b. 2 glasses
c. 3-4 glasses c. 3 glasses
d. at least 4 glasses d. 4 glasses
9. When possible, present alternatives in
some logical order (chronological, most to
least, alphabetical).
At 7 a.m. two trucks leave a diner and travel north.
One truck averages 42 miles per hour and the
other truck averages 38 miles per hour. At what
time will they be 24 miles apart?
 Undesirable:  Desirable
a. 6 p.m. a. 1 a.m.
b. 9 p.m. b. 6 a.m.
c. 1 a.m. c. 9 a.m.
d. 1 p.m.* d. 1 p.m.
e. 6 a.m. e. 6 p.m.
10. Be sure there is only one correct or
best response to the item.
Poor: The two most Better: The two most
desired characteristics desired characteristics
in a classroom test in a classroom test are
are Validity and Validity and
a.Precision a.Precision
b.Reliability* b.Reliability*
c.Objectivity c.Objectivity
d.Consistency* d.Standardization
11. Make alternative approximately
equal in length.
 Poor: The most general  Better: What is the most
cause of low individual general cause of low
individual incomes in the
incomes in the United United States?
States is
a. A lack of valuable
a.Lack of valuable productive services to sell.*
productive services to b. The population’s overall
sell* willingness to work.
b. Unwillingness to work c. The nation’s increase
reliance on automation.
c. Automation
d. An increasing national level
d.Inflation of inflation.
12. Avoid irrelevant clues, such as grammatical
structure well-known verbal associations or
connections between stem and answer.
Poor: (grammatical clue) A chain of
islands is called:
A.Archipelago*
B.Peninsula
C.Continent
D.Isthmus
12. Avoid irrelevant clues, such as grammatical
structure well-known verbal associations or
connections between stem and answer.
Poor: (Verbal Association) The reliability of
a test can be estimated by a coefficient
of
a.Measurement
b.Correlation*
c.Testing
d.Error
12. Avoid irrelevant clues, such as grammatical
structure well-known verbal associations or
connections between stem and answer.
Poor: (Connection between stem and
answer) The height to which a water dam
is built depends on
a.The length of the reserve behind the dam.
b.The volume of water behind the dam.
c.The height of water the dam.*
d.The strength of the reinforcing wall.
13. Use at least four
alternatives for each
item to lower the
probability of getting
the item correct by
guessing.
14. Randomly distribute the
correct responses among the
alternative positions
throughout the test having
approximately the same
proportion of the alternatives
a, b, c, d, and e as the
correct response.
15. Use the alternative
NONE OF THE ABOVE and
ALL OF THE ABOVE
sparingly. When used,
such alternatives should
occasionally be used as
the correct response.
Knowledge
Items
Knowledge Items

These items measures the degree to which

previously learned material has been
remembered. These items focus on simple
recall of information and can be
concerned with measurement of terms,
facts, or other specific aspects of
knowledge.
EXAMPLES:
Outcome: Identifies the meaning
of a term.
Placement test is the same as;
a.Diagnostic Test*
b.Formative Test
c.Summative Test
Outcome: Identifies the order of
events.
What is the first step in constructing an
achievement test?
a. Decide on the test length.
b. Prepare the table of specifications.
c. Identify the intended learning
outcomes.
Comprehension
Items
Comprehension Items
These items typically measure the lowest
level of understanding. They determine
whether the students grasped the meaning
of the material without requiring them to
apply it. Comprehension can be measured
by requiring students to respond to various
ways but it is important that the items
contain some novelty (Gronlund, 1998).
Examples:
Outcome: Identifies an example of
a term.
Which one of the following statements
contains a specific ?
a.Australia is a continent.
b.China’s population is increasing.
c. America has some big industries.
d.Philippines is re-discovered by Magellan.
Outcome: Identifies an example of
a concept or principle.
Which of the following is an example of a
criterion-referenced interpretation?
a.Anna earned the highest score in English.
b.Carolyn set up her laboratory equipment in
five minutes.
c.Edna’s test score was higher than 50 percent
of the class.
d.Erik completed his experiment faster that his
classmates.
Application
Items
Application Items

These items also measure understanding

but at a higher level than comprehension
items. The students demonstrate whether
they grasp the meaning of the material
and can apply them to concrete
situations that are new to them.
These items determine the extent to which
students can transfer learning and in
solving new problems.
Examples:
Outcome: Improves defective test
items.
 Directions: read the following test item and then indicate
the best change to make improve the item.

Which one of the following types of learning outcomes is

most difficult to evaluate objectively?
a. A concept
b. An application
c. An appreciation
d. None of the above
Outcome: Improves defective test
items.
 The best change to make
Which one of the would be to:
following types of 1. Remove the indefinite
learning outcomes is articles “a” and “an”
most difficult to interpretation.
evaluate objectively? 2. Replace “none of the
above” with “an”
a.A concept interpretation.”*
b.An application 3. Use letters instead of
numbers for each
c.An appreciation alternative.
d.None of the above 4. Change the stem to
incomplete-statement form.