Assessment Questions by Kalai Selvi Arivalagan (free e reader .TXT) 📕

developing nation is likely to produce a

 

decrease in the workforce participation rate of women

dispersing effect on population concentration

downward trend in the youth dependency ratio

broader base in the population pyramid

e.an e. increased infant mortality rate

(iv) Use negatives sparingly in the stem. If negatives must be used, capitalize, underscore, embolden or otherwise highlight them. Negatives include ‘except’, ‘only’

A. original stem

Which one of the following is not a symptom of osteoporosis?

 

decreased bone density

frequent bone fractures

raised body temperature

lower back pain

B. improved stem

Which one of the following is a symptom of osteoporosis?

 

decreased bone density

raised body temperature

hair loss

painful joints

 

Negatives in the stem usually require that the answer be a false statement. Because students are likely in the habit of searching for true statements, this may introduce an unwanted bias.

(v) Put as much of the question in the stem as possible, rather than duplicating material in each of the options.

A. original stem

 

Theorists of pluralism have asserted which of the following?

 

The maintenance of democracy requires a large middle class.

The maintenance of democracy requires autonomous centres of contervailing power.

The maintenance of democracy requires the existence of a multiplicity of religious groups.

The maintenance of democracy requires a predominantly urban population.

The maintenance of democracy requires the separation of governmental powers.

B. improved stem

 

Theorists of pluralism have asserted that the maintenance of democracy requires

 

a large middle class

autonomous centres of contervailing power

existence of a multiplicity of religious groups

a predominantly urban population

separation of governmental powers

 

Another example: If the point of an item is to associate a term with its definition, the preferred format would be to present the definition in the stem and several terms as options, rather than to present the term in the stem and several definitions as options.

 

(vi) Avoid irrelevant clues to the correct option in the stem.

Grammatical construction, for example, may lead students to reject options which are grammatically incorrect as the stem is stated. Perhaps more common and subtle, though, is the problem of common elements in the stem and in the answer.

Consider the following item:

What led to the formation of the States’ Rights Party?

a. The level of federal taxation

b. The demand of states for the right to make their own laws

c. The industrialization of the South

d. The corruption of federal legislators on the issue of state taxation

 

One does not need to know U.S. history in order to be attracted to the answer, b.

 

 Procedural Rules:

 

Use either the best answer or the correct answer format.

Avoid complex multiple-choice & Type K format.

Format the item vertically, not horizontally.

Allow time for editing and other types of item revisions.

Use good grammar, punctuation, and spelling consistently.

Minimize examinee reading time in phrasing each item.

Avoid trick items, those which mislead or deceive examinees into answering incorrectly.

 

Content-related Rules:

 

Base each item on an educational or instructional objective.

Focus on a single problem.

Keep the vocabulary consistent with the examinees' level of understanding.

Avoid cuing one item with another; keep items independent of one another.

Use the author's examples as a basis for developing your items.

Avoid over specific knowledge when developing the item.

Avoid textbook, verbatim phrasing when developing the item.

Avoid items based on opinions.

Use multiple-choice to measure higher level thinking.

Test for important or significant materials; avoid trivial material.

 

Stem Construction Rules:

 

State the stem in either question form or completion form.

When using the completion form, don't leave a blank for completion in the beginning or

middle of the stem.

Ensure that the directions in the stem are clear, and that wording lets the examinee know

exactly what is being asked.

Avoid window dressing (excessive verbiage) in the stem.

Word the stem positively; avoid negative phrasing.

Include the central idea and most of the phrasing in the stem.

 

General Option Development Rules:

 

Use as many options as are feasible; more options are desirable.

Place options in logical or numerical order.

Keep options independent; options should not be overlapping.

Keep all options in an item homogeneous in content.

Keep the length of options fairly consistent.

Avoid, or use sparingly, the phrase all of the above.

Avoid, or use sparingly, the phrase none of the above.

Avoid the use of the phrase I don't know.

Phrase options positively, not negatively.

Avoid distracters that can clue test-wise examinees; for example, avoid clang

associations, absurd options, formal prompts, or semantic (overly specific or overly

general) clues.

Avoid giving clues through the use of faulty grammatical construction.

Avoid specific determiners, such as never and always

 

Key Option Development Rules:

 

Position the correct option so that it appears about the same number of times in each

possible position for a set of items.

Make sure there is one and only one correct option.

 

Distracter Development Rules:

Use plausible distracters; avoid illogical distracters.

Incorporate common errors of students in distracters.

Avoid technically phrased distracters.

Use familiar yet incorrect phrases as distracters.

Use true statements that do not correctly answer the item.

Avoid the use of humor when developing options.

 

Express Items as Precisely, Clearly and Simply as Possible

 

Unnecessary material reduces the effectiveness of an item by forcing examinees to respond to the irrelevant material and perhaps be distracted by it.

 

Emphasize General Tasks Rather than Small Details

 

Avoid Jargon and Textbook Language

 

Locate and Delete Irrelevant Clues

 

Occasionally, verbal associations and grammatical clues render an item ineffective.

 

Eliminate Irrelevant Sources of Difficulty

 

Strengths and limitations of MCQs (Zimmaro, 2004:11)

 

Strengths:

1. Achievement of learning outcomes from simple to complex can be assessed.

2. Highly structured and clear tasks are provided.

3. A broad sample of achievement can be assessed.

4. Incorrect alternatives provide diagnostic information.

5. Scores are less influenced by guessing than true-false items.

6. Scores are more reliable than subjectively scored items (e.g. essays).

7. Scoring is easy, objective, and reliable.

8. Item analysis can reveal how difficult each item was and how well it discriminated between the strong and weaker students in the class

9. Achievement can be compared from class to class and year to year

10. Can cover a lot of material very efficiently (about one item per minute of testing time for straightforward questions).

11. Items can be written so that students must discriminate among options that vary in degree of correctness.

12. Avoids the absolute judgments found in True-False tests.

 

Limitations:

1. Constructing good items is time consuming.

2. It is frequently difficult to find plausible distracters.

3. Can be ineffective for assessing some types of problem solving and the ability to organize and express ideas.

4. Real-world problem solving differs – a different process is involved in proposing a solution versus selecting a solution from a set of alternatives.

5. Scores can be influenced by reading ability.

6. There is a lack of feedback on individual thought processes – it is difficult to determine why individual students selected incorrect responses.

7. Students can sometimes read more into the question than was intended.

8. Often focus on testing factual information and fails to test higher levels of cognitive thinking.

9. Sometimes there is more than one defensible “correct” answer.

10. They place a high degree of dependence the instructor’s writing ability.

11. Does not provide an assessment of writing ability.

12. May encourage guessing.

 

Imprint

Publication Date: 12-07-2014

All Rights Reserved

Dedication:
For assessment writers who struggle to do their best.