Lecture of the day
Date 04-10-2014
Class ADE 4th semester
GECE Lyari Karachi
Course Facilitator
Zulfiqar Behan
TEST AND TYPES OF TEST
What is a test?
Test is a systematic procedure
for observing persons and describing them with either a numerical scale or a
category system. Thus test may give either qualitative or Quantitative information.
(anthony j. Nitko)
Test commonly refers to a set of items or questions under
specific conditions.
Test or examination (informally, exam) is an
assessment intended to measure a test-taker's knowledge, skill, aptitude,
physical fitness, or classification in many other topics (e.g., beliefs).
A test may be administered orally, on paper, on a computer,
or in a confined area that requires a test taker to physically perform a set of
skills.
Tests vary in style, rigor and requirements. For example, in
a closed book test, a test taker is often required to rely upon memory to
respond to specific items whereas in an open book test, a test taker may use
one or more supplementary tools such as a reference book or calculator when
responding to an item.
A test may be administered formally or informally. An
example of an informal test would be a reading test administered by a parent to
a child. An example of a formal test would be a final examination administered
by a teacher in a classroom or an I.Q. test administered by a psychologist in a
clinic. Formal testing often results in a grade or a test score. [1] A test
score may be interpreted with regards to a norm or criterion, or occasionally
both. The norm may be established independently, or by statistical analysis of
a large number of participants.
Types of Tests
Whether you like them or not, tests are a way of checking your
knowledge or comprehension. They are the main instrument used to evaluate your
learning by most educational institutions. According to research studies, tests
have another benefit: they make you learn and remember more than you might have
otherwise. Although it may seem that all tests are the same, many different
types of tests exist and each has a different purpose and style.
Diagnostic Tests
These tests are used o diagnose how much you know and what you
know. They can help a teacher know what needs to be reviewed or reinforced in
class. They also enable the student to identify areas of weakness.
Placement Tests
These tests are used to place students in the appropriate class
or level. For example, in language schools, placement tests are used to check a
student’s language level through grammar, vocabulary, reading comprehension,
writing, and speaking questions. After establishing the student’s level, the
student is placed in the appropriate class to suit his/her needs.
Progress or Achievement Tests
Achievement or progress tests measure the students’ improvement
in relation to their syllabus. These tests only contain items which the
students have been taught in class. There are two types of progress tests:
short-term and long-term.
Short-term progress tests check how well students have
understood or learned material covered in specific units or chapters. They
enable the teacher to decide if remedial or consolidation work is required.
Long-term progress tests are also called Course Tests because
they check the learners’ progress over the entire course. They enable the
students to judge how well they have progressed. Administratively, they are
often the sole basis of decisions to promote to a higher level.
Progress tests can also be structured as quizzes, rather than as
tests. They can be answered by teams of students, rather than individuals. They
can be formulated as presentations, posters, assignments, or research projects.
Structuring progress tests in this way takes into account the multiple
intelligences and differing learning styles of the students. Yet many students
still expect a “regular test” as a part of “normal learning”.
Proficiency Tests
These tests check learner levels in relation to general
standards. They provide a broad picture of knowledge and ability. In English
language learning, examples are the TOEFLand IELTS
exams, which are mandatory for foreign-language speakers seeking
admission to English-speaking universities. In addition, the TOEIC (Test of English for International
Communication) checks students’ knowledge of Business English, as a
prerequisite for employment.
Internal Tests
Internal tests are those given by the institution where the
learner is taking the course. They are often given at the end of a course in
the form of a final exam.
External Tests
External tests are those given by an outside body. Examples are
the TOEFL, TOEIC, IELTS, SAT, ACT, LSAT, GRE and GMAT.
The exams themselves are the basis for admission to university, job
recruitment, or promotion.
Objective Tests
Objective tests are those that have clear right or wrong
answers. Multiple-choice tests fall into this group. Students have to select a
pre-determined correct answer from three or four possibilities.
Subjective Tests
Subjective tests require the marker or examiner to make a
subjective judgment regarding the marks deserved. Examples are essay questions
and oral interviews. For such tests, it is especially important that both
examiner and student are aware of the grading criteria in order to increase
their validity.
Combination Tests
Many tests are a combination of objective and subjective styles.
For example, on the TOEFL iBT, the Test of English as a Foreign Language, the
reading and listening sections are objective, and the writing and speaking
sections are subjective.
We will focus only on
Essay type and objective type test
ESSAY TYPE TEST
•it is an
item format that requires the student to structure a
rather long written response up to several paragraphs.
(WILLIAM AND STEPHAN)
Characteristics of Essay test
Generally essay tests contain more than one question in the test essay tests are to be answered in
writing only • essay test tests
require completely long answers •essay tests are attempted on the basis of
recalling the memory
Types of essay test
Selective recall (basis given)
• Evaluation recall
(basis given)
• Comparison of two
things on a single designated basis
• Comparison of two
things in general
• Decisions (for and
against)
• Explanation of the
use exact meaning of some word, phrase or statement
• Summary of some
unit of the text or of some article
• Analysis
• Illustrations or
examples
• Application of
rules, laws, or principles to new situations
• Discussions
• Criticism
• Inferential
thinking
(w.s. monroe and r. E. Carter) Norman e. Gronlund
• restricted
response questions
• extended response
questions
Advantages
• can measure
complex learning
Outcomes
• emphasize
integration and
Application of thinking and
Problem solving
• can be easily constructed
• Examinee free to
respond
• No guessing as in
objective item
• require less time
for typing,
Duplicating or printing, can be written on board
• can be used as
device for
Measuring and improving language and expression
Skills
Limitations
Lack of consistency in judgments even among competent examiners
• They have holo
effect
• Question to
question carries effect
• Examinee to examine
carries effect
• Language mechanic
effect
• Limited content
validity
• Some examiners are
too strict
And some are too lenient
• Difficult to score
objectively
• Time consuming
• Lengthy
enumeration of memorized facts
Suggestions for
Construction of easy
Tests
• ask questions that require the examinee to show command of
essential knowledge
• make questions as explicit as possible
• should be no choice in questioning question paper
• Test constructor should prepare ideal answers to all questions
• intimate the examinee about desired length of the answers
• make each question
relatively short but increase number of questions
• Test constructor
should get his test reviewed y one or more colleagues
• Questions should
be so worded that all examinees interpret them in the same way as the examiner
wants
Suggestions for scoring essay tests
• prepare scoring
guide in the form of outline
• Particular
question should be scored at one time of all the examinees
• To avoid holo
effect, identity of the examinee should not be communicated to the examiner
• If possible
appoint more than one examiners. The examiners should not know who is the other
examiner
• the correctness of
the subject
Matter should not be mixed with the good handwriting,
Better language, if they are to
Be given any weight, it should be clearly indicated
Short answer type
Tests
• Short answer items
requires
The examinee to respond to the item with a word, short phrase,
Number or a symbol.
(anthony j. Nitko)
Characteristics
• The test has
supply response
Rather than select or identify
• In the form of
question or
Incomplete statement
• The test can be
answered by a word, a phrase, a number or
Symbol
Forms of short answer
Items
• Question form
• Identification or
association Form
• Completion form
Advantages
• Very easy to
construct
• Low probability of
guessing the answer because it has to be supplied by the examinees rather than
select identify from the given answers
• They are good to
test the lowest level of cognitive taxonomy (knowledge, terminology, facts)
Limitations
• They are
unsuitable for
Measuring complex learning outcomes
Suggestions for
Construction of short
Answer tests
• As for as possible
question form should be used
• The question
should not be
Picked up exactly from the book
• The question
should not
Provide any clue
• The scoring key
should be
Prepared
• The blank space is
to be completed by an important Word rather than trevial words
Objective type tests any test having clear and Unambiguous scoring
criteria (gilbert sax) • test that can
be objectively Scored
(william & stephan)
Characteristics
• They can be
reliably scored
• They allow for
adequate
Content sampling
Forms of objective type
Tests
A) Two choice items
1. True/false items
2. Completion type (if
two Choices are given against each blank)
B) More than two choice
items
1. Matching items
2. Mcqs
True/false tests (shooting
questions)
A true false item consists of a Statement or proposition which the
examinee must judge And mark as either true or False
Advantages
• It takes less time
to construct True false items
• High degree of
objectivity
• Teacher can
examine students on more material
Limitations
• High degree of guessing
• Largely limited to
learning outcomes in the knowledge area
• They expose
students to error which is psychologically undesirable
• They may encourage
students to study and accept only oversimplified statements of truth ans
factual learning
Suggestions
• Balance between
true and false items
• Each statement
should be unequivocally true or false. It should not be partly true or partly
false
• Double negatives
should be avoided
• Long and complex
statements should not be used as they measure reading comprehension
• Only one idea
should be measured in one statement
• explain which judgment
is to be used true/false, yes/no, correct/incorrect
• Clues should be
avoided
• Statements should
not be taken directly from the textbook
Matching type tests
A test consisting of a two Column format, premises and responses
that requires the Student to take a Correspondence between the two
Advantages
• Smile to construct
and score
• Well suited to
measure association
• reduce the effect
of guessing
• They can be used
to evaluate
Examinee understands of Concepts, principle, schemes for classifying
objects, ideas or events
Limitations
• They generally
provide clues
• They are
restricted to factual information which encourages memorization
• if the same number
of items are written in both the columns, the matching type is converted to
mcqs at late stage and in the end it is converted to true and false category
Suggestions
• Homogeneous items should
be selected
• No clue should be
provided in both the columns
• Clear instruction
to attempt
• All the items
should be printed on the same page
• Premise should be
written in the left hand columned be numbered, responses should be written in
the right hand column and be lettered
• Responses should
be more than the premises to ensure that examinee has to think even Up to last
premise
• Clear directions
• Incomplete
sentences should not be used for premise
Multiple choice items
Multiple choice items consist of two parts: a stem and number of
options or alternatives. The stem is a question or statement that is answered
or completed by one of the alternatives. All incorrect or less appropriate
alternatives are called distracters or foils and the Student’s task is to
select the Correct or best alternative from all the options.
Forms of mcqs
1. The correct answer
form
2. The best answer
form
3. The incomplete
statement Form
4. The negative form
5. The combined
response form
6. Substitution form
Advantages
• They can measure
complex level knowledge i.e. Understanding, judgment, and ability to solve
problems
• A substantial
amount of course content can be tested because the examinees do not require
much time for writing the answer
• Objectivity in
scoring even a layman can score
• They can check
discrimination ability of students
• reduce the effect
of guessing
• can be easily
adapted for machine scoring
• This format is
helpful in item
Analysis
Limitations
• They require
examinee to select the answer from a fixed list and not permit to create or
express and organize their own ideas
• Examinees who do
not the correct answer can succeed in guessing
• Sometimes
difficult to find four or five choices in construction
• Time consuming at teacher
end
Suggestions
• Stem should
introduce what is expected of the examinee
• Specific determiners
should be avoided
• Vocabulary
according to the level of students
• All the choices
should be plausible
• Test items should
have defensible correct or best answer
• The correct choice
should not be at the same place in all or most of the items
• The choice like
“none of the
Above” “all the above” should be avoided
• Each item should pose only one Problem
• Teacher should
construct Mcqs on daily basis
