TYPES OF TESTS

TYPES OF TESTS
Classroom tests play a central role in the assessment of student learning. Tests provide
relevant measures of many important learning outcomes and indirect evidence concerning
others. They make expected learning outcomes explicit to students and parents and show
what types of performance are valued. The validity of the information they provide,
however, depends on the care that goes into the planning and preparation of tests. The
main goal of classroom testing is to obtain valid, reliable and useful information
concerning assessment. This requires determining what is to be measured and then
defining it precisely so that tasks that evoke the desired performance can be constructed.
In a standard based approach to education and training, informed by Constructivist
theory, assessment informed instruction is the expectation as is continuous improvement.
One of the most widely used tools in assessment and evaluation is the traditional or
classic classroom achievement test, whether the classroom is on- or offline. These
measures are often fraught with reliability and validity problems as the process for
constructing such tests is often not followed or misunderstood, thereby introducing
significant measurement error into the measurement process. Poor measurement
frequently leads to inaccurate data-based inferences, which in turn leads to bad decisionmaking. Moreover classroom tests and assessment can be used for a variety of
instructional purposes such examining the quality of teaching learning process, students
achievement individually and success of institution overall. So in this unit we will
examine the test item type and item format, writing select response items (multiplechoice, true/false, matching, completion and short-answer) and supply response items
(brief and extended response). Each type of test item has its own unique characteristics,
uses, advantages, limitations and rules for construction, which will be elaborated in this
unit.
OBJECTIVES
After reading this unit, you will be able to:
• define the nature of selection and supply type time items.
• examine the role, advantages and disadvantages of different types of objective and
subjective type tests for measuring the students’ achievement.
• describe the learning outcomes that are best measured with selection and supply test
items.
• differentiate the characteristics of all types of selection and supply categories of items
concentrating to measure the higher level of thinking of students.

Content to be covered are

  1. Selection type (objective type)
  2. Multiple choice questions
  3. True false questions
  4. Matching items
  5. Supply type (subjective type)
  6. Short answers

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ch4.pdf (0.19 MB )