Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Achievement Test
Achievement Test
Achievement Test
SESSION 2020-2021
Assignment on
Achievement test
ACHIEVEMENT TEST
INTRODUCTION
As a teacher one is involved directly in the evaluation of the learner. Teachers teach
and help the learners to learn. The learning that takes place is assessed or evaluated not
only for the learner's benefit but also for the teacher to evaluate his own work.
At the end of a lesson or a group of lessons, the teacher needs to get feedback on
what the learner has achieved, as a result of the teacher's efforts and also, indirectly to
assess his own achievement as a teacher. This feedback comes with the help of a tool,
generally an achievement test.
Achievement test is an important tool in school and college evaluation and has a
great significance in measuring instructional progress and progress of the students in the
subject area.
DEFINITION
Achievement Test is a test that measures the extent to which a person has
"achieved" something, acquired certain information, or mastered certain skills - usually as
a result of planned instruction or training.
Achievement Test is a standardized test designed to efficiently measure the amount
of knowledge and/or skill a person has acquired, usually as a result of classroom
instruction. Such testing produces a statistical profile used as a measurement to evaluate
student learning in comparison with a standard or norm.
According to Throndike and Hagen – “The type of ability test that describes what a
person has learned to do.”
1. To measure whether students possess the pre-requisite skills needed to succeed in any
unit or whether the students have achieved the objective of the planned instruction.
2. To monitor students learning and to provide ongoing feedback to both students and
teachers during the teaching-leaning process.
3. To identify the students learning difficulties- whether persistent or recurring.
4. To assigns grades.
1) The principles available tests will have to be kept in view so that a test can be
planned.
2) The purpose and objectives of test must be defined.
3) It should be decided when the test has to be conducted in the context of time and
frequency.
4) It should be determined how many questions have to be included in the test.
5) It should be determined what types of questions have to be used in the test.
6) Be sure that all important content areas are covered.
7) Those topics should be determined from which questions have to be constructed. This
decision is taken keeping in view the teaching objectives.
8) The level of difficulty of questions should be decided at the beginning of the test.
9) It should be determined if any correction has to be carried out for guessing.
10)Use simple and clear language
11)The format and type of printing should be decided in advance.
12)It should be determined what should be the passing score.
13)In order to control the personal bias of the examiner there should be a provision for
central evaluation. A particular question should be checked by the same examiner.
14)Provide clear, concise and complete directions to the pupils.
15)Allot time appropriately.
16)Maintain confidentiality in test construction.
17)A rule book should be prepared before the evaluation of the scripts.
STEPS OF ACHIEVEMENT TEST CONSTRUCTION
To construct an achievement test the steps referred below if followed will make the test
objective, reliable and valid -
Selected
Reason for
Teaching Objectives Teaching
Selections
Objectives
1) All objectives of the cognitive domain 1) Knowledge
(knowledge, comprehension, application,
analysis, synthesis, evaluation)
2) All objectives of the affective domain 2) Comprehension
(receiving, responding, valuing,
conceptualization) 3) Application
3) All skills of psychomotor domain (drawing skill, (Drawing)
computational skill, constructional skill,
observational skill, problem-solving skill)
SECOND STEP: DESIGN
Division of Sections
If the scope or types of questions is uniform, them it is not necessary to divide the test into
sections. However, if it is diverse and different types of questions have been specified and
the nature of the test seems to be heterogeneous, then a separate section should be made
comprising each type of item.
Teaching comprehensio
S.N. Knowledge Application Skill Total
Objective n
Types of
Question
(L) (S) (O) (L) (S) (O) (L) (S) (O) (L) (S) (O)
Topic
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
L- Long Answers Type S- Short Answers Type O-Objective Answers Type
1. Either writing all questions (one by one) belonging to one objective at a time i.e.
Knowledge or understanding or application Followed by other objectives, or
2. By taking up questions according-to their form or type i.e. Essay Type followed by
Short Answer and objective Type or in any other order, or
3. By writing questions for one unit of the syllabus or portion to be covered by the test at
a time.
In the context of difficulty level, the following difficulty levels are suggested for the
selection of questions as per Katz (1959) also recommendation-
The test constructed in accordance to the above referred procedure will definitely
assumes a purpose or an idea of what is good or desirable from the stand point of
individual or society or both.
TYPES OF QUESTIONS
There are mainly three kinds of questions –
1) Essay type,
2) Short answer type: - They can be grouped into two broad categories:
a) Extended Answer Type
b) Insert and Completion Type
3) Objective type,
a) Simple Recall
b) Multiple Choices
c) True-False
d) Matching Block
ADMINISTRATION OF AN ACHIEVEMENT TEST
Having prepared a good test, we should plan to administer it in such a way that, each of
our Students will do best.
It plays a vital role in enhancing the reliability of test scorers. Test should be administer in
a congenial environment strictly as per instructions planned assure uniformity of
conclusions to all the people tested.
1) Time Schedule
Be sure we plan our time schedule carefully, ensuring teacher and pupil readiness. Much
preparation may be done a day before. It will be wise to schedule enough time for briefing
the invigilators.
If there is a deadline for finishing and leaving the room, be especially sure to plan for
adequate time at the end for the things which must be done. Even with a small class these
take five to ten minutes, and with a large group they may take at least fifteen minutes. A
hasty wind-up may result in non-fulfillment of the objectives of the test, or other disasters.
2) The Room
It is important for any examination to provide a quiet, comfortable atmosphere, in which
the students are encouraged to do their best. As much as possible, try to test in a quiet
place with a minimum of distracting noises. Avoid rooms near cafeterias, important
hallways, playing fields or other noisy places. Request nearby loudspeaker owners to shut
them off for the duration of the examination hours. Hang signs on the door, saying
"EXAMINATION IN PROGRESS: DO NOT DISTURB". Objective examinations
generally require more intense concentration than essay type exams. The latter demand an
excess of physical endurance (trying to write fast enough to keep up with one's thoughts).
Objective tests require constant, careful and critical thinking and reasoning, with a
minimum of physical work.
3) Desk
The students will be writing on a single - thickness answer sheet so the writing surfaces
are at least 30 x 38 cm, and as smooth as possible. If there are cracks or scratches a
student's pencil may push through the answer sheet, spoiling it and making it hard to mark.
Also be sure the room is clear of any charts, posters, etc. that might help some candidates.
4) Equipment
The necessary equipment taken by the examiner in the examination hall are – chalk,
Board, poster, notice board pencil etc. The examiner should have a check-list of required
equipment, to ensure what you will have to take with in the examination hall.
5) Invigilators
For examination, we will probably need the help of one or more invigilators. The
invigilator should have willing to give their full attention to the task. Invigilators should
not talk, react, correct papers or does any other work during the examination time. They
should observe closely, circulating constantly, checking that the students are answering in
the right place, not copying etc. However, they should not hover too long over any student,
as this makes the examinee nervous.
1) Order of Scoring
For objective tests separate answer sheets are provided, the scorer may score a given
page in all booklets first, then the next page, and so on, rather than scoring all of one
booklet before going on to the next.
For essay tests may be desirable to have one person score all answers to the first
question, then to the second, and so on.
If so many booklets must be scored that several scorers are needed, each person may
specialize on a given page or group of pages of the booklet but should score only one
page in all booklets at a time.
2) Scoring errors
"Constant” errors can be due to failure to understand scoring directions, with resultant
scores which are consistently too low or too high.
"Variable" errors can be due to carelessness in marking, adding, computing, or
transcribing scores.
These errors warrant
o The careful training and instruction of scorers and
o The rescoring of at least a sample of any group of test booklets or answer sheets.
3) Rescoring
With a large number of booklets to be scored and sufficient help available, it is always
worthwhile to rescore them so as to eliminate errors that otherwise are almost
inevitable in a clerical task like this.
If complete rescoring is not feasible every fifth or tenth booklet should be rescored to
get a rough idea of the frequency and magnitude of scoring errors.
Rescoring a sample sometimes uncovers such an inaccuracy as to make it desirable to
rescore the remainder.
4) Keeping Records
As soon as possible after the tests have been administered, the answer sheet should be
checked and scored, and the scores should be recorded on the permanent records of the
school. Each teacher should be given copies of the score reports for the pupils in class.
Usually schools have some type of permanent record for each pupil which provides
space for recording standardized test results.
The records must be indicated: test title, form of the test, date when the test was given,
the raw score or standard score, and percentile rank under properly identified captions.
When percentile ranks are reported, the group on which the norms were based should
be identified - for example, national, state, district, local, or other group -and die nature
of the group should be specified.
GRADES
Grading is the system of classifying students into a few ability groups or categories
according to their level of achievement in an examination. The achievement is defined in
the form of numerical or letter grades, each of which denotes a certain level of
performance, generally not in absolute terms but in relation to the performance of the
whole group.
There are two approaches to formation of groups that define the grades -
For example, the top 5% students may be given grade A; the next 10% grade B and so on.
Here the actual cut-off score for grade A in one subject may be quite different from that of
another subject. In this case the grade that a student gets depends on his /her relative
performance, that is, on what his/her marks are in relation to the marks of others.
Advantages
In general when we talk of grading it is only the type of grading based on relative marks
that we have in mind. These grades arc expressed in the form of letters A, B, C etc. The
following are the main advantages of such grading:
1) With the same uniform pattern being adopted for all subjects, grading would provide
Achievement Tests better comparability of the results of different years in the same
subject.
2) Grading is essentially based on rank ordering of students. Studies have shown that
agreement among examiners on ranks to be awarded to examinees is much more in this
than on absolute marks. Hence grades based on rank order in general, are more
reliable.
3) There is greater comparability among subjects when grades are used. When there is a
choice of subjects, students need not avoid the subjects which are considered low
scoring. Even with a so called low scoring subject, the proportion of students getting a
grade would be nearly the same as in a so called high scoring subject
4) Grades in different subjects in an examination provide a meaningful profile of the
achievement of a student. Unlike marks, one can easily find out in which subjects the
performance is outstanding, good, fair or poor. With marks, one can arrive at such
inference only on knowing what the range, average and dispersion are of the marks in
the different subjects.
SUMMARY
Achievement test is the test which measures the amount of learning of student after
completing a particular learning program. It helps to evaluate how effectively the student
is performing in the theory as well as the clinical areas and according to his performance a
particular score or grading is assigned to the student. There are various steps which are
included in construction of achievement test such as -: Instructional Objective, design,
Preparation of Blueprint, Writing of the Questions, Marking Scheme, questioning, analysis
and preparation of final list. It is very important that the achievement test should be valid,
reliable, and practical and should be suitably planned by keeping all the objectives and
purposes in mind.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
1) Neerja, K.P., Text Book of Nursing Education, First Edition (Reprint – 2008), Jaypee
Brothers, New Delhi, Page No. 415-419.
2) Basavanthappa, B.T. “Nursing education” Jaypee Brother, New Delhi, First Edition
(reprint 2004), 494-496.
3) Marilyn H. Oermann and Kathleen B. Gaberson, “Evaluation and Testing in Nursing
Education”, Springer Publishing Company, New York 3rd Edition page no. – 32-37
4) Kapoor, Bimla&Handa, Uma; Nursing Education And Research; Block-2 Curriculum
Development And Implementation; First Edition (Reprint 2001) Ignou New Delhi,
Page No.123-124
5) Kapoor, Bimla&Handa, Uma; Nursing Education And Research; Practical Manual-1
Nursing Education And Research; First Edition (Reprint 2001) Ignou New Delhi, Page
No. 102-115
6) Hawaii Department of Education. Assessment Terminology, from
http://www.k12.hi.us/~atr/evaluation/glossary.htm
7) University of Wisconsin–Stout. Glossary. , from
http://faculty.uwstout.edu/lawlerm/at101/glossary.shtml
8) Achievement test; From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Achievement_test
9) What is an Achievement Test? ; From Wise GEEK http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-
an-achievement-test.htm