PURPOSE OF TEST

 Determine the student’s strengths and weaknesses.

 Monitor each student’s progress.
 Assign grades.
 To provide a way to measure a Teacher Effectiveness.

OBJECTIVE TESTS
 Objective test include true or false, fill-in-the blank, matching type, enumeration,
completion and multiple choice.
 The word objective refers to the scoring and indicates there is only one correct answer.
CONSTRUCTION OF TEST
TRUE or FALSE
 The true or false require students to identify statements which are correct or incorrect.
Only two responses are possible in this item format.
 A true or false question is essentially a statement, called a proposition. The learner judges
whether the proposition is true or false.
 True or false questions can cover a larger amount of subject matter than any other test
item.
ADVANTAGES - True/false items are relatively easy to prepare since each item comes rather
directly from the content. They offer the instructor the opportunity to write questions that cover
more content than most other item types since students can respond to many questions in the time
allowed. They are easy to score accurately and quickly.
DISADVANTAGES - True/false items, however, may not give a true estimate of the students’
knowledge since students have a 50/50 chance of guessing the correct answer. They are very poor
for diagnosing students’ strengths and weaknesses and are generally considered to be “tricky” by
students. Since true/false questions tend to be either extremely easy or extremely difficult, they do
not discriminate between students of varying ability as well as other types of questions.
TRUE AND FALSE QUESTIONS
 Bloom’s Taxonomy Levels:
– Remembering (LEVEL 1)
– Understanding (LEVEL 2)

RULES IN WRITING TRUE/FALSE ITEMS

1. Each statement should include only one idea.
2. Each statement should be short and simple.
3. Qualifiers such as “few”, “many”, “seldom”, “always”, “never”, “small”, “large”, and so on
should be avoided.
5. Double negatives should be avoided.
4. Negative statements should be used sparingly.
6. Statements of opinions or facts should be attributed to some important person or organization.
7. The number of true and false statements should be equal whenever possible.

TRUE/FALSE ITEM VARIATIONS

1. TRUE/FALSE ITEMS REQUIRING CORRECTIONS

a. This variation requires the examinee to either correct a false item or to identify the false
portion of an item.
b. This is actually a blend of true/false and short answer.
2. EMBEDDED ITEMS
a. In a paragraph are included underlined words or word groupings. Examinees are asked
to determine whether or not the underlined content possesses a specified quality, e.g.,
being true, correct, etc.
b. Embedded items are useful for assessing declarative or procedural knowledge.

3. MULTIPLE TRUE-FALSE ITEMS

a. This variation is a blend of the true/false and multiple choice item. Multiple statements,
whose truth or falsity is being tested share a common stem. Each statement is numbered as
a unique test item.
b. True/false item writing rules apply, but note that statements sharing a common stem are
usually narrower in focus than conventional true/false items.

4. FOCUSED ALTERNATIVE-CHOICE ITEMS

a. While conceptually similar to true/false items, examinees are required to select between
two words or values which correctly complete a statement. The words or values must
have opposite or reciprocal meanings.

b. When compared to conventional true/false items, focused alternative-choice items

typically produce more reliable test scores.

5. STANDARD FORMAT
a. Traditionally, a true/false item has been written as a simple declarative sentence which
was either correct or incorrect.
 MATCHING TYPE
 The matching type is a selection-type of item consisting of a series of stimuli (or stems)
called premises, and a series of options called responses.
 The matching type items may be considered modified multiple choice type items where
the choices progressively reduce as one successfully matches the items on the left with
the items on the right.

IMPERFECT MATCHING TYPE OF TEST

 The answer may be repeated.

• Bloom’s Taxonomy Levels

– Remembering (Level 1)
– Understanding (Level 2)

ADVANTAGES - Matching items are generally quite brief and are especially suitable for who,
what, when, and where questions. They can, however, be used to have students discriminate
among, and to apply concepts. They permit efficient use of space when there is a number of
similar types of information to be tested. They are easy to score accurately and quickly.

DISADVANTAGES - Among the drawbacks of matching items are that they are difficult to use
to measure learning beyond recognition of basic factual knowledge, and they are usually poor
for diagnosing student strengths and weaknesses. Matching items are appropriate in only a limited
number of situations, and they are difficult to construct, since parallel information is required.

GUIDELINES IN WRITING MATCHING TYPE

1. Use only homogeneous material in a single matching exercise.
2. Include an unequal amount of responses and premises, and instruct the student that
responses may be used once, more than once, or not at all.
3. Keep the list of items to be matched brief.
4. Arrange the list of responses in logical order.
5. Indicate in the directions the basis for matching the responses and premises.
6. Place all of the items for one matching exercise on the same page.