True/False Questions

also "yes/no" or "agree/disagree" measures facts --> cannot be used where there is an interpretation good for vocabulary (definitions), formula, dates, names, etc.

Advantages and Disadvantages Advantages of True-False Questions (apparent) ease of construction can test a lot of different subject areas generally easy to read, so good for younger kids or poor readers one way of modifying evaluation for weaker students....

easy to score --> both fast and objective (but set it up so they are circling true or false, not writing T or F because some students Ts can look like another student's Fs)

can cover a lot of ground in given time because fast to answer (Sax) good for testing popular misconceptions (Sax?) Disadvantages of True-False Questions

Really NOT that easy to construct o often take statements out of text -- but should be avoided DO NOT LIFT STATEMENTS DIRECTLY FROM TEXT for three reasons: 2. Encourages memorization rather than understanding. (Paraphrasing tests understanding).

"TEST ROTE MEMORIZATION" clearly worded statement are often so obvious everyone gets them right; alternatively, ambiguous items reduce evaluation to a test of reading skills; personality factors like pickiness

3. Statements out of context of rest of paragraph become ambiguous becomes a reading test promotes guessing

4. copyright problems

students have a 50-50% chance of getting them right o o o o "coin toss certification" 50% right without even reading the items actually much higher because wording usually includes clues would you want to be operated on by doctor who got 60% on t/f test?

guessing is encouraged o "right minus wrong" is worse because it's a measure of timidity and selfassurance, not knowledge --> nothing to do with what you think you're measuring effects of guessing can be reduced by making tests much longer --> need four times as many T-F as multiple-choice questions to get same degree of accuracy --which means might as well write m-c and be done with it

great for cheating

peer over shoulder and get a whole row of answers

offers little diagnostic value o o o o because nothing to indicate why child got it wrong (e.g. no math work) may get it right on the basis of misinformation may get it wrong as a result of misreading or misinterpreting statement or just "lucky guesser"?

Nearly impossible to get meaningful absolute statements in all subjects, there are large areas which cannot be phrased in absolutely true or false statements. In most cases, only the most trivial statements can be reduced to absolute terms. "Mozart composed his 43rd Symphony in 1920" is clearly false - also trivial o o even if not trivial, still pretty much limited to simple knowledge recall susceptible to ambiguity and misinterpretation --> almost no such thing as black and white true or false so penalizes better students who see that the statement should be qualified and therefore suspect a trap

OVERHEAD: "Water freezes at 0 C" True or False? (from Sax p.95) Most important for me as an educator, there may be no opportunity to correct misinformation --> student says "true" to a false statement, even if you go over it later, there is the chance that they will remember act of choosing "true" which required thought and for which student developed a rationale, rather than your droning on about correct answer.... BEFORE AND AFTER COMPARISON:

WRITE five true false questions about anything...before I show you how how good are your instincts? how good were the examples you've seen over the years can you catch your own problems once I've given you the rules?

How to Write True/False Questions

1. Statements must be unequivocally true or false. o no interpretation, debate allowed

o o o

need to qualify which census need to vacuum for terminal velocity need to qualify uofL rep -- says who?

o can turn opinion into absolute true or false 2. Make each item as significant as possible. o absolute statements encourage trivial questions which should be resisted. Do we really care about this fact?

are all the items directly related to the learning objectives and to the intended level of subject matter complexity? 3. Include only one central idea in each statement. o otherwise student may think one statement true, the other false, which to chose? 4. Avoid "specific determiners" --> unintended clue to the answer o

sweeping generalizations are almost always false always, all, never = false possible = true reasonable qualifications usually = true 5. Avoid ambiguous terms like "frequently" or "in most cases" o

since depends how many exceptions child can remember and judgment of whether that's frequently --> answer becomes arguable 6. Avoid negative and particularly double negative statements. o o positive statements only 7. Keep the statement short and use simple language. o otherwise becomes a reading test

where? soviet union.... 8. Do not have a pattern in the order of responses. o no alternating true false true false true --> unless you're trying to test for pattern recognition rather than content...

9. Approximately half the statements should be "false". o half statements should be false, otherwise kids learn to answer true to everything they don't know

not always exactly fifty/fifty or that becomes a pattern they can recognize if you have small enough number. 10. NO TRICK QUESTIONS. o o o entrapment is illegal in this country...

bully little kids --> of course you can out smart them, that's not what evaluation is about 11. Paraphrase source materials before including them on the test. DO NOT LIFT STATEMENTS DIRECTLY FROM TEXT. A) Encourages memorization rather than understanding. (Paraphrasing tests understanding). B) Statements out of context of rest of paragraph become ambiguous C) copyright problems 12. Directions to students are clear. 13. Scoring method is clear. o o are you doing right minus wrong or what?

need to say even if always do it the same in case one of their other teachers does it some other way 14. Have students circle "true" or "false", rather than write "t" or "f"

Question Arrangement on a Test

Arrange items appropriately on tests Object is to have students change frame of reference set as seldom as possible o o real problems in real world always have a context asking students question out of context is tricky E.g., "Which is correct: 2 + 2 are 5, or 2 + 2 is 5" 1. Everything on test has to relate to learning objectives generally only one subject per test -- no mixing math and social o so unless social objectives include graph reading...can't use no extraneous material: cartoons to break tension sounds great; or pictures to break up text, look nice, add visual appeal sounds good, but for kid who panics trying to figure out which question it goes with... or kid who misses a question because thought that cartoon for #43 was just for laughs

if must include cartoon, put on cover page.... 2. Patterns on test must be logical (to kids) E.g., in social studies, arrange questions chronologically not one question on WWII then one on WWI --> especially if you are asking about alliances, kid gets confused which war you're talking about

similarly, don't mix questions about different plays by the same author, different paintings by same painter; renaissance music with medieval etc.

o all questions on quadratic equations in one place 3. Group by type of question o usually all true/false together, all multiple-choice, etc. . need to do it this way to group instructions for section need to tell them how much each type of question is worth keep one mind set in responding to true/false, multiple-choice, etc. my boss used to argue all knowledge questions one place, process skills another,

o o o o

so had all map questions in one spot, all date questions together, but I always thought weird --> I wanted content as priority so WW I map goes with WW I questions on grounds that map skills irrelevant out of context of their subject matter --> I won that one when my boss transferred...but he complains I'm imposing my learning style on everyone else

Other extreme: Nola Aitkens Grade 3 Math -- put math in real world context OVERHEADS: NOLAS EXAM (mixes short answer with mc) 4. By difficulty, from easy to hard o get them warmed up; o o o don't get them too defeated before they get to easy ones don't have them run out of time before get to the easy ones