COURSE TITLE: ASSESSMENT OF LEARNING 1

Lesson 5

DEVELOPMENT OF VARIED ASSESSMENT TOOLS

Learning Outcomes

 Construct paper-and-pencil tests in accordance with the guidelines in test construction

INTRODUCTION

5.1 Types of Objectives Tests

We are concerned with developing objective tests for assessing the attainment of
educational objectives based on Bloom’ taxonomy in this Lesson. For this purpose, we
restrict our attention to the following types of paper-and –pencil tests. (a) true-false
items, (b) multiple-choice type items, (c) matching items, (d) enumeration, (e)
completion and (f) essays.
Development of paper-and-pencil tests requires careful planning and expertise in
terms of actual test construction. The more seasoned teachers can produce true-false
items that can test even higher order thinking skills and not just rote memory learning,
essays are easier to construct than the order types of objective tests but the difficulty with
which paper-and-pencil tests grades are derived from essay examinations often
discourage teachers from using this particular from of examination in actual practice.

5.2 Planning a Test and Construction of Table of Specifications (TOS)

The important steps in planning for a test are:

 Identifying test objectives/ lesson outcomes
 Deciding on the type of objective test to be prepared
 Preparing a table of Specifications (TOS)
 Constructing the draft test items
 Try-out and validation

Identifying Test Objectives. An objective test, if it is to be comprehensive, must

cover the various levels of Bloom’s taxonomy. Each objective consists of a statement of
what is to be achieved preferably by the students.
Example. We want to construct a test on the topic: “Subject-Verb Agreement in
English” for a Grade V class. The following are typical objectives:
Knowledge/ Remembering - The students must be able to identify the subjective
and the verb in a given sentence.
Comprehension/ Understanding – The students must be able to determine the
appropriate form of a verb to be used given the subject of a sentence.
Application/ Applying – The students must be able to write sentences observing
rules on subject-verb agreement.
Analysis/Analyzing – The students must be able to break down a given sentences
into its subject and predicate.
Evaluation/ Evaluating – The students must be able to evaluate whether or not a
sentence observes rules on subject-verb agreement.
Synthesis/ Creating – The students must be able to formulate rule to be followed
regarding subject-verb agreement.

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Deciding on the Type of Objective Test. The test objectives guide the kind of
objective test that will be designed and constructed by the teacher. For instance, for the
first four (4) levels, we may want to construct a multiple-choice type of test while for
application and judgment, we may opt to give an essay test or a modified essay test.

Preparing a Table of Specifications (TOS). A Table of Specifications or TOS is a test

map that guides the teacher in constructing a test. The TOS ensures that there is balance
between items that test lower level thinking skills and those which test higher order
thinking skills (or alternatively, a balance between easy and difficult items) in the test.
The simplest TOS consists of four (4) columns: (a) level of objective to be tested, (b)
statement of objective, (c) item numbers where such an objective is being tested, and (d)
Number of items and percentage out of the total for the particular objective. A prototype
table is shown below.

Navarro, Rosita L., Ph.D., Santos, Rosita G., Ph.D. and Corpuz, Brenda B., Ph.D.,
Assessment of Learning 1, Third Edition,2017

In the table of specifications we see that there are five items that deal with
knowledge and these items are items 1, 3, 5, 7, 9. Similarly, from the same table we see
that five items represent analysis, namely: 11, 15, 18, 21, 23. The first five levels of Bloom’s
taxonomy are equally represented in the test while synthesis (test through essay) is
weighted equivalent to ten (10) points or double the weight given to any of the first four
levels. The Table of Specifications guides the teacher in formulating the test. As we can
see, the TOS also ensures that each of the objectives is well represented in the test. As
such, the resulting test that will be constructed by the teacher will be more or less
comprehensive. Without the TOS, the tendency for the test maker is to focus too much
on facts and concepts at the knowledge level.

Constructing the Test Items. The actual construction of the test items follows
the TOS. As a general rule, it is advised that the actual number of items to be constructed
in the draft should be double the desired number of items. For instance, if the there are
five (5) knowledge level items to be included in the final test form, then at least ten (10)
knowledge level items should be included in the draft. The subsequent test try-out and
item analysis will most likely eliminate many of the constructed items in the draft (either

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they are difficult, too easy or non-discriminatory), hence, it will be necessary to construct
more items than will actually be included in the final test form.
Most often, however, try-out is not done due to lack of time.

Item Analysis and Try-out. The test draft is tried out to a group of pupils or
students. The purpose of this try out is to determine the: (a) item characteristics through
item analysis, and (b) characteristics of the test itself-validity, reliability, and practicality.

5.3 Constructing a True-False Test

Binomial-choice or alternate response test are tests that have only two (2) options
such as true or false, right or wrong, yes or no, check or cross out and so on. A student
who knows nothing of the content of the examination would have 50% chance of getting
the correct answer by sheer guess work. It is best that the teacher ensure that a true-false
item is able to discriminate properly between those who know and those who are just
guessing. A modified true-false test can offset the effect of guessing by requiring students
to explain their answer and to disregard a correct answer if the explanation is incorrect.
Here are some rules of thumb in constructing true-false items.
Rule 1. Do not give a hint (inadvertently) in the body of the questions
Rule 2. Avoid using the words “always”, “never”, “often” and other words that tend
to be either always true or always false.
Rule 3. Avoid long sentences as these tend to be “true”. Keep sentences short.
Rule 4. Avoid trick statement with some minor misleading word or spelling
anomaly, misplaced phrases, etc. A wise student who does not know the subject matter may
detect this strategy and thus get the answer correctly.
Rule 5. Avoid quoting verbatim from reference materials or textbooks. This practice
sends the wrong signal to the students that it is necessary to memorize the textbook word
for word and thus, acquisition of higher level thinking skills is not given due importance.
Rule 6. Avoid specific determiners or give-away qualifiers. Students quickly learn
that strongly worded statements with “never” “no” “all” or “always”. Moderately worded
statements that are more likely to be true than false. Statements that are moderately
worded use “many” “often” “sometimes” generally” “frequently” or “some” usually should be
avoided.
Rule 7. With true or false questions, avoid a grossly disproportionate number of
either true or false statements or even patterns in the occurrence of true and false
statements.

5.4 Constructive Alignment

A generalization of the true-false test, the multiple choice type of test offers the
student with more than two (2) options per item to choose from. Each item in a multiple
choice test consists of two parts: (a) the stem and (b) the options. In the set of options,
there is a “correct” or “best” option while all the others are considered “distracters”. The
distracters are chosen in such a way that they are attractive to those who do not know the
answer or are guessing but at the same time, have no appeal to those who actually know
the answer. It is this feature of multiple choice type tests that allow the teacher to test
higher order thinking skills even if the options are clearly stated. As in true-false items,
there are certain rules of thumb to be followed in constructing multiple choice tests.

Guidelines in Constructing Multiple Choice Items

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1. Do not use unfamiliar words, terms and phrases. The ability of the item to
discriminate or its level of difficulty should stem from the subject matter rather
than from the wording of the question.
2. Do not use modifiers that are vague and whose meanings a can differ from one
person to the next such as: much, often, usually, etc.
3. Avoid complex or awkward word arrangements. Also, avoid se of negatives in the
stem as this may add unnecessary comprehension difficulties.
4. Do not use negatives or double negatives as such statements tend to be confusing. It
is best to use simpler sentences rather than sentences that would require expertise in
grammatical construction.
5. Each item stem should be a short as possible; otherwise you risk testing more for
reading and comprehension skills.
6. Distracters should be equally plausible and attractive.
7. All multiple choice options should be grammatically consistent with the stem.
8. The length, explicitness, or degree of technicality of alternatives should not be the
determinants of correctness of the answer.
9. Avoid stems that reveal the answer to another item.
10. Avoid alternatives that are synonymous with other or those that, include or overlap
others.
11. Avoid presenting sequenced items in the same order as in the text.
12. Avoid use of assumed qualifiers that many examinees may not be aware of.
13. Avoid use of unnecessary words or phrases, which are not relevant to the problem at
hand (unless such discriminating ability is the primary intent of the evaluation). The
item’s value is particularly damaged if the unnecessary material is designed to
distract or mislead. Such items test the student’s reading comprehension rather than
knowledge of the subject matter.
14. Avoid use of non-relevant sources of difficulty such as requiring a complex
calculation when only knowledge of a principle is being tested.
15. Pack the question in the stem. Here is an example of a question which has no
question. Avoid it by all means.
Example:
The Roman Empire ____________.
a. Had no central government
b. Had no definite territory
c. Had no heroes
d. Had no common religion
16. Use the “None of the above” option only when the keyed answer is totally correct.
When choice of the “best” response is intended, “none of the above” is not
appropriate, since the implication has already been made that the correct response
may be partially inaccurate.
17. Note that use of “all of the above” may allow credit for partial knowledge. In a
multiple option item, (allowing only one option choice) if a student only knew that
two (2) options were correct, he could then deduce the correctness of “all of the
above”. This assumes you are allowed only one correct choice.
18. Better still use “none of the above” and “all of the above” sparingly. But best not to
use them at all.
19. Having compound response choices may purposefully increase difficulty of an item.
The difficulty of a multiple choice item may be controlled by varying the
homogeneity or degree of similarity of responses. The more homogenous, the more
difficult the item because they all look like the correct answer.

5.5 Matching Type

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The matching type items may be considered modified multiple choice type items
where the choice progressively reduce as one successfully matches the items on the left
with the items on the right.
Guidelines in Constructing Matching Type of Test

Here are some guidelines to observe in the formulation of good matching type of
test.
1. Matching homogeneous not heterogeneous items. The items to match must be
homogeneous. If you want your students to match authors with their literary
works, in one column will be authors and in the second column must be literary
works. Don’t insert nationality for instance with names of authors. That will not
good item since it is obviously wrong.
2. The stem (longer in construction than the options) must be in the second column
while the options (usually shorter) must be in the second column.
3. The options must be more in number than the stems to prevent the student from
arriving at the answer by mere process of elimination.
4. To help the examinee to find the answer easier, arrange the options
alphabetically or chronologically.
5. Like any other test, the direction of the test must be given. The examinees must
know exactly what to do.

Mental Exercise

Analyze the matching type of test below. Is this a perfect (an answer may not be
repeated) matching type of test written in accordance with the guidelines given?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________

Exercise – Matching Type of Test

Column A Column B
1. Poly A. Sides
2. Triangle B. Eight-sided polygon
3. Pentagon C. Ten-sided polygon
4. Square D. Close plane figure
5. Decagon E. Irving
6. Hexagon F. James
7. Isosceles G. Melville
8. Octagon H. Mark Twains (Clemens)
9. Gons I. Wharton
10. Circle J. Many

Matching type items, unfortunately, often test lower order thinking skills
(knowledge level) and are unable to test higher order thinking skills such as application
and judgment skills.
Another type of a matching type of test is the imperfect type.
Below is an example of an imperfect matching type of test. Imperfect because an
answer may be repeated.
In column 1 are works and writings in American literature and in column 2 are
their authors. Write the letter of the author which corresponds to his work on the blank
provided before each author. In some cases, an answer may be repeated.
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Column A Column B
1. The Alhambra A. Cooper
2. The Pioneers B. Dana
3. The Guardian Angel C. Emerson
4. Two Years Before the Mast D. Holmes
5. Moby Dick E. Irving
6. The World in a Man of War F. James
7. The Last of the Mohicans G. Melville
8. The American Scholar H. Mark Twains (Clemens)
9. The Autocrat of the Breakfast Table I. Wharton
10. Tom Sawyer

If you intended to make use of this imperfect type of matching test, make sure you
indicate so in the “Direction” to caution the students who usually think that an answer
may not repeated.

5.6 Supply Type or Constructed-Response Type

Another useful device for testing lower order thinking skills is the supply type of
tests. Like the multiple choice test, the items in this kind of test consist of a stem and
blank where the students would write the correct answer.
Example: The study of life and living organism is called ____________.

Supply type tests depend heavily on the way the stems are constructed. These tests
allow for one and only one answer and, hence, often test only the students’ knowledge.

Completion Type of Test

It is, however possible to construct supply type of tests that will test higher order
thinking as the following example show:

Example: Write an appropriate synonym for each of the following. Each blank
corresponds to a letter:
METAMORPHOSE: __ __ __ __ __ __
FLOURISH: __ __ __ __

The appropriate synonym for the first is CHANGE with six (6) letters while the
appropriate synonym for the second is GROW with four (4) letters. Notice that these
questions require not only mere recall of words but also understanding of these words.

Guidelines in the Formulation of a Complete Type of Test

The following guidelines can help you formulate a completion type of test, the fill-
in-the-blank type.
1. Avoid over mutilated sentences like # 1 below. Give enough clue to the students.
Example: The _____ produced by the ______ is used by the green _____ to
change the ____ and _____ into ____. This process is called ____.

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2. Avoid open-minded item. There should be only one acceptable answer.

3. The blank should be at the end or near the end of the sentence. The question
must first be asked before an answer is expected. Like the matching type of
test, the stem (where the questions is packed) must be in the first column.
4. Ask question on more significant item not on trivial matter.
5. The length of the blanks must not suggest the answer. So better to make the
blanks uniform in size.

Essays

Essays, classified as non-objective tests, allow for the assessment of higher order
thinking skills. Such tests require students to organize their thoughts on a subject matter
in coherent sentences in order to inform an audience. In essay tests, students are required
to write one or more paragraphs on a specific topic.
Essay questions can be used to measure attainment of a variety of objectives.
1. Comparing
- Describe the similarities and differences between …
- Compare the following methods for…
2. Relating cause-and-effect
- What are the major causes of …
- What would be the most likely effects of …
3. Justifying
- Which of the following alternatives would you favor and why?
- Explain why you agree or disagree with the ff. statement.
4. Summarizing
- State the points included in …
- Briefly summarize the contents of …
5. Generalizing
- Formulate several valid generalizations from the following data.
- State a set of principles that can explain the following events.
6. Inferring
- In the light of the facts presented, what is most likely to happen when …
- How would Senator X be most likely to react to the bomb explosion
after the bar examination last September?
7. Classifying
- Group the following items according to …
- What do the following items have in common?
8. Applying
- Using the principles of ___ as guide, describe how you would solve the
following problem situation.
- Describe a situation that illustrates the principle of ____.
9. Analyzing
- Describe the reasoning errors in the following paragraphs.
- List and describe the main characteristics of …
10. Evaluating
- Describe the strengths and weaknesses of the following …
- Using the criteria developed in class, write an evaluation of …
11. Creating
- Make up a story describing what would happen if …
- Design a plan to prove that …
- Write a well-organized report that shows …

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Types of Essay

Restricted Essay
It is also referred to as short focus response. Examples are asking students to “write
an example,” “list three reasons,” or “compare and contrast two techniques.”

Sample Short Response Question 

(10th Grade Reading)

How are the scrub jay and the mockingbird different? Support your answer with
details and information from the article
Source: https://fcit.usf.edu/assessment/constructed/constructb.html

Non-restricted/Extended Essay
Extended n can be much longer and complex than short responses, but students
are encouraged to remain focused and organized.

Sample Extended Response Question 

(5th Grade Science)

Robert is designing a demonstration to display at his school’s science fair. He will

show how changing the position of a fulcrum on a lever changes the amount of force
needed to lift an object. To do this, Robert will use a piece of wood for a lever and a
block of wood to act as a fulcrum. He plans to move the fulcrum to different places on
the lever to see how its placement affects the force needed to lift an object.

Part A  Identify at least two other actions that would make Robert’s demonstration
better.

Part B  Explain why each action would improve the demonstration.

Source: https://fcit.usf.edu/assessment/constructed/constructb.html

Note that all these involve the higher-level skills mentioned in Bloom’s
Taxonomy
The following are rules of thumb which facilitate the scoring of essays:

1. Rule 1: Phrase the direction in such a way that students are guided on the key
concepts to be included.

Example
Using details and information from the article (Hundred Islands),
summarize the main points of the article. For a complete and correct response,
consider these points:
 Its history (10 points)
 Its interesting features (10 points0
 Why it is a landmark (5 points)

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2. Rule 2: Inform the students on the criteria to be used for grading their essays. This
rule allows the students to focus on relevant and substantive materials rather than
on peripheral and unnecessary facts and bits of information.
3. Rule 3: Put a time limit on the essay test.
4. Rule 4: Decide on your essay grading system prior to getting the essays of your
students.
5. Rule 5: Evaluate all of the students’ answer to one question before proceeding to the
next question.
Scoring/ grading essay tests question by question, rather than student by
student, makes it possible to maintain a more uniform standard for judging the
answers to each question. This procedure also helps offset the halo effect in
grading. When all of the answers on one paper are read together, the grader’s
impression of the paper as a whole is apt to influence the grades her assigns to the
individual answers. Grading question by question, of course, prevents the
formation of this overall impression of a student’s paper. Each answer is more apt
to be judged on its own merits when it is read and compared with other answers
by the same student.
6. Rule 6. Evaluate answers to essay questions without knowing the identity of the
writer.
7. Rule 7: Whenever possible, have two or more persons grade each answer.
The best way to check on the reliability of the scoring of essay answers is to
obtain two or more independent judgments. Although this may not be a feasible
practice for routine classroom testing, it might be done periodically with a fellow
teacher (one who is equally competent in the area). Obtaining two or more
independent ratings becomes especially vital where the results are to be used for
important and irreversible decisions, such in the selection of students for further
training or for special awards. Here the pooled of several competent persons may
be needed to attain level of reliability that is commensurate with the significance
of the decision being made.
Some teachers use the cumulative criteria i.e. adding the weights given to
each criterion, as basis for grading while others use the reverse. In the latter
method, each student begins with a score of 100. Points are then deducted every
time a teacher encounters a mistake or when a criterion is missed by the student in
his essay.
8. Rule 8: Do not provide optional questions.
It is difficult to construct questions of equal difficulty and so teacher cannot
have valid comparison of students’ achievement.
9. Provide information about the value/weight of the question and how it will be
scored.
10. Emphasize higher level thinking skills.
Example:
Scientists have found that the oceans can influence the temperature
of nearby landmasses. Coastal landmasses tend to have more moderate
temperatures in summer and winter than inland landmasses of the same
latitude.

5.7 Activities

Direction: Provide each activity in a separate paper.

A. Construct a 10-item matching type to test this competency: Identify the computer
system – parts, other components.

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B. Choose a competency in the Curriculum Guide(CG) in any grade and construct a

10-item supply type test to
C. Justify each rule used in constructing an essay type of test.
D. Construct a 10-item data sufficiency test.
E. In a 100-item test, what types of objective test will you include? Justify your
answer.

References

 https://fcit.usf.edu/assessment/constructed/constructb.html
 Navarro, Rosita L., Ph.D., Santos, Rosita G., Ph.D. and Corpuz, Brenda B., Ph.D.,
Assessment of Learning 1, Third Edition,2017, 35-59

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