Ave Maria College

COLLEGE OF EDUCATION
HEI Unique Institutional Identifier: 09077
____________________________________________________________________________________
WEEK 5
PED 8: Assessment of Learning 1

LESSON 5:
V. Development of Varied Assessment Tools
A. Types of Objective Tests
We are concerned with developing objective tests for assessing the attainment of educational objectives
based on Bloom's taxonomy in this Chapter. 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.

B. Planning a Test and Constructing a Table of Specification (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.
Deciding on the type of objective test – The test objectives guide the kind of objective, tests 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.
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 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 they are too 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, the 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.

C. Constructing a True-False Test

 Binomial-choice or alternate response tests are tests that have only two (2) options such as true or false,
right or wrong, yes or no good or better, 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.
Although correction-for-guessing formulas exist, 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 question.
Example: The Philippines gained its independence in1898 and therefore celebrated its centennial year in
2000. Obviously, the answer is FALSE because 100years from 1898 is not 2000 but 1998.
Rule 2: Avoid using the words "always", "never", often and other words that tend to be either always
true or always false.
Example: Christmas always falls on a Sunday because it is a Sabbath day._____.
Statements that use the word "always" are almost always false. A test-wise student can easily guess his
way through a test like these and get high scores even if he does not know anything about the test.
Rule 3: Avoid long sentences as these tend to be "true". Keep sentences short.
Example: Tests need to be valid, reliable and useful, although, it would require a great amount of
time and effort to ensure that tests possess this test characteristics.___________
Notice that the statement is true. However, we are also not sure which part of the sentence is deemed
true by the student. It is just fortunate that in this case, all parts of the sentence are true and hence, the entire
sentence is true. The following example illustrates what can go wrong in long sentences:
Rule 4: Avoid trick statements 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.
The Raven was written by Edgar Allen Poe.
Allen is misspelled and the answer would be false!
This is an example of a tricky but utterly useless item.
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 are more likely to be false than true, for example, statements with "never" "no" "all" or "always."
Moderately worded statements 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. e.g. Executives
usually suffer from hyperacidity. The statement tends to be correct. The word "usually" leads to the answer
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.

D. Multiple Choice Tests

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".
Guidelines in Constructing Multiple Choice Items
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 meaning can differ from one person to the next such
as: much, often, usually, etc.
Example: Much of the process of photosynthesis takes place in the;
a. bark b. leaf c. stem
The qualifier "much" is vague and could have been replaced by more specific qualifiers like:" 90%% of
the photosynthetic process" or some similar phrase that would be more precise.
3. Avoid complex or awkward word arrangements. Also, avoid use of negatives in the stem as this may
add unnecessary comprehension difficulties.
Example:
(Poor) As President of the Republic of the Philippines, Corazon Cojuangco Aquino would stand next to
which President of the Philippine Republic subsequent to the 1986EDSA Revolution?
(Better) Who was the President of the Philippines after Corazon C. Aquino?
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.
Example:
(Poor) Which of the following will not cause inflation in the Philippine economy?
(Better) Which of the following will cause inflation in the Philippine economy?
Poor: What does the statement "Development patterns acquired during the formative years are NOT
Unchangeable" imply?
Better: What does the statement °Development patterns acquired during the formative years are
changeable" imply?
5. Each item stem should be as 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
the correctness of the answer.
9. Avoid stems that reveal the answer to another item.
10. Avoid alternatives that are synonymous with others 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).
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 homogeneous, the more difficult the item because they all look like the correct
answer.
 E. Matching Type
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.
Guidelines in Constructing Matching Type of Test
Here are some guidelines to observe in the formulation of good matching type of test.
1. Match 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 be a 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 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.
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. Imperfect because an answer may be
repeated and so like an unfaithful husband or wife can pair with one other than his wife her husband.
If you intend 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 be repeated.

F. 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 a blank where the students would write the
correct answer.
Example: The study of life and living organisms 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.
1. Completion Type of Test
It is, however, possible to construct supply type of tests that will test higher order thinking.
Guidelines in the Formulation of a Completion Type of Test
The following guidelines can help you formulate a completion type of test, the fill-in-the blank type.
a. Avoid over mutilated sentences like item # 1 below. Give enough clues to the student.
The ____ produced by the ___ is used by the green ___ to change the ___ and ___ into ___. This
process is called ____.
b. Avoid open-ended item. There should be only one acceptable answer. This item is open ended hence,
no good test item.
Ernest Hemingway wrote ______.
c. 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 question is packed)
must be in the first column.
d. Ask question on more significant item not on trivial matter.
Jose Rizal was born on June ___,1861.
There are other more significant items to ask other than specific birthdates.
e. The length of the blanks must not suggest the answer. So better to make the blanks uniform in size.
A part of speech that names persons, places or things is ______.
A word used to connect clauses or sentences or to coordinate words in the same clause is called
______.
2. 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.
a. Comparing
- Describe the similarities and differences between…
- Compare the following methods for…
b. Relating cause-and- effect
- What are the major causes of…
- What would be the most likely effects of...
c. Justifying
- Which of the following alternatives would you favor and why?
-Explain why you agree or disagree with the following statement.
d. Summarizing
- State the points included in…
- Briefly summarize the contents of…
e. Generalizing
-Formulate several valid generalizations from the following data.
-State a set of principles that can explain the following events.
f. 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…
g. Classifying
-Group the following items according to …
- What do the following items have in common?
h. Applying
- Using the principles of. as guide, describe how you would solve the following problem
situation.
-Describe a situation that illustrates the principle of ____.
i. Analyzing
-Describe the reasoning errors in the following paragraphs.
-List and describe the main characteristics of…
j. Evaluating
- Describe the strengths and weaknesses of the following…
- Using the criteria developed in class, write an evaluation of...
k. Creating
- Make up a story describing what would happen if…
-Design a plan to prove that...
-Write a well-organized report that shows…

2.1 Types of Essay

Restricted Essay
It is also referred to as short focused response. Examples are asking students to "write an example," "list
three reasons," or "compare and contrast two techniques."
Non-restricted /Extended Essay
Extended responses can be much longer and complex than short responses, but students are encouraged
to remain focused and organized.
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:
 Rule 1: Phrase the direction in such a way that students are guided on the key concepts to be included.
Specify how the students should respond.
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 pts)
 its interesting features (10 pts)
 why it is a landmark (5 pts)
Non-example
Using details and information from the article (Hundred Islands) summarize the main points of the
article.
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.
Example: Write an essay on the topic: "Plant Photosynthesis" using the keywords indicated. You will be
graded according to the following criteria: (a) coherence; (b) accuracy of statements; (c) use of keywords; (d)
clarity; and (e) extra points for innovative presentation of ideas.
Rule 3: Put a time limit on the essay test.
Rule 4: Decide on your essay grading system prior to getting the essays of your students.
Rule 5: Evaluate all of the students’ answers to one question before proceeding to the next question.
Scoring or 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 he 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 to the
same question, than when it is read and compared with other answers by the same student.
Rule 6: Evaluate answers to essay questions without knowing the identity of the writer.
This is another attempt to control personal bias during scoring. Answers to essay questions should be
evaluated in terms of what is written, not in terms of what is known about the writers from other contacts with
them. The best way to prevent our prior knowledge from influencing our judgment is to evaluate each answer
without knowing the identity of the writer. This can be done by having the students write their names on the
back of the paper or by using code numbers in place of names.
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 as in the selection of students for further training or for special awards.
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.
Rule 9: Provide information about the value/weight of the question and how it will be scored.
Rule 10: Emphasize higher level thinking skills.
Example:
Scientists have found that 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.
Non Example:
Considering the influence of ocean temperatures, explain why inland temperatures vary in summer and
winter to a greater degree than coastal temperatures. List three coastal land masses.
 Ave Maria College
COLLEGE OF EDUCATION
HEI Unique Institutional Identifier: 09077
____________________________________________________________________________________
PED 8: ASSESSMENT OF LEARNING 1

Activity 5
Developing and Administering Varied Assessment Tools
NAME: _________________________________________ DATE: _______________
COURSE & YEAR _______________________________ HPS: 100 Pts. SCORE: _____________
Direction:
Using your knowledge in Development of Varied Assessment Tools, choose learning competencies from the K
to 12 Curriculum Guide and construct aligned paper-and-pencil tests in line of your field and in any grade
level observing guidelines in test construction. In constructing TOS and draft of test items follow the guidelines
below:

Guidelines in Developing and Administering Varied Assessment Tools

 If you are BSED students, choose the level of your respondents from Grade 7-12 and if you are BEED
students, choose Grade 1 – 6 in any of the learning areas.
 Choose first, second, third, or fourth quarter of your chosen grade level and use its corresponding
learning competencies from the K to 12 CG.
 Identify the test objectives based from your chosen learning competencies.
 Prepare a TOS related to your identified objectives with the following considerations:
 Follow the steps in constructing TOS from the given PPT with 50 – item of the test.
 Indicate the important components such as the topic, time spent, the level of objectives to be tested,
statement of objectives, item numbers where such an objective is being tested, total number of test
items with actual and adjusted.
 In your 50-item test, make at least five (5) types of test and must follow the rules in constructing a
particular type of test.
 Write your TOS and draft of test items in short bond papers with times new roman style, twelve font size
and single spaces and also header and logo of your choice be observed.
 Find time to reach your course facilitator through text, chat, or call individually 3 days before this week
ends to check and evaluate your prepared TOS and Test Draft. Afterwards, administer it to your selected
10 participants.
 Upon administering your constructed test items, do not forget to ask permission first from the school
head, teachers and students of your selected school or the parents where you want to administer your test
paper.
 Do not forget to document the entire process.