DISTINGUISHING AND

CONSTRUCTING
VARIOUS
PAPER-AND-PENCIL-
TESTS
Learning outcomes

 Construct a table of specification

 Construct paper-and-pencil tests in accordance with the
guidelines in test construction.
5.3.2 Multiple Choice Tests

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 who 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
allows 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 for 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.
Example:

What would be the system reliability of a computer system whose

slave and peripherals are connected in parallel circuits and each one
has a known time to failure probability of 0.05?

A student completely unfamiliar with the terms "slave" and

"peripherals "may not be able to answer correctly even if he knew
the subject matter of reliability.
2) Do not use modifiers that are vague and whose meanings 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The qualifier "much" is vague and could have been replaced by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 be more precise. Be quantitative.
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 1986 EDSA Revolution?

(Better) Who was the President of the Philippines after Corazon C.

Aquino?

4. Do not use negatives or double negatives since 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?
A.
B.
C.
D.

Better: What does the statement "Development patterns acquired during the formative
years are changeable" imply?
A.
B.
C.
D.
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.

Example:

The short story: May Day's Eve, was written by which Filipino author?
a. Jose Garcia Villa
b. Nick Joaquin
c. Genoveva Edrosa Matute
d. Robert Frost
e. Edgar Allan Poe

If distracters had all been Filipino authors, the value of the item would be greatly
increased. In this particular instance, only the first three carry the burden of the
entire item since the last two can be essentially disregarded by the students.
7) All multiple choice options should be grammatically consistent with the stem.

Example:
As compared to the autos of the 1960s, autos in the 1980s

A. traveling slower C. to use less fuel

B. bigger interiors D. contain more safety

measures Option A, B and C are obviously wrong for the language smart because
when added to the stem the sentence is grammatically wrong. D is the only option
which when connected to the stem retains the grammatical accuracy of the
sentence, thus obviously is the correct answer.

8) The length, explicitness, or degree of technicality of alternatives should not be

the determinants of the correctness of the answer. The following is an example of
this rule:
Example:

If the three angles of two triangles are congruent, then the triangles are:
a. congruent whenever one of the sides of the triangles are congruent
b. Similar
c. equiangular and/therefore, must also be congruent
d. equilateral if they are equiangular

The correct choice, "b," may be obvious from its length and explicitness alone. The
other choices are long and tend to explain why they must be the correct choices
forcing the students to think that they are, in fact, not the correct answers!

9) Avoid stems that reveal the answer to another item.

Example:
a. Who will most strongly disagree with the progressivist who claims that the child
should be taught only that which interests him and if he is not interested, wait till the
child gets interested?

A. Essentialist C. Progressivist
B. Empiricist D. Rationalist
b. Which group will most strongly focus its teaching on the interest of the child?

A. Progressivist C. Perrenialist
B. Essentialist D. Reconstructionist

One may arrive at a correct answer (letter b) by looking at item "a," that gives the
answer to "b“

10) Avoid alternatives that are synonymous with others or those that include or overlap
others. Example:
What causes ice to transform from solid state?

a. Change in temperature
b. Changes in pressure
c. Change in the chemical composition
d. Change in heat levels

The options "a" and "d" are essentially the same. Thus, a student who spots these
identical choices would right away narrow down the field of choices to a, b and c. The
last distracter would play no significant role in increasing the value of the item. If this
happens then the item has two answers, which is not acceptable.
11) Avoid presenting sequenced items in
the same order as in the text.
Example: Which friar order is the second
to arrive in the Philippines?
A. Augustinians B. Franciscans C. Jesuits
D. Dominicans
12) Avoid use of assumed qualifiers that many
examinees may not be aware of. Qualifiers are
words that alter a statement. Words like always,
often, never, most, good and bad. In a multiple
choice test, qualifiers can make an option on a
test be a correct option or an incorrect option.
Example: Which statement is correct?
A. It often rains in Tarlac.
B. It never rains in Tarlac.
C. It always rains in Tarlac.
D. Most rains in Region 3 happen in Tarlac.
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.
Example:

The side opposite the thirty degree angle in a right triangle is equal to half the
length of the hypotenuse. If the sine of a 30-degree is 0.5 and its hypotenuse
is 5, what is the length of the side opposite the 30-degree angle?

a. 2.5
b. 3.5
c. 5.5
d. 1.5
The sine of a 30-degree angle is really quite unnecessary since the first sentence
already gives the method for finding the length of the side opposite the thirty-
degree angle. This is a case of a teacher who wants to make sure that no student
in his class gets the wrong answer!

14) Avoid use of non-relevant sources of difficulty such as requiring a complex

calculation when only knowledge of a principle is being tested Noted in the
previous example, knowledge of the sine of the 30-degree angle would have led
some students to use the sine formula for calculation even if a simpler approach
would have sufficed.

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 in 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.
Example:
(Less Homogeneous)
Thailand is located in:
a. Southeast Asia
b. Eastern Europe
c. South America Mental Exercise Write Pair - Share – Critique
d. East Africa
e. Central America 1. Construct a multiple-choice test item.
2. Pair with a classmate.
(More Homogeneous) 3. Partner A shares multiple choice test item.
Thailand is located next to: 4. Partner B critiques test item.
a. Laos and Kampuchea 5. Partner B shares test item.
b. India and China 6. Partner A critiques.
c. China and Malaya
d. Laos and China NOTE: If you can't agree consult teacher.
e. India and Malaya
MULTIPLE CHOICE TYPE OF TEST
MUST BE:
 Design questions that focus on higher levels of cognition.
 Option must present analysis of a problem, or explanation.
 Focused on higher order thinking and thus tests student’s ability to do such thinking.
 Design problems that require multi-logical thinking.

GROUP 3
UNGCO,MEHAINA
PURISIMA, JERALDEN
ABDULWAHAB, HAMDANI
SAGUBAN, CAROL JANE
RONOLO, SHEENAH MAE
PAPASION, JANE MAURICE