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CHAPTER - IV

DESCRIPTION OF TOOLS

In the preceding chapters, the introduction to different variables under study,

the review of the related literature, objectives and hypotheses have been discussed.

The present chapter deals with the description of tools. For the present investigation,

the following tools were used :

Standardized Tests

1. Verbal Intelligence Test (Dr. R.K. Ojha and Dr. K. Ray Chaudhary)

2. Socio Economic Status Scale (Dr. A.K. Kalia and Dr. Sudhir Sahu)

3. Academic Anxiety Scale for Children (Dr. A.K. Singh and Dr. A. Sen Gupta)

4. Social Competence Scale (Dr. V.P.Sharma, Dr. Prabha Shukha and Dr. Kiran

Shukha)

Self Developed Tools

1. Achievement Test in Hindi Grammar (developed by investigator)

2. Cooperative Learning (TGT) lesson plans (developed by investigator)

3. Cooperative learning (TGT) worksheets (developed by investigator)

4. Formative Tests (developed by investigator)

4.1 STANDARDIZED TEST

4.1.1 Intelligence Test

Description of Intelligence Test developed by R.K. Ojha and K. Ray Choudhary

(1958)

This verbal intelligence test was constructed by R.K.Ojha and Ray Choudhary

in 1958. This test measures the intelligence of the students of age group 9-16 years.

It is verbal intelligence test. Item analysis was done on 800 students in the beginning.

This test is an objective type intelligence test. It is used to test the general

intelligence ability or intelligence. It contains eight parts and each parts consists of

different number of questions. Different parts of this test are as (i) Classification; (ii)

analogies; (iii) synonyms; (iv) Number Test; (v) Completion test; (vi) paragraph test;

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(vii) Best reasons; and (viii) simple reasons. For the standardization, this verbal

intelligence test was done on 1200 students of age group between 13-20 years of class

9 to 12 standards.

Administration of the Test

This intelligence test is of two types, group and individual. For conducting the

test, test booklets and answer sheets were distributed to pupils. This test was best fit

for the age group between 13-16 years. This test can also be used on any age group

because it belongs to general mental ability.

Scoring:

For scoring the answer sheets, scoring key available in manual were used.

Each test was scored very carefully. The raw scores were converted into normalised

IQ score using the tables in manual for this test. The students were asked to fill in the

information at the top of answer sheet. Then all the necessary instructions were given

to students in accordance with the instruction given in manual. Time limits were

strictly adhered to.

Reliability

Coefficient of reliability was determined by (i) split half method (ii)

Richardson formula.

Table

Ability Tests Reliability by split Half

Method

Reliability by Kuder

Richardson Formula

V.I.T .87 .91

V.I.T.1 .81 .89

V.I.T.2 86 .88

V.I.T.3 .71 .73

V.I.T.4 .74 .88

V.I.T.5 .64 .68

V.I.T.6 .58 .79

V.I.T.7 .79 .81

V.I.T.8 .75 .83

Validity

The validity of different parts of this test was measured by analyzing the

results on a sample of more than 2000 students use for standardization.

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Showing Correlation between the eight part of the verbal intelligence test

S. Sub-tests A S N C P B S

II III IV V VI VII VIII

I Classification .503 .401 .560 .421 .397 .382 .512

II Analogies .510 .493 .491 .461 .480 .390

III Synonyms .310 .348 .407 .389 .401

IV Number Test .501 .421 .497 .501

V Completion Test .513 .554 .520

VI Paragraph .437 .396

VII Best Reason .574

VIII Simple Reasons

Table

Showing correlation between the six ability tests

Sr. Ability Tests

I II III IV V VI

V.I.T. Maths Pattern

Drawing

Vernon’s

‘s’

Block

Design

Raven’s

Matrices

I V.I.T.

II Maths .507

III Pattern

Drawing

.463 .336

IV Vernon’s ‘g’ .307 .600 .209

V Block Design .599 .460 .431 .406

VI Raven’s

Matrices

.397 .590 .340 .254 .302

Norms

The students scored more than 107 marks are (very superior) scored between

99 – 106 marks (superior), between 91-98 (bright-normal), between 73-90

(normal),between 65-72 (dull-normal), 57-64 (borderline) and scored below 56

(defectives.

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4.1.2 SOCIO-ECONOMIC STATUS SCALE

Description of Socio-Economic Status Scale developed by Dr. A.K. Kalia and

Sudhir Sahu (2012)

This scale of socio-economic status is designed to measure social position of a

person in urban and rural areas with 40 items in all. It is a verbal scale. This scale has

been developed both in English and Hindi languages for urban/rural household. It is

easy to be administered and acknowledge the social position of an individual in the

society. Scoring process of S.E.S. scale is easy and objective. To get the total S.E.S.

scores, the researcher is required to count the S.E.S. Scores of the answers options

mentioned in the square box, which has been ticked (√) by the respondent. In this way

it saves time, money and labour

Scoring of Socio-Economic Scale

The scoring of S.E.S. scale is easy and objective. To find out the total score in

S.E.S., the examiner should add the scores where the respondent has put a check (√)

as his/her response. A separate scoring key has been developed to facilitate the

scoring of SESS.

Total scores for SESS are obtained after adding scores from information given

by the respondent to part A and responses given to all the items (1-40) of part-B of the

test booklet.

Administration of Socio-Economic Status Scale

This scale comprised of 40 items of five different areas/dimensions of socio-

economic status viz. (i) socio-cultural component (ii) economic component (iii)

possession of goods and services (iv) Health component (v) Educational Component.

There is no limit for filling this scale. But it takes approximately 20-25 minutes for

completing it. While administering S.E.S. scale following precautions should be kept

in mind :

1. A proper seating arrangement should be made for the respondents in a

peaceful environment.

2. A minimum facility of writing material should be arranged for

respondents.

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3. All instructions mentioned in the test booklet should be loudly read out by

the test administrator.

4. Respondents should be instructed to give their responses only on

consumable test booklet.

5. Test administrator should motivate the respondents for free and frank

responses by establishing proper rapport with them.

6. All doubts should be clarified before the start of the test.

7. Before collecting the response sheets, the test administrator should ensure

that all the test items have been answered by the respondents.

Reliability of S.E.S. Scale

Reliability of the scale has been measured by split-half and test-retest method.

Results given below indicate that the scale is highly reliable.

Table

Split-Half and Test-Retest Reliability of Socio-Economic Status Scale

English Version Hindi Version

Split-Half Method Test-Retest Split-Half Method Test-Retest Method

.68 .86 .71 .89

Validity of S.E.S. Scale

All the 40 items of SESS have been evaluated by the various experts. The

investigator has established content validity while preparing the preliminary draft of

SESS. Expert opinion of teacher educators and language specialists with regard to

relevance of each items was ought. For this, a copy of final draft of SESS was given

to nine experts who have been directly or indirectly involved in research. The expert

opinion came out to be favourable in terms of the relevance of each item in the scale.

The criterion validity was measured by correlating it with SESS by Prof. Rajbir

Singh, Dr. Radhey Shyam and Dr. S. Kumar (2006) and it came out to be 0.85 which

is highly significant.

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All 42 items (including caste and academic stream) were analyzed to measure

internal consistency of the SESS through Pearson’s product moment, Kendall’s tub

correlation and spearman’s rho correlation method. Coefficient of correlation is

highly significant in not of the dimensions except only in one dimension i.e. health

component due to presence of some items with negative scores.

4.1.3. Academic Anxiety

Descriptive of Academic Anxiety Scale for Children (AASC) developed by

Dr. A.K.Singh and Dr. A.Sen Gupta (1984) :

Today, anxiety is a common phenomenon of everyday life. It plays a crucial

role in human life because all of us are the victim of anxiety in different ways.

Generally, anxiety can be either a trait anxiety or a state anxiety. A trait

anxiety is a stable characteristic or trait of the person. A state anxiety is one which is

aroused by some temporary condition of the environment such as examination,

accident, punishment, etc. Academic anxiety is a kind of state anxiety which relates to

the impending danger from the environments of the academic institutions including

teacher, certain subjects like Mathematics, English etc.

The Academic Anxiety Scale has been developed by Dr. A.K.Singh and

Dr. A.Sen Gupta for use with school students. There are 20 items in this test to

measure students’ academic anxiety. After modifying the scale the final draft

contained 18 questions. These test items are ‘yes’ and ‘no’ type.

Administration:

The present scale (AASC) has been administered individually. The

investigator read out the instructions given by the constructor of the scale. There is no

time limit for the test, but ordinarily the pupils take 10 to 15 minutes in completing

the test.

Reliability and Validity:

The reliability of the AASC test was computed through test-retest method and

the split half method. In order to compute the test-retest reliability, the test was

administered twice on a sample of 100 pupils with 14 days’ gap. Subsequently,

Pearson’s r was computed between the two sets of scores. The obtained Pearson’s r

was .60 which was significant beyond .01 level. For the Split half reliability of the

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test, it was administered on a fresh sample of 100. Subsequently, the test was splited

by the odd-even method. The resulting odd-even correlation coefficient was .433

(p<.01) which, after being corrected for full length, became .65. After modification

also the scale was found to be reliable i.e. .56.

The present test (AASC) has been validated against the Sinha-Anxiety Test.,

Neuroticism scale of MPI and CAAT. Former two tests are the measures of general

anxiety and the latter intends to measure academic anxiety among school children.

The validity coefficients of AASC against these different measures are .31, .41 and

.57 respectively (significant at .01). On the basis of the obtained correlation

coefficients it can be said that Academic Anxiety Scale for Children (AASC) is a

valid test.

Scoring:

1. There were two types of items in the scale positive and negative. Each

item of the test was scored as either +1 or 0. All positive items which were

endorsed by the subjects as ‘No’ were given a score of +1 while a score of

zero was awarded to all other answers. Thus high score on the test

indicates high academic anxiety and low score on the test indicates low

academic anxiety.

4.1.4 Social Competence

Descriptive of Social Competence Scale (SCS) developed by Dr. V.P.Sharma, Dr.

Prabha Shukha and Dr. Kiran Shukha (1992)

Social competence is an important ingredient of modern civilization; and is the

essential attribute of the members of a progressive onward moving society. The

cultural plurity and societal diversity of India provide enough opportunities to Indian

children for the acquisition of high order -social competence, through rich and varied

interpersonal interactions. Social Competence Scale: In order to measure the Social

Competence of the sampled adolescents, a Social Competence Scale (SCS)

constructed and standardized by Sharma, Shukla and Shukla (1992) was used.

The final form of the social competence scale consisting of 50 items

measuring 18 factors of social skills and behaviour has been designed for Indian

pupils between the age of 10 and 15 years of both the sexes. Norms from raw scores

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have been developed in respect of (i) Age, (ii) Grade, (iii) Sex, (iv) SES (v) Parental

Acceptability and (vi) Parental Authority.

Reliability :

The coefficient of temporal stability employing Test-Retest method with an

interval of 20 days has been estimated to be rit=.56 whereas the co-efficient of

interrater reliability has been found to be rir=.67.

Validity:

Apart from the item-validity as analyzed above the SC scale (English version)

has been validated against Kohn’s Social competence Scale and a predictive validity

to the extent of r=.72 was obtained. Further, the English and Hindi version of the SC

scale was found to be correlated to the extent of r=.84.

The SC scale has also been validated against Teacher’s Rating on a five point

scale of the normative pupils of grade VIII and a coefficient of correlation to the

extent of r=.79 was obtained between Teacher’s Rating and pupils’ Total score on SC

Scale.

4.2 SELF DEVELOPED TOOLS

4.2.1 Achievement Test in Hindi Grammar

Description of Achievement Test

An achievement test is essentially a tool or device of measurement that helps

in ascertaining quality of learning attained in a subject of study or group of subjects

after period of instruction by measuring the present ability of individual concerned. In

other words, it can be said that how far a particular student has been able to learn and

acquire or has been benefitted from the learning experiences given to him is

ascertained with the help of Achievement test.

‘Achievement Testing’ refers to the assessment of the outcomes of formal

instruction in cognitive domain (Dwyer, 1982). It can also be thought of as a sample

of indicator of a student’s knowledge taken as a particular point of time (Ebel, 1972).

Or, achievement test may mean a sample of behavior that provides opportunity for

comparison with performance standard, as in criterion referenced testing (Gronlund,

1977).

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For collecting reliable and valid data for the present study, the investigator

could not get an appropriate standardized achievement test in Hindi Grammar of IX

class of Haryana Board. The need was felt to develop an achievement test to evaluate

the achievement of the students of class IX in the subject of Hindi Grammar, to

evaluate the pupil’s knowledge, comprehension, application and skills on the topics

selected for treatment. The following steps were followed for constructing the

achievement test:

Planning the Test :

Stanley and Hopkins (1978) observed that the planning stage of a test should

include the nature of the items and the statement of conditions under which it will be

administered. The achievement test was planned with the objective of measuring

achievement in Hindi Grammar of class IX on selected topics. According to Gronlund

(1977) the planning of achievement test takes in to account :

1. Determining the purpose of the test

2. Identification and defining the intended learning outcomes

3. Preparing the test specifications; and

4. Constructing relevant test items

Planning stage of the test tries to answer what content area is to be covered by

the test? What types of items are to be included in test what are the objectives that are

going to be tested?

The test constructor who Plunges directly into item writing is likely to produce

a lopsided test without an advance plan, some areas of the syllabus will be over-

represented while others may remain untouched. A test constructed without a blue

print is likely to be overloaded with relatively impermanent and less important

material. Many of the criticisms of objective test items from the common

overemphasis of rote memory and trivial details in poorly constructed tests. To guard

against imbalances and disproportions in coverage of the syllabus, test specifications

should be drawn up before any items are prepared.

In order to make sure that achievement test measures a desired behaviour, test

specification but developed covering the objectives and subject matter selected to

teach during the experiment content of the test.

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Content of the test:

The test covered the content of the following six chapters:

1. Noun

2. Pronoun

3. Adjective

4. Verb

5. Adverb

6. Compound

For drawing up test specifications, the investigator studied two types of literature

critically: (i) relating to test construction and (ii) syllabi and Haryana School Board-

question papers in the subject areas.

Preparation of the Test Items

One hundred fifteen objective type items (Multiple choice, True/False, Fill in

the blanks, match) with wide range of difficult values were constructed from three

units of Hindi Grammar prescribed by Haryana Board for class 9th

. Items were

prepared in conformity with the blue print. While constructing items, it was ensured

that no objective remained untested and language of the test items was understandable

and unambiguous and the instructions were clear. The test items were arranged in the

order of difficulty. The test items were arranged properly and assembled into the test.

Easy items were given a place in the beginning and difficult items towards the end.

The preliminary draft in Achievement Test was given to experts in education, which

included experts in measurement and evaluation, experienced Hindi Grammar

teachers. They were requested to give their opinion about the language and

appropriateness of the items. Only those items were selected which were having 80%

unanimity. Items that were having difficult language were modified to simple

language. Finally, 85 items constituted the Achievement Test.

Preparation of Directions to Test Items

Appropriate directions to test items were prepared. The directions were clear

and concise so that the students understand them easily. As test was divided into four

sections, viz. Multiple Choice, True/False, Fill in the Blanks, Matching Type

Questions. Clear instructions were given in the beginning of each section. In the first

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section (Multiple Choice Questions), the students were instructed to write the correct

response in the given answer sheet. In the second section (Fill in the blanks), the

students were asked to write the correct response in the given answer sheet. In the

third section (True/ False), the students were asked to write T/F for the correct

response in the answer sheet. In the fourth section (Matching Type Questions) the

students were instructed to match the correct response in the answer sheet.

Preparation of Directions for Administration

The written instructions were given on the title page of the tryout test, but

alongwith that oral instructions were also given. The oral instructions were:

1. Please write your Name, Roll No., Name of the school etc. before you start.

2. Please go through the written instructions carefully before you start your work.

3. Do not discuss anything with your neighbours.

4. Do not make unnecessary haste to finish the tests.

5. Please see that no item is left out. You have to answer all the items. At the

end, we shall check whether you have answered all the items.

6. Your sincere and honest effort will help me a lot in my endeavour.

Preparation of Directions For Scoring

To facilitate the objectivity in scoring, the scoring was done with the help of

scoring key already prepared by the investigator, one mark was awarded for a correct

answer and zero for an incorrect one. Scoring keys were prepared separately for

multiple choices, True/False, Fill in the blanks and matching type questions.

First Try Out

The test was administered to 50 students of class 10th

and discriminating

power was computed for each item after forming top 27 percent and bottom 27

percent group from the total subjects as suggested by Kelley (1939). The blue print of

the first draft of Achievement Test and distribution of discriminating power (DP)

were as seen in Tables 4.1 and 4.2

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Table 4.1

Blue print of first draft of achievement test

Chapters Cognitive Levels of objectives

Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Total items

Noun 15 5 1 - 21

Pronoun 11 6 1 - 18

Adjective 11 4 1 - 16

Verb 12 3 - - 15

Adverb 10 7 - 17

Compound 16 8 2 2 28

Total 75 33 5 2 115

Q1 = Knowledge

Q2 = Comprehension

Q3 = Application

Q4 = Skill

Distribution of discriminating powers of items was calculated by formula

N

RRD

LU

P

RU = No. of correct responses in upper group

RL = No. of correct responses lowers group

N = Total No. of correct responses

Table 4.2

Distribution of Discrimination powers (D.P.) of items of (first) draft of

Achievement Test

Discrimination power Frequency Remarks

0.40 and above 56 Very good items

Between 0.30 and 0.39 29 Reasonably good

Between 0.20 and 0.29 14 Needs improvement

<0.19 16 Very poor

Total 115

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The revised version of the achievement test was again administered to a group

of 50 students of class 10th

and discriminating power of 85 items was computed. The

distribution of discriminating powers can be seen in table 4.3

Table 4.3

Distribution of Discrimination powers (D.P.) of items of (first) draft of

Achievement Test

Discrimination power Frequency Remarks

0.40 and above 56 Very good items

Between 0.30 and 0.39 29 Reasonably good

Between 0.20 and 0.29 - Needs improvement

<0.19 - Very poor

Total 85

In the light of above results, out of 115 items, 30 items below the

discrimination power of 0.30 were dropped and 85 items were retained. These items

were improved with respect to language and detractors. This led to the preparation of

final draft of the achievement test. This draft of achievement test comprised of 85

items. The table of specifications of blue print for achievement test is presented in

table 4.3 and the numbers of retained items are shown in table 4.3

Table 4.4

Blue Print of final draft of achievement test

Chapters Blue Print

Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Total items

Noun 10 5 2 - 17

Pronoun 8 4 1 - 13

Adjective 9 3 - - 12

Verb 08 4 - - 12

Adverb 7 3 1 - 11

Compound 11 5 2 2 20

Total 53 24 6 2 85

Q1 = Knowledge

Q2 = Comprehension

Q3 = Application

Q4 = Skill

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Table 4.5

Number of items retained in the final draft of Achievement Test at different

cognitive levels of objectives

Cognitive levels of

objectives

Serial No. of items retained Total

Knowledge level 2,4,6,7,8,9,12,14,16,17,18,19,20,21,22,24,28,

29,30,33,34,35,36,37,38,40,42,46,47,48,49,50,51,

54,55,56,58,59,60,62,65,67,68,69,70,71,72,73,

74,81, 82,83,84

53

Understanding level 1,5,10,11,23,25,26,27,31,39,41,43,44,45,53,57,

63,64,66,76,78,80,85

24

Apply level 3,13,15,32,52,77 6

Skill level 61,79 2

Total 85

85 Items constituted the final form of the Achievement Test. The Achievement

Test was further standardized by experimental validation of the test that included

establishing reliability and validity.

Reliability

Reliability is one of the most important pre-requisite of a measuring tool. It is

the degree of consistency between two measures of the same test. The reliability of a

test refers to the extent to which a test measures consistently from one administration

of the test to another. The reliability of the test was measured by split half method.

The reliability of the test calculated by this method was found to be 0.91. The

co-efficient of the Reliability, as found by split half method, was 0.91 which indicates

that the test is highly reliable. Ebel (1966) is of the view that most test constructors

are satisfied when their test yield reliability co-efficiency in the vicinity of 0.90. The

reliability co-efficient of the present test was 0.91. Therefore, the achievement test

may be considered fairly reliable.

146

Validity

Validity is a concern for the relationship between, the purpose set to achieve,

on the one hand, and the efforts made, the means employed and what these efforts and

means actually achieve, on the others. The validity of this test was taken for granted,

because it was an achievement test and was constructed after keeping in view the

weightage of the different portions of the syllabi in view. Further more, the opinion of

ten experts confirm the content validity of the achievement test. This point of view is

supported by Guilford (1971) and Lindquist (1951), Guilford says, "There are some

measures whose validity is taken for granted, for example, achievement test scores".

Lindquist (1951) also says, “---the content of an achievement test is often formulated

by analysis of curriculum and text books and by the pooled judgment of recognized

authorities in the field. Under these circumstances, a well constructed test may

constitute the best available measure of criterion; in a sense the test itself defines the

function it is to measure. Such tests may be described as self defining.

The Final Form of Achievement Test

The investigator, after selecting items for final test, rearranged them in

accordance with the principles laid down by experts. The final form of achievement

test consists of eighty five items. On the cover page of the test, standardised

instructions to the testees were printed as in the case of tryout test. The scoring key

for the final test was also prepared and has been given alongwith the test in the

Appendix.

4.2.2 Cooperative Learning Lesson Plans (TGT) in Cooperative Learning

Setting

A lesson plan is a teacher’s detailed description of the course of instruction for

an individual lesson. Co-operative learning alleviates the workload on the teacher

during the actual class period; however, it takes a lot of preparation before the

students enter the room. So, lesson plans for teacher directed instructional material

were developed according to the co-operative learning settings required for TGT

involving the steps written below. Steps of developing teachers directed instructional

material are also presented in the form of process chart in fig. 4.1.

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Fig. 4.1 : Steps of Cooperative Learning Lesson Plans

The following steps were followed in developing the teacher directed

instructional material in cooperative learning settings.

Step 1: Selection of the Content

The content was selected from the class 9th

syllabus of Hindi Grammar of

Haryana Board 2012, as outlined in Table of Contents.

Step II: Content Analysis

Content was divided into nineteen sub-units, so that each unit may be taught in

40 minutes duration. Care was taken to place each sub-unit in a logical and

psychological sequence.

For each type of learning matrix, analysis and sequence analysis were

conducted, because students were likely to learn more if the material is presented in a

correct sequence. Planning for learning sequence was done in a logical order. One

learning event precedes another because it is a component or because it provides a

meaningful context for what is to follow.

Selection of the Content

Content Analysis

Writing of Instructional objectives

Developing the Lesson Plan

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Table 4.6

Chapter-wise Content Specification

Chapter No. Definition Use of Nouns

1 Noun Kinds of Nouns (Proper Noun, Common Nouns,

Collective Noun, Abstract Nouns, Material Noun) with

examples

2 Pronoun Personal Pronouns, Relative pronoun, Interrogative

pronoun, Reflexive and emphatic pronouns,

demonstrative pronouns, indefinite pronoun with

examples.

3 Adjective Kinds of Adjectives – Adjectives of quality, adjectives

of quality, Numeral adjectives, distributions adjectives,

demonstrative adjectives, interrogative adjective

possessive adjective with examples.

4 Verb Types of verbs – Transitive verbs and intransitive

verbs with examples

5 Adverb Kinds of Adverb – Simple adverbs interrogative

adverb, Relative adverbs with examples

6 Compound Kinds of compound with examples

Step III: Writing of Instructional Objectives

Instructional objectives were written for each sub-unit. Instructional objectives

were developed in terms of the observable outcomes expected from the learners.

These concepts and skills that needed to be learned by the students in a particular unit

were identified and decisions regarding their sequence were taken.

Step IV: Developing the Lesson Plans

Nineteen lesson plans were developed to be administered as instructional

treatment to class 9th

students. During planning, besides keeping in mind the abilities,

interests and needs of students, logical order of the content was taken care of.

Appropriate learning conditions were utilized while designing lessons and

provisions for desired instructional events were made. Appropriate instructional aids

149

were also planned wherever required in the lesson. The lessons were arranged

properly in sequence relating to their pre-requisites. The following events of

instruction were initiated at various points of lesson plan, that is : (a) directing

attention; (b) informing learner of the objective; (c) stimulating recall of pre-

requisites; (d) presenting stimulus material; (e) evolving student responses; (f)

providing feedback; (g) guiding thinking; (h) enhancing retention and transfer; and (i)

evaluating student performance (Gagne, 1977).

After accomplishment of the process of lessons designing the lesson plans

were developed under the following headings:

Topic;

Instructional objectives;

Entry behaviour;

Instructional aids; and

Instructional programme

The lesson plans were developed with the help of guideline from the book and

discussion with the experts in this field.

4.2.3 Development of Worksheets

Worksheets are the sheets of paper consisted of different questions structured

according to co-operative learning study employed in this investigation for giving the

students efficient practice to attain effective teaching learning of the student. The

steps of developing worksheets are also presented in Fig. 4.2

Fig.4.2 Steps of Developing Worksheet

Preparation

Try out of the lessons and worksheet

Validation of lessons Work Sheet

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Step I: Preparation

Equal number of worksheets i.e., nineteen worksheets were developed to be

utilized for practice in cooperative learning settings (by forming small groups)

immediately after the lesson is delivered by the teacher. Though the time limit was

not strictly followed, students in groups were allowed to complete them at their own

pace. The worksheets were constructed in such a way that all the groups were able to

complete within 40 minutes.

The items in the worksheets were so framed that they cover each and every

aspect of the lesson delivered by the teacher. Different types of items were framed,

viz., fill in the blanks type, true/false type, multiple choice type and matching type

questions and short answer type.

Step II: Try-Out of the Lessons and Worksheets

The lessons and worksheets were tried out on a group of 40 students to obtain

their response regarding effectiveness of the lessons and worksheets.

Step III: Validation of Lessons and Worksheets

Responses of students to the lessons and worksheets and scores on the post-

test indicated that they were instructionally sound. Changes were made when needed

with respect to sequence, content, presentation and clarity in language. The

suggestions of experts were incorporated. Lessons and worksheets were again

reviewed.

4.2.4 Formative Tests

13 formative tests were developed to measure the performance of students

after teaching each of the six chapters. Two formative tests were prepared in case of

some chapters taking care of length and difficulty. The tests were developed through

the following steps presented in the process chart in fig 4.3.

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Fig.4.3 Steps of developing the formative Tests

Step I: Planning the Formative Tests

Planning is very important in the process of development of any test. It covers

selection of the topic, developing of instructional objectives and preparation of items.

The investigator selected six units from syllabus of Hindi Grammar of class 9th

and 13

formative tests were prepared keeping in view the length of the chapter.

Step II: Preparing the First Draft of the Formative Tests

The first draft of the tests was developed keeping in mind, the instructional

objectives that could not be achieved in the multiple choice questions in achievement

tests were specially taken care of. After consulting the Hindi teacher, formative tests

were developed. Formative tests were combination of both subjective and objective

type of items. Different types of items, viz., multiple choice, true/false, fill in the

blanks and matching type questions were developed. Marks were allotted according to

Planning the formative Tests

Preparing the First Draft of the

formative Tests

Try out

Preparing the final draft of the

formative Tests

Validity

152

the type of questions. The multiple choice, true/false and fill in the blanks matching

type questions were allotted one mark each question.

Step III: Try-Out

The thirteen formative tests were tried out on fifty students of class X who had

already studied the content. There was no time limit. After the test, the students were

asked to point out items which were not meaningful or comprehensible or were not in

the syllabus. The difficulty values and discriminating power of items were also

calculated.

Step IV: Preparing the Final Draft of Formative Tests

The items were arranged from easy to difficult on the basis of difficulty value

index. The items were improved keeping in mind the difficulty value and

discriminating power of the items. Very poor items were rejected. Comments and

suggestions of students were also incorporated and the final draft of tests was

developed.

Step V: Validity

Content validity was determined by comparing the items in a test with content

and objectives of a particular domain to see that they match, as it is essential for a

valid test to reflect the content of a particular domain. The thirteen formative tests

represented a fairly well defined universe of content, so they were considered valid.

The copies of two of the thirteen formative tests are given in Appendix.

Overview

It was envisaged that the use of eight-fold tools would provide enough data to

examine the problem in its details and help suggest the measures of impact on the

stipulated variables outlined for the study namely cooperative learning strategies

vis-à-vis academic achievement, academic anxiety and social competence. In the next

chapter, the research data collected through the procedures discussed so far, are

tabulated, analysed and interpreted.