Guidelines to

Test Preparation

Guidelines to

Test Preparation

Guidelines for Writing Essay Questions

Be sure your question really tests the learning outcome of interest

Each item should havea clear statement of the problemany restrictions on the answer

Construct a model answercontent of an ideal answer important organizational features you

expect

Essay questions

Poor

Tell what you know about the Pearl Harbor Incident.

Why do you think we dropped 2 bombs on Japan?

Essay questionsBetterRemembering that the U.S. was

attacked at Pearl Harbor on Dec 7, 1941, describe the reactions of Americans, including the actions taken by American officials. Be sure to write one complete paragraph with 4-5 sentences.

Advantages to Essay Questions

Measures higher mental processes, such as the ability to think, to understand large concepts, to organize information, and to express ideas clearly and concisely.

Stimulates creativity and freedom of expression

Disadvantages

Requires a great deal of time to read and score

Unreliable sampling of student achievement

Tends to be vulnerable to unreliable scoring

Handicaps students who write slowly

Guidelines of Writing Multiple Choice Questions

1. Incomplete statements should be meaningful.Poor Example

The United States of America

a. has more than 200,000 people.b. grows large amounts of rubber.c. has few good harbors.d. produces most of the world’s automobiles.

Better

What is the largest state east of the Mississippi River?a)Georgiab)Pennsylvaniac)New Yorkd)Floridae)Texas

2. Be precise, not confusing.

What is the largest (in square miles) state east of the Mississippi River?

a) Georgiab) Pennsylvaniac) New Yorkd) Floridae) Texas

Other Guidelines

Length of alternatives should be consistent

Distracters should be plausible Alternatives should be

arranged uniformly Grammatically consistent 4 -5 alternatives

Avoid using “all of these” or “none of these”

Have only one correct answer Stem should mean the same

to everyonefor example

Ambiguous

1. Where is the most active volcano?a)Mount Kilimanjarob)Mount St. Helensc) Mount Rainierd)Kilauea Cratere)Mount Redoubt

Better

1. What is the most active volcano in the U.S.?a)Mt. Redoubt in Alaskab)Mt. Shasta in Californiac) Mt. St. Helens in Washingtond)Kilauea Crater in Hawaiie)Mount Rainier in Washington

Bonus Point – Why do you think there are five volcanoes in the western part of the United States?

Guidelines

Understanding of definitions is better tested by furnishing the name or word and requiring choices among alternative definitions than by presenting the definition and requiring choices among alternative names or words.-- for example

Faulty

A major city in Georgia is

a. Maconb. Daltonc. Albanyd. Social Circlee. Athens

Advantages to Multiple Choice

Answered quickly Scored quickly Test a lot of material in a short

time Questions easy to write once

you learn the format Can be used for motivation,

review and evaluation

Disadvantages

Measure at recognition level Scoring is mechanical Little way to spot problems of

students Really good questions are hard

to develop and require a lot of time to prepare

Matching Items

words and definitions historical events and dates novels and their authors tools and their uses problems and solutions elements and symbols causes and effects

Guidelines

obvious/natural relationship basis of matching should be

made clear to students one list should be 50% longer the shorter list should not

contain more than 7-8 items

Advantages

Can judge simple relationships between similar ideas, facts, etc.

Relatively easy to score Range of material tested can

be broad Guessing reduced

Disadvantages

Cannot measure understanding of concepts

Measures memorized content Difficult to avoid giving clues Too many items on list make it

confusing.