keys to effective testing

Module 3

Keys to Effective Testing

Lesson 1

Test and Their Uses in Educational Assessment

Test defined

• A test is a systematic procedure for measuring an individual’s behavior (Brown, 1991). This definition implies that it has to be developed following specific guidelines. It is a formal and systematic way of gathering information about learners’ behavior, usually through paper-and-pencil procedure (Airisan, 1989).

Uses of Test

Tests serve a lot of function for school administrators, supervisors, teachers, and parents, as well .

(Arends, 1994; Escarilla & Gonzales, 1990).

Uses of Test

School administrators utilize test results for making decisions

regarding the promotion or retention of students; improvement or enrichment of the curriculum; and conduct of staff development programs for teachers.

Uses of Test

Supervisors use test results in discovering learning areas

needing special attention and identifying teachers’ weaknesses and learning competencies not mastered by the students.

Uses of Test

Teachers, on the other hand, utilize tests for numerous

purposes. Through testing, teachers are able to― gather information about the effectiveness of instruction; give feedback to students about their progress; and assign grades.

Uses of Test

Parents, too, derive benefits from test administered to

their children. Through test scores, they are able to determine how well their sons and daughters are faring in school and how well the school is doing its share in educating their children.

Types of Tests

As to mode of response:Oral test- it is a test wherein the test taker gives his

answer orally.Written tests- it is a test where answers to questions

are written by test taker.Performance test- it is one in which the test taker

creates an answer or a product that demonstrates his knowledge or skill, as in cooking and baking.

Types of Tests

As to ease of quantification of response:

Objective test- it is a paper and pencil test wherein students’ answers can be compared and quantified to yield a numerical score.

Subjective test- it is a paper-and-pencil test which is not easily quantified as students are given the freedom to write their answer to a question, such as an essay test.

Types of Tests

As to mode of administration:Individual test- it is a test administered to one

student at a time.Group test- it is one administered to a group of

students simultaneously.

Types of Tests

As to test constructor:Standardized test- it is a test prepared by an

expert or specialist.Unstandardized test- it is one prepared by

teachers for use in the classroom, with no established norms for scoring and interpretation of results.

Types of Tests

As to mode of interpreting results:Norm-referenced test- it is a test that evaluates a

student’s performance by comparing it to the performance of a group students on the same test.

Criterion-referenced test- it is a test that measures a student’s performance against an agreed upon or pre-established level of performance.

Types of Tests

As to nature of the answer:• Personality test- it is a test designed for assessing some

aspects of an individual’s personality.• Intelligence test- it is a test that measures the mental ability of

an individual.• Aptitude test- it is test designed for the purpose of predicting

the likelihood of an individual’s success in a learning area or field of endeavor.

• Achievement test- it is a test given to students to determine what a student has learned from formal instruction in school.

• Summative test- it is a test given at the end of instruction to determine students’ learning and assign grades.

Types of Tests

As to nature of the answer:• Diagnostic test- it is a test administered to students to

identify their specific strengths and weaknesses in past and present learning.

• Formative test- it is a test given to improve teaching and learning while it is going on.

• Socio-metric test- it is a test used in discovering learners’ likes and dislikes, preferences, and their social acceptance, as well as social relationships existing in a group.

• Trade test- it is a test designed to measure an individual’s skill or competence in an occupation or vocation.

Lesson 2

Generals steps in preparation of test

Step 1

Take clear, detailed notes in class and review your notes every night. A nightly review will help reinforce the concepts you learned that day and allow you to identify any areas that are causing you problems well before the test.

Step 2

Set aside a specific time for studying each day. Choose a quiet place and allot a certain amount of time for each subject.

Step 3

Get up and take a break from time to time. If you are too tired or bored, you'll never follow through with studying. If you have trouble concentrating, arrange your study schedule in several shorter time periods rather than one long study session

Step 4

Attempt to master the most important or difficult concepts first. Those will be the area’s most likely to be covered by the test and should occupy a significant percentage of your study time.

Step 5

Take notes as you read though chapters in your textbook. Writing down information can help you retain it better and can make it easier to review key facts.

Step 6

Work with a classmate and quiz each other on the material. If you can't find anyone to work with, develop your own review questions.

Step 7

Listen closely when your professor or teacher tells you that certain subject matter will be on the test. It probably will be and it will be a good idea to make sure that you understand that information completely.

Step 8

Practice for the test. If you know from past experience that your teacher likes to include essay questions on the test, write out a few essay answers pertaining to the main concepts of the chapter. Chances are that one of those concepts will be covered on the test.

Step 9

Maintain a positive attitude on the day of the test. Remind yourself that you are well-prepared, confident and ready to face the challenges that the test presents.

Lesson 3

The Key to Effective Testing


Objectives The specific statements of the aim of the

instruction; it should express what the students should be able to do or know as a result of taking the course; the objectives should indicate the cognitive level, affective level and psychomotor level of expected performance.


Instruction It consists all the elements of the curriculum

designed to teach the subject including the lesson plans, study guide, and reading and homework assignment, the instruction should corresponds directly to the objectives.


AssessmentThe process of gathering, describing or quantifying information about the performance of the learner; testing components of the subject; weight given to the different subject matter areas.


EvaluationExamining the performance of students and comparing and judging its quality. Determining whether or not the learner has met the objectives of the lesson and the extent of understanding.

Lesson 4

Factors to Consider when Constructing a Good Test

Validity

Validity is the degree to which the test measures what is intended to measure the usefulness of the test for a given purpose. A valid test is always reliable.

Reliability

Reliability refers to the consistency of score obtained by the same person when retested using the same instrument.

Administrability

Administrability the test should directed

uniformly to all students so that the scores obtained will not vary due to factors other than differences of the students’ knowledge and skills. There should a clear provision for instruction for the students, proctors and even the one who will check the test.

Scorability

Scorability the test should be easy to score, directions for scoring is clear, provide the answer sheet and the answer key.

Appropriateness

Appropriateness the test item that the

teachers construct must assess the exact performances called for in the learning objectives. The test item should require the same performance of the student as specified in the learning objectives.

Adequacy

Adequacy the test should contain a wide

sampling of items to determine the educational outcomes or abilities so that the resulting scores are representatives of the total performance in the areas measured.

Fairness

Fairness the test should not be biased to the

examinees. It should not be offensive to any examinees subgroups. A test can only be good if it is also fair to all test takers.

Objectivity

Objectivity represents the agreement of two or more raters or a test administrator concerning the score of a student. If the two raters who assess the same student on same test cannot agree on score, the test lacks objectivity and the score of neither judge is valid, thus, lack of objectivity reduces test validity in the same way that lack reliability influence validity.

Lesson 5

Uses and Classification of Test

Productive Uses of Tests

Learning Analysis: Test are used to identify the reasons or causes

why students do not learn and the solutions to help them learn.


Improvement of Curriculum:

Poor performance in a test may indicate that the teacher is not explaining the material effectively, the textbook is not clear, the students are not properly taught.


Selection: When enrolment opportunity or any other

opportunity is limited, a test can be used to screen those who are more qualified.


Research: Tests can be feedback tools to find effective

methods of teaching and learn more about students, their interests, goals and achievements.


Evaluation of Learning Program:

Tests should evaluate the effectiveness of each element in a learning program.

Unproductive Uses of Tests

Grading: Tests should not be used as the only

determinants in grading student.


Labeling:

It is often a serious disservice to label a student, even if the label is positive.


Threatening: Tests lose their validity when used as disciplinary

measures.


Unannounced Testing: Surprise Test are generally not recommended.


Allocating Funds: Some schools exploit tests to solicit for funding.

Classification of Tests

Administrationa. Individual- given orally and requires the

examinees’ constant attention since the manner of answering may be as important as the score.

b. Group- for measuring cognitive skills to measure achievement. Most tests in schools are considered group tests where different test takers can take the tests as a group.


Scoringa. Objective- independent scores agree on the

number of points the answer should receive.b. Subjective- answers can be scored through

various ways. These are then the given different values by scores, the essays and performance tests.


Sort of Response being emphasizeda. Power- allows examinees a generous time

limit to be able to answer every item. The questions are difficult and this difficulty is what is emphasized.

b. Speed- with severely limited time constraints but the items are easy and only a few examinees are expected to make errors.


Types of Response the Examinees must makea. Performance- requires students to perform a

task. This is usually administered individually so that the examiner can count the errors and measure the time the examinee has performed in each task.

b. Paper and pencil- examinees are asked to write on paper.


What is measureda. Sample- limited representative test designed

to measure the total behaviour of the examinee, although no test an exhaustively measure all the knowledge of an individual.

b. Sign test- diagnostic test designed to obtain diagnostic signs to suggest that some form of remediation is needed.


Nature of the Groups being compareda. Teacher-made-test- for use within the

classroom and contains the subject being taught by the same teacher who constructed the test.

b. Standardized test- constructed by test specialist working with curriculum experts and teachers.

Lesson 6

Table of Specification

Table of Specifications

The writing of test items should be accompanied with a carefully prepared set of test specifications. The function of the specifications is to describe the achievement domain being measured and to provide guidelines for obtaining a representative sample of test tasks.

A Table of Specifications is:

• a plan to help teachers decide the subject matter in which to test.

• the teacher’s blueprint in constructing a test for classroom use.

• a test map that guides the teacher, TOS ensures that there is a balance between items that test lower level thinking skills and those with higher order thinking skills in the test.

• TOS acts in the same way as concept map to analyze content areas.

• a two-way chart which describes the topics to be covered by a test and the number or points which will be associated with each topic / written in a grid or matrix.

The simplest TOS consist of four columns:

(a) level of objective to be tested(b) statement of objective(c) item numbers where such an objective is

being tested (d) number of items and percentage out of the

total for that particular objective

Steps in Preparing TOS

• List down the topics covered for inclusion in the test.

• Determine the objectives (Bloom’s Taxonomy) to be assessed by the test.

• Determine the percentage allocation of the test items for each topic.

Guidelines in Writing Test Items

• Avoid wording that is ambiguous and confusing.

• Use appropriate vocabulary and sentence structure.

• Keep questions short and to the point.• Write items that have one correct answer.• Do not provide clues to the answer.

References:

http://www.ehow.com/how_4913690_steps-preparing-test.html How to Prepare for Final Exams | eHow.comhttp://www.ehow.com/how_4510068_prepare-final-

exams.html#ixzz1soKW0g Ronaldo SP. Elicay, Ph.D, and Cresencia C. Laguerta, M.S, Assessment of student learning, 1, cognitive learning.

MET REVIEW (2011). Conception, Benjamin.et.al (2011). LET Reviewer. MET Center, Manila.

Oriondo, Leonora L. and Antonio, E (1984).. Evaluating Educational Outcomes (Tests, Measurement and Evaluation). Rex Book Store, Manila

Garcia, Carlito D., Ed.D., Measuring and Evaluating Learning Outcomes: A Textbook in Assessment of Learning 1 & 2, Books Atbp. Publishing Corp. 436 Leyva St.,Mandaluyong City, 2008,

pages 58-59. Reganit, Arnulto R., Ed. D., Elicay, Ronaldo, Ph. D., Laguerta, Cresencia, M. S. Assessment of Student Learning. Cognitive Learning: 22-27.