8/22/2019 Various Test Item Types

1/3

The table below presents both pros and cons for various test item types. Your selection of

item types should be based on the types of outcomes you are trying to assess (seeanalysis

of your learning situation). Certain item types such as true/false, supplied response, andmatching, work well for assessing lower-order outcomes (i.e., knowledge or comprehension

goals), while other item types such as essays, performance assessments, and some multiplechoice questions, are better for assessing higher-order outcomes (i.e., analysis, synthesis,

or evaluation goals). The italicized bullets below will help you determine the types ofoutcomes the various items assess.With your objectives in hand, it may be useful to create atest blueprintthat specifies youroutcomes and the types of items you plan to use to assess those outcomes. Further, test

items are often weighted by difficulty. On your test blueprint, you may wish to assign lower

point values to items that assess lower-order skills (knowledge, comprehension) and higherpoint values to items that assess higher-order skills (synthesis, evaluation).Item Type Pros ConsMultiple Choice

(see tips forwriting multiplechoice questionsbelow)

more answer options (4-5)reduce the chance ofguessing that an item iscorrect

many items can aid instudent comparison and

reduce ambiguity greatest flexibility in type of

outcome assessed:

knowledge goals, applicationgoals, analysis goals, etc.

reading time increased withmore answers

reduces the number of

questions that can bepresented

difficult to write four or fivereasonable choices

takes more time to writequestions

True/False

(see tips forwriting true/falsequestions below)

can present many items atonce easy to score

used to assess popularmisconceptions, cause-effectreactions

most difficult question towrite objectively ambiguous terms canconfuse many

few answer options (2)increase the chance ofguessing that an item is

correct; need many items toovercome this effect

Matching efficient used to assess student

understanding of

associations, relationships,definitions

difficult to assess higher-order outcomes (i.e.,

analysis, synthesis,

evaluation goals)Interpretive

Exercise(the above threeitem types are

often criticized

a variation on multiplechoice, true/false, ormatching, the interpretiveexercise presents a new

map, short reading, or other

hard to design, must locateappropriate introductorymaterial

students with good readingskills are often at an

http://www.edtech.vt.edu/edtech/id/assess/analysis.htmlhttp://www.edtech.vt.edu/edtech/id/assess/analysis.htmlhttp://www.edtech.vt.edu/edtech/id/assess/analysis.htmlhttp://www.edtech.vt.edu/edtech/id/assess/blueprint.htmlhttp://www.edtech.vt.edu/edtech/id/assess/blueprint.htmlhttp://www.edtech.vt.edu/edtech/id/assess/blueprint.htmlhttp://www.edtech.vt.edu/edtech/id/assess/blueprint.htmlhttp://www.edtech.vt.edu/edtech/id/assess/analysis.htmlhttp://www.edtech.vt.edu/edtech/id/assess/analysis.html

8/22/2019 Various Test Item Types

2/3

for assessingonly lower-order

skills; theinterpretive

exercise is a wayto assess higher-

order skills w/multiple choice,

T/F, and

matching items)

introductory material thatthe student must analyze

tests student ability to applyand transfer prior knowledge

to new material useful for assessing higher-

order skills such asapplications, analysis,synthesis, and evaluation

advantage

SuppliedResponse chances of guessing reduced measures knowledge and

fact outcomes well,terminology, formulas

scoring is not objective can cause difficulty for

computer scoring

Essay less construction time,easier to write

encourages moreappropriate study habits

measures higher-orderoutcomes (i.e., analysis,synthesis, or evaluation

goals), creative thinking,writing ability

more grading time, hard toscore

can yield great variety ofresponses

not efficient to test largebodies of content

if you give the student thechoice of three or four essay

options, you can find outwhat they know, but notwhat they don't know

PerformanceAssessments

(includes essaysabove, along

with speeches,demonstrations,

presentations,

etc.)

measures higher-orderoutcomes (i.e., analysis,

synthesis, or evaluationgoals)

labor and time-intensive need to obtain inter-rater

reliability when using morethan one rater

The table below presents tips for designing two popular item types: multiple choicequestions and true/false questions.Tips for Writing Multiple Choice

Questions Tips for Writing True/False Questions Avoid responses that are interrelated.

One answer should not be similar toothers.

Avoid negatively stated items: "Whichof the following is not a method of

food irradiation?" It is easy to miss

Do not use definitive words such as"only," "none," and "always," thatlead people to choose false, or

uncertain words such as "might,""can," or "may," that lead people tochoose true.

8/22/2019 Various Test Item Types

3/3

the the negative word "not." If youuse negatives, bold-face the negative

qualifier to ensure people see it. Avoid making your correct response

different from the other responses,

grammatically, in length, orotherwise.

Avoid the use of "none of the above."When a students guesses "none of theabove," you still do not know if they

know the correct answer. Avoid repeating words in the question

stem in your responses. For example,if you use the word "purpose" in the

question stem, do not use that same

word in only one of the answers, as itwill lead people to select that specificresponse.

Use plausible, realistic responses. Create grammatically parallel items to

avoid giving away the correctresponse. For example, if you have

four responses, do not start three ofthem with verbs and one of them witha noun.

Always place the "term" in yourquestion stem and the "definition" asone of the response options.

Do not write negatively stated items,as they are confusing to interpret:

"Thomas Jefferson did not write theDeclaration of Independence." True or

False? People have a tendency to choose

"true," so design at least 60% of your

T/F items to be "false" to further

minimize guessing effects. Use precise words (100, 20%, half),

rather than vague or qualitative

language (young, small, many). Avoid making the correct answer

longer than the incorrect answer (agive-away).

http://www.edtech.vt.edu/edtech/id/assess/items.html

http://www.edtech.vt.edu/edtech/id/assess/items.htmlhttp://www.edtech.vt.edu/edtech/id/assess/items.htmlhttp://www.edtech.vt.edu/edtech/id/assess/items.html