1. ASSESSMENT IN EDUCATION ASSESSMENT IN EDUCATION

2. Copyright Keith Morrison, 2004 TESTS Purposes of the test Type of test Objectives of the test Content of the test Construction of the test Format, readability and layout of the test Validity and reliability Marking criteria and conventions Instructions for the test

3. Copyright Keith Morrison, 2004 PROBLEMS WITH TEACHER- DEVISED TESTS Can encourage rote and superficial learning, simply learning for the test. Reliability, validity and utility are not discussed. Quantity is favoured over quality. Tendency to over-emphasise marks and grades rather than rich feedback. Foster too much competitive mentality. Lead to learned helplessness. Too many and they lead to a decline in performance, particularly if the results are simply a mark or grade. Grading every piece of work is counterproductive.

4. Copyright Keith Morrison, 2004 PLANNING A TEST (1) 1.Identify the purposes of the test 2.Identify the test specifications a)Which programme objectives and learning outcomes will be addressed b)Which content areas will be addressed c)Relative weightings, balance and coverage of items d)Total number of items e)Number of questions required to address a particular element f)Exact items in the test 3.Select the content of the test

5. Copyright Keith Morrison, 2004 PLANNING A TEST (2) 4.Consider the form of the test 5.Write the test item Missing words and incomplete sentences Multiple choice questions True-false questions Matching items Essay questions 6.Consider the layout of the test 7.Consider the timing of the test 8.Plan the scoring of the test 9.Consider special adaptations to the test

6. Copyright Keith Morrison, 2004 STAGES OF A TEST How will the task be introduced (e.g. oral, written, pictorial, computer, demonstration) What will the students be doing when they are working (e.g. mental work, practice, oral work, written work, making something) What will the outcome be (e.g. multiple choice answer, short response, essay, oral, written, practical, computer output, artifact, table of results)

7. Copyright Keith Morrison, 2004 OPERATIONALISING A TEST Identify the objectives/outcomes/elements to be covered Break down the objectives/outcomes/ elements into constituent components Select the components that will feature in the test Recast the components in terms of specific, practical, observable behaviours and activities Specify the success criteria Write each test item Pilot the test

8. Copyright Keith Morrison, 2004 ITEM ANALYSIS Suitability of the format of each item for the learning objectives Ability of each item to enable students to demonstrate their achievement of the learning objective Clarity of the test for each item Straightforwardness of each task Unambiguity on the outcome of each task Cultural fairness of each item Independence of each item Adequacy of coverage of each learning objective by the test item

9. Copyright Keith Morrison, 2004 ITEM ANALYSIS Are all the items equally difficult? Which items are easy, moderately hard, hard, very hard, and why? What kind of task does each item require? Are the items sufficiently within the experience of the students? How motivated will students be by the contents of each item? (How relevant and interesting is it?)

10. Copyright Keith Morrison, 2004 SELECTING SAMPLE TEST ITEMS Item discriminability: the potential of the item concerned to be answered correctly by those students who have a lot of the particular quality that the item is designed to measure and to be answered incorrectly by those who have less of the particular quality that the same item is designed to measure. Item difficulty: where the item is not so difficult that nobody answers correctly and not so easy that everyone answers correctly.

11. Copyright Keith Morrison, 2004 ITEM DIFFICULTY x 100 A = number of students who answered the item correctly N =total number of students who attempted the item x 100 = 60% 67% = too easy