1. How to Take Tests I
Background On Testing

2. Teacher’s Perspective
Teachers are taught to prepare instructional objectives for each subject they teach
Their instructional objectives are essentially what they hope to teach
To ensure that their objectives are met, they develop tests

3. Understanding Tests
In a test you are asked to demonstrate your proficiency
A test item calls for a single response or a set of responses
In general, measurement is on the basis of correct answers
The measurement is then evaluated

4. Evaluation Process There are two kinds of evaluation processes:
norm-referenced
criterion-referenced

5. Evaluation Process Norm-referenced you are compared to other students
entire class measurement is grouped into a bell curve
grade depends on where your score is on the curve

6. Evaluation Process Criterion-referenced
grading a student to an objective standard.
For example: 90% and above is an A, 80% to 90% is a B, etc.

7. Is The Test Working??? Teachers use criterion item questions
to determine if instructional objectives were met
to test your proficiency
If the class doesn’t seem to be learning (usually discovered by poor test grades),
teachers may develop a diagnostic test

8. Diagnostic Tests
Designed to see why certain criterion has not been achieved
Determines what material to concentrate on
Some teachers combine both criterion based and diagnostic questions in a single test

9. Test Taking
When taking a test, it may help to be able to tell if questions are
criterion based or
diagnostic

10. Test Taking
Diagnostic questions usually have answers which represent a fragment of the material taught rather than the whole lesson.

11. Test Taking
For example, if students have problems determining the perimeter or area of a rectangle on geometry tests, the teacher might make up a diagnostic test.

12. The Exam
The diagnostic exam might ask for the measurement of a single side of a rectangle.

13. The Exam
A criterion-based question would have asked for the perimeter or area. In the diagnostic version, the teacher would try to determine whether the students knew how to find the length of a side.

14. The Result
If there was a problem doing this, then the teacher would revise his/her lesson plan to include more measurement activities.