PART 6

• • The matching type items may be considered modified multiple choice  items where the choices progressively reduce as one successfully  matches the items on the left with the items on the right.  
• 1.Match homogenous not heterogenous items. The items to match  must be homogenous. If you want your students to match authors  with their literary works, in one column will be authors and in the  second column must be literary works. Don’t insert nationality for  instance with names of authors. That will not be a good item since it  is obviously wrong. The following are examples of homogenous  items. The items are all about Filipino heroes, nothing more.
• 1. The stem (longer in construction than the options) must be  in the first column while the options (usually shorter) must be  in the second column.  

   

  2. The options must be more in number than the stems to  prevent the student from arriving at the answer by mere  process of elimination.  

   

  3. To help the examinee find the answer easier, arrange the  options alphabetically or chronologically.  

   

  4. Like any other test, the direction of the test must be given.  The examinees must know exactly what to do.
• • Matching type items, unfortunately, often test lower order  thinking skills (knowledge level) and are unable to test higher  order thinking skills such as application and judgment skills.
•  • Another type of a matching type test is the imperfect type.  Below is an example of an imperfect type of test. It is imperfect  because an answer may be repeated and so like an unfaithful  husband or wife can pair with one other than this wife/her  husband.
• • In Column 1 are works and writings in American literature and  in Column 2 are their authors. Write the letter of the author  which corresponds to his work on the blank provided before  each author. In some cases, an answer may be repeated.  

  
• Supply Type or Constructed-Response Type  

  • Another useful device for testing lower order thinking skills is  the supply type of tests. Like the multiple choice test, the  items in this kind of test consist of a stem and a blank where  the students would write the correct answer.  

   

  Example: The study of life and living organisms is called  __________.  

   

  •  Supply type tests depend heavily on the way the stems  are constructed. These tests allow for one and only one  answer and hence, often test only the students’ knowledge.

   
• Completion Type of Test  

  •  It is, however, possible to construct supply type of tests that  will test higher order thinking skills as the following example  shows:  

   

  Example: Write an appropriate synonym for each of the following.  Each blank corresponds to a letter:  

  Metamorphose: _ _ _ _ _ _  

  Flourish: _ _ _ _  

   

  •  The appropriate synonym for the first is CHANGE with six  letters while the appropriate synonym for the second is GROW  with four letters. Notice that these questions require not only  mere recall of words but also understanding of these words.
• Guidelines in the Formulation of a Completion Type of Test  

  •  The following guidelines can help you formulate a  completion type of test, the fill-in-the blank type.  

   

  1.  Avoid the overmutilated sentences like the item below.  Give enough clue to the student.  The __________ produced by the __________ is used by the  green __________ to change the __________ and  __________ into __________. This process is called  __________.  

   

  2.  Avoid open-ended items. There should be only one  acceptable answer.
• 3.The blank should be at the end or the near end of the sentence.  The question must first be asked before an answer is expected.  Like the matching type of test, the stem (where the question is  packed) must be in the first column.
• 14.Ask questions on more significant items not on trivial matter.  Jose Rizal was born on June _____, 1861.  There are other more significant items to ask other than specific  birthdates.  

   

  5.The length of the blanks must not suggest the answer. So better  to make the blanks uniform in size.  

  A part of speech that names persons, places or things is  __________.  

  A word used to connect clauses or sentences or to coordinate  words in the same clause is called __________.
• Short-answer items, in which the student supplies an answer  consisting of one word, a few words, or a sentence or two,  are generally preferred to completion items for assessing  knowledge targets.
• • Completion items require students to interpret the question  from the sentence. This step is avoided with direct questions.  Second, it is easier to write these items.
• • Short-answer items are best stated in the form of a question  (e.g., “Which state is surrounded by three large bodies of fresh  water?”). They can also be stated in general directions (e.g.,  “Define each of the following terms”), and they can require  responses to visual stimulus materials (e.g., “Name each of the  countries identified with arrows A–D”).  
• • Like completion items, short-answer items are good for  measuring knowledge because students can respond to many  items quickly, a good sample of knowledge is obtained, guessing  is avoided, scoring is fairly objective, and results are generally  more valid than those obtained from selected response formats.
• The main disadvantage of short-answer items is that scoring  takes longer and is more subjective than completion or selected response items.
• The following suggestions will help you write  and select good short answer items.

   

  • Rule 1. State the item so that only one answer is correct. Be sure that  the question or directions are stated so that what is required in the  answer is clear to students. If more than one answer is correct, the  item is vague and the result is invalid.  

   

  • If you are expecting a one-word answer, use a single short blank.
• • Rule 2. State the item so that the required answer is brief.  Remember that short answer items of knowledge have  answers that are short! Keep student responses to a word or  two, or a short sentence, or two or three sentences if  necessary, by properly wording the item, offering clear  directions, and providing space or blanks that indicate the  length of the response. In the directions, state clearly that  students should not repeat the question in their answer.
• • Rule 3. Do not use questions verbatim from textbooks or other  instructional materials. Most textbooks include review questions and  questions for study. You don’t want to use these same questions, or  really anything verbatim for that matter, on tests because it gives  clues to the correct answer and encourages rote memorization.
• • Rule 4. Designate units required for the answer. Students need to  know the specific units and the degree of precision that should be  used in their answer. This will avoid the time students may take to try  to figure out what is wanted—such as asking a question for  clarification during the test—and it will mitigate scoring difficulties.  

   
• • Rule 5. State the item succinctly with words students  understand. It is best to state questions or sentences as  concisely as possible and to avoid using words or phrases  that may be difficult for some students to understand.