Nature and types of Evaluation and Principles of test construction

The nature of measurement and evaluation

Measurement- The process of quantifying he decree to which

someone or soomething possesses a given trait.- It is a process of determining the value or label of

the variable based on what has been observed.

Evaluation- it is the systematic process involving collection and analysis of data in order

to make decisions.

Scale of measurements

Nominal Scale -also known as classify scale.

- the crudest and least informative scale of measurements.

- the scale us tells us nothing about amount, but only indicate the

categories to which things belong.

Ordinal scale- “ranking scale”

- more precise than nominal scale

Interval scale- It has a fixed units of measurements.- this assumes equal intervals or equal

distances between any two points, starting from an arbitrary zero.

Ratio scale - this level of measurement is the most precise and sophisticated.- it has all the characteristics of

interval scales, with addition of an absolute zero point.

Measurements and Goals

Goals- general statements of purpose or desired outcomes

specification of objectives:objective- specific statements of what

is to be accomplished and how well, and are expressed in terms of quantifiable, measurable outcomes.

Needs assessment- process of identifying needs and usually

establishing the relative priorities of those needs.

Classification and statement of objectives

general obj. – begins the preparation of a unit or of an entire course by

specifying in general terms what the final desired outcomes of the

instruction are.Specific Obj.- not only for evaluative

purposes but also use to clarify teacher’s thinking.

Instructional obj.- intent communicated by a statement

describing a proposed change in a learner.

Mastery of minimum skills obj.-expected to be achieved by virtually all students, regardless of ability or

background.

Writing instructional objectives1. Beh. Competent- using an action verb that

represents an observable outcome.2. condition competent- it affects performance

that is not obvious or significantly alters the intent of the objective, the context within which

the beh will be exhibited.3. specify the criterion of acceptable

performance , how well the behavior is

performed.

Taxonomy of educational obj.

Taxonomies - list of educational objectives classify

all objectives into a hierarchy of categories based on presumed

complexity and serve as guides in determining the goals for lesson or

course.

Three domains of learning - cognitive

-Psychomotor - affective

6 major categories of the cognitive taxonomy 1. knowledge- recall of specifics and universals, recall of

method and procedures, recall patterns, structure or setting.

2. comprehension- the care and accuracy with which the communication is paraphrased or rendered from one language or form of communication to another.

3. application- requires not only comprehension but a step beyond this. Given the specific problem the students must select and apply the appropriate

abstraction.

4. Characterization by a value or value complex- completely

internalizing a value such that it is a dominant characteristics which consistently affects beh

5. analysis- the breakdown of communication into its constituent elements or parts such that the relative hierarchy of ideas Is made clear or the relations between the ideas expressed

are made explicit.6. synthesis- involves the putting together of elements and parts

to form a whole not clearly there before7. evaluation- making judgements about the value, for some

purposes, ideas, works, sol, methods, etc.

Major categories of the affective taxonomy 1. receiving- being willing to receive or to attend

to a phenomenon2. responding- being suffiecently motivated to

make an active response, to take action.3. valuing- acknowledge or recognizing that

something has value and its worthwhile.4. organization- incorporating values into a

hierarchical value system.

Principles of test construction cognitive domain3 stages of test development

1. restriction of content- putting boundaries on what is to be covered

2. definition of content- making a detailed outline, detailed enough to include all

knowledge and skill outcomes desired of students.

3. selection of test content- devising a scheme for sampling from domain of behavior.

The table of specification - its basic purpose is to insure that all intended outcomes and only the intended outcomes are

measured and that the list includes the appropriate number of items for each measured outcome.

Types of test

a. Essay test- the student is given the freedom to compose his answer to a question.

Limitation: - limited sampling content

- subjectivity of grading the responses- the halo effect

Characteristics of test items

Two types of obj. test1. supply test- the student supplies the words, numbers or other symbols that

constitute his response 2. selection type- student selects a

response from among those presented in the item

Two types of selection type of test 1. true-false test- essentially a two-choice item in which one is correct

answer 2. matching types of test- consist of

two columns which are called premises and response.

Constructing the test- a test prepared by teacher can be more valid for evaluating her own instruction than a test constructed

expertly by specialist in test construction

4 steps in conducting a good test1. defining the objectives

2. outlining the subject matter content of the test

3. preparing a table of specification4. writing the test items

Defining objectives