Test AdministrationTest Revision

Test-Taking Strategies

Sarah O. Cruz

Intended Learning Objectives

To provide suggestions on how to revise and administer a test.

To understand how students take the test.

Start

Revising the Test Understanding Students Test-Taking Strategies

Administering the Test

TEST ADMINISTRATION

Checklist

1. Venue

2. Test Administrator Posture

3. Time

4. Multimedia

5. Instructions

Other Considerations:

Arrangement of items

Seating Arrangement

Materials

TEST REVISION

Item Analysis

1.Quantitative Item Analysis

2. Qualitative Item Analysis

Item Analysis Terminology

Quantitative Item Analysis

• A numerical method for analyzing test items employing students response alternatives or options.

Qualitative Item Analysis

• A non – numerical method for analyzing test items not employing students responses, but considering test objectives, content validity, and technical item quality

Item Analysis Terminology

Distractor

• Incorrect option in a multiple – choice item

Difficulty Index P

• Proportion of students who answered the item correctly.

Discrimination Index D

• Measure of the extent to which a test item discriminates or differentiates between students who do well on the overall test and those who do not do well on the overall test.

Discrimination Index (D)

• Those who did well on the overall test chose the correct answer for a particular item more often than those who did poorly on the overall test.

Positive Discrimination Index

• Those who did poorly on the overall test chose the correct answer for a particular item more often than those who did well on the overall test.

Negative Discrimination Index

• Those who did well and those who did poorly on the overall test chose the correct answer for a particular item with equal frequency

Zero Discrimination Index

Consider the case below

Suppose your students chose the options to a four – alternative multiple – choice item.

Let C as the correct answer.

A B C* D

3 0 18 9

How does this information help us?

Is the item too difficult/easy for the students?

Are the distractors of the items effective?

Item X

To compute the difficulty level of an item;

A B C* D

3 0 18 9

What is the difficulty level of the item?

Do you consider the item difficult or easy? Why?

Item X

Solving the difficulty index

Since the difficulty level of the item is 0. 60 (60%), the item is

moderately difficult.

A B C* D

3 0 18 9

Item X

Note: If P level > 0.75, the item is considered relatively easy.If P level < 0. 25, the item is considered relatively difficult.

Discrimination Index

Steps in determining Discrimination Index

1. Arrange the papers from highest to lowest score.

2. Separate the papers into an upper group and lower

3. For each item, count the number in the upper group and the number in the lower group that chose each alternatives

4. Record your information for each item

Example for item X ( Class Size = 30)

Options A B C* D

Upper 1 0 11 3

Lower 2 0 7 6

5. Compute D, by plugging the appropriate

numbers in the formula

What is the discrimination index of item X?

Is the discrimination index positive or negative?

Which of the groups frequently get the item correctly?

(if group sizes are unequal, choose the higher number)

Since the discrimination index of

item X is 0. 267, which is positive. More

students who did well on the overall test

answered the item correctly than students

who did poorly on the overall test.

Implication

Difficulty Level (p) = 0. 60

Discrimination Index (D) = 0.267

Should this item be eliminated?

The item is considered a moderately difficult item that has positive (desirable) discrimination ability.

NO

Should any distractor(s) be modified?

Option B is ought to be modified or replaced.

A B C* D

3 0 18 9

Item X YES

(No one chose it)

QUALITATIVE ITEM ANALYSIS

– Matching items and objectives

– Editing poorly written items

– Improving content of the validity of the test

– Analyzing grammatical cues, specific determiners, double negatives, multiple defensible answers, and items that fail to match instructional objectives

Guide Questions for Qualitative Item Analysis

Is the difficulty of the item appropriate for thestudents to be tested?Is each test item independent and are theitems, as a group, free from overlapping?Do the items to be included in the test provideadequate coverage of the table ofspecifications?Is the item stated in simple, clear language?

Does each test item measure an importantlearning-outcome included in the table ofspecifications?Is each item type appropriate for the particularlearning outcome to be measured?Does each item present a clearly formulated task?Is the item free from extraneous clues?

Guide Questions for Qualitative Item Analysis

Study Findings:

Students read the questions first ,then look for the corresponding answer

Students stop reading the alternatives as soon as they have found one that they decide is correct

Study Findings:

Students use matching strategy where material in the passage is matched with those in the alternatives

Students rely on their prior knowledge and general vocabulary

Study Conclusion

Study Recommendation

GIVE PRACTICE TEST

Orient students on how to perform a

particular task which may require a

subtle or major shifts in response

behavior.

Summary

Insights

The choice of testing format

The choice and wordings of instructions

The value and feasibility of coaching the respondents in how to take the test