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CONSTRUCTING AND

ADMINISTERING TESTS

PREPARED BY:

AFAK,ANEM,ILA,NAZMIG3.9

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THE ADVANTAGES OF

TESTS Motivate students and structure their efforts

 by making clear your goals as a teacher.

Give you feedback on how successful youhave been at presenting the material.

Reinforce learning by giving students

feedback on their work. Ease the final grading process by giving you

data on student¶s progress over the term.

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ABOUT TESTS

Test should typically measure the learningobjectives you have identified as you plannedthe course.

Test writing can be as challenging and timeconsuming as grading, and it is often moreimportant to student learning.

Different types of test questions assess

different kind of understanding, and the mosteffective tests integrate a variety questiontypes.

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DESIGNING TESTS

Create new tests each time you teach a course.

Leave yourself time to write the test.

Create a bank of questions during the term.

Pay attention to the layout of the exam

Designing an effective test: ± What will you test?

 ± How will you test? ± How do you construct the questions?

 ± How many questions should I give?

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What will you test?

What content do you want the students to

know?

What do you want them to be able to dowith the content (recall, discriminate,

analyze, etc.)?

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How will you test?

Objective questions (multiple choice,

true/false, matching, fill-ins)

Short-answer questions

Essays

Problems

Performance tests

Take home exams

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How do you construct the questions?

Multiple choice: you should state the problemsuccinctly- the ³stem´ (the leading part) of thequestion should be short and direct.

Essay and short-answer: the question you poseshould be a clear and concise statement of what you are looking for. Davis (1993)recommends not giving students a choice of 

essay questions, saying it can createunnecessary anxiety and distract them from thetask of answering the question.

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How many questions should I

give?You should consider the following:

One minute per objective-type question.

Two minutes for a short answer requiring one sentence.

Five to ten minutes for a longer short answer.

Ten minutes for a problem that would take you two minutes toanswer.

Fifteen minutes for a short, focused essay.

Thirty minutes for an essay of more than one to two pages.

You should add 10 min or so to allow for the distribution and

collection of the exam.

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ADMINISTERING TESTS

Have extra copies of the test on hand, in case youhave miscounted or in the event of some other  problem

Minimize interruptions during the exam by readingthe directions briefly at the start and refraining fromcommenting during exam unless you discover a problem.

Periodically write the time remaining on the board Be alert for cheating but do not hover over the

students and cause a distraction.

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Steps to reduce the anxiety in

students Have old exams on file in the department office for students to

review.

Give students practice exams prior to the real test.

Explain in advance of the test day, the exam format and rules,and explain how this fits with your philosophy of testing.

Give students tips on how to study for and take the exam- this isnot for a test of their test-taking ability, but rather of their knowledge, so help them learn how to take test.

Have extra office hours and a review session before test.

Arrive at the exam site early, and be there yourself (rather thansending a proxy) to communicate the importance of the event.

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RETURNING TESTS

Return the exams promptly, preferably within five days,so that the material is still fresh in the students¶ minds.

Discuss the general results in class. In what areas did the

students do well? Where did they struggle? What doesthe exam tell you about what they are learning?

Have extra office hours after the exams to discussconcerns, but consider asking students to wait twenty-four hours to formulate their questions and calm down if necessary if they are upset about the results.

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TQ