(Creating Test Items)

Test items should be clear and concise. Within the content, you read the following examples: Item: In which one of the following pieces of music did Motzart use violins, violas, bass, trumpets and other instruments to celebrate a famous French city that is known for the Eifel Tower? Improved: Which of the following pieces is a full-orchestra work that celebrates Paris? In the examples above, the goal is to have students recall Symphony No. 31. There is no need to include the extraneous text. For this assignment, complet the following: Create 3 test items (relevant to your field or context) that have extraneous text followed by revised and improved versions of the test items. Write a summary of what you learned this week and how it will impact your current or future position, relating the body of literature, and following APA 7th edition style This is what we covered this week: Creating Test Items Test items should be appropriate for the goal/s or objective/s being measured. For example, if the objective is for students to be able to analyze text, a multiple choice item would be inappropriate. A constructed response would be far more appropriate to measure a student’s ability to analyze text. If a course goal is for students to be able to recall information, a fill-in-the-blank item may be appropriate. The point of the item or task must be made clear. Instructors should remove verbiage that may make a sentence awkward. For example, see below: Item: In which one of the following pieces of music did Mozart use violins, violas, bass, trumpets and other instruments to celebrate a famous French city that is known for the Eiffel Tower? Improved: Which of the following pieces is a full-orchestra work that celebrates Paris? In the examples above, the goal is to have students recall Symphony No. 31. There is no need to include the extraneous text. The ultimate test or assessment is a learning experience. This refers to providing questions that not only allow learners to express what they learned, but that actually prompt on-the-spot learning. Such questions are not easy to construct. You might experiment with creating them with mentors, colleagues, or teams and even try one at a time per assessment. You might count them in the grade or not. Learning exams, or learning assessments Preparing Directions Assessment directions should be detailed, yet simple to read and understand. Directions should include the purpose of the test or assessment. If the assessment is a timed assessment, students should be made aware. Students should also understand how to respond to test items. For example, multiple choice items with more than one possible correct answer should include directions to choose the best answer rather than just the correct answer. Let learners know ahead of time what to expect on tests or assessments. That does not mean study guides or details need to be provided. Rather, discuss objectives, rubrics, the type of assessment, etc. to help ease students' minds. Some assessments might have a goal that includes an element of surprise because of the field or nature of what objectives need to be measured. For the most part, the goal of assessing should be to measure learners' skills, knowledge, etc. and not how they do in stressful situations. Administering Assessments When administering an assessment, every effort should be made to give all students a fair chance at demonstrating their proficiency. If administering a test in a face-to-face environment, be sure to not waste valuable testing time by talking too much before beginning the assessment. Keep interruptions to a minimum during assessments and take precautions to minimize the chance for cheating. Open-ended assessments are typically more difficult for cheating as compared to tests and such. Also, honor that learners may strongly desire and need to sit in the same place for an assessment. Some research indicates that learners better recall information learned in a setting when the setting remains stable. So, asking students to move their seats or sit somewhere else in a classroom or similar learning environment on a day of an assessment, could impact their ability to recall from their schema what was learned in this higher pressure situation. If students sit in the same seat or area every day of a course or training, avoid asking them to move on assessment/test days. If students are online and completing a shorter or longer assessment, recommend to them to situate themselves in a similar manner to when they learned and studied the information. The idea is to set the stage for success. Appraising Assessments As mentioned earlier, test items should be evaluated prior to administering the assessment. After a test is administered, test items should be reevaluated based on student performance. Test items should be appraised for appropriateness. For example, each test item should measure a goal or objective of the course. Test items should also be relevant in that they should demonstrate a student’s ability to perform tasks that are linked to goals. Test items should also be clear and concise. Ideally, test items are challenging but within the scope of an average student’s ability. A rubric should be included that clearly defines levels of student work. Finally, if a several students miss the same test item, the individual item should be evaluated along with the curriculum related to the item goal.