<< As much as I like to use other forms of test items, please don't be
quite so judgemental about multiple choice items. We use a mixture of
multiple choice and other types of questions in most of our classes, and
we also try to implement 'critical thinking'. Guess which variety is
used the most for measuring critical thinking?? Multiple choice!!
I certainly agree that multiple choice items can be written to measure a
very, very low level of knowledge; I would also assert that a multiple
choice item can be written to measure a deeper understanding of the
material than most short-answer types.
IF a course uses STRICTLY multiple-choice items, this probably does
place some restrictions on the learning that can be assessed -- but the
limits are probably not what we would first think of.
IF we are going to criticize any particular testing method, we should
criticize those tests and quizes which we write in a hurry with the
assumption that they measure what we thought was important. I suspect
we have all written some very bad items, simply due to not thinking
enough about each item.
Thanks for reading this far! (Hopefully, it was helpful.) >>
I couldn't agree more with your comments above. Not only have I found
multiple choice items to be quite effective in measuring reasoning skills but
I also consider it imortant to include a variety of different item types on
each test. My rationale is simple: Most standardized tests use multiple
chioice items and I believe that it is important to expose my students to the
common item-types found on standardized tests. However, I never realized how
important it was to include well designed multiple choice items until I
reviewed the results of statewide assessment programs and determined how many
bright students did horribly on multiple choice items. Now I feel that if we
do not include at least some multiple choice items from time to time, we are
definitely doing our students a disservice. The key is that the items must
be well constructed and from my experience as a test development specialist,
writing good multiple choice items is not as easy as most people think.
I firmly believe that teacher education programa need to place more emphasis
on test construction, especially with the recent trend for alternative
assessments. One week is not enough! As part of a student teaching
experience, the student teacher under the mentorship of a cooperating
teacher, should develop as many tests as possible (with a variety of item
types) which should be reviewed and discussed with the student's college
advisor. The grading system and scoring rubrics should also be discussed
with an emphasis on reliability and validity. My experience is that most
high teachers (and I would suggest junior high and elementary teachers as
well) do not have a clue how to design appropriate assessments. I would be
delighted to write and publish a book on Good Testing Design if the majority
of educators agree with me that such a need exists.
Some of the item formats I suggest in testing are as follows:
Multiple Choice - (as discussed above)
Extended Multiple Choice - (also known as Roman Numeral Format of I Format in
some testing programs)
Quantitative Comparisins - (these are great for testing reasoning without
requiring a great deal of compution; check out the SAT for good examples of
this underused item type)
Short Constructed Response - (commonly known as Fill-Ins)
Extended Constructed Respose - (these requires explanations and partial
credit is generally given using a rubric)
Open-Ended Questions - (same as Extended Constructed Response but these allow
for multiple answers and multiple approaches and require some skill in order
to write good ones)
The SAT contains a variation of the last two types which are referred to as
Student Produced Responses (SPR's) The student actually grids the answer or
one of the possible answers (if more than one correct answer is possible) on
the answer sheet.
My firm also provides staff development and training with respect to test
development / validation and test administration at very reasonable rates.
Deanna M. De'Liberto
Assessment Specialist
D SQUARED ASSESSMENTS, INC.
(Specilaists in Test Development / Validation and Test Administration)
9 Bedle Road, Suite 250
Hazlet, NJ 07730-1209
Phone: (732) 888-9339
Email: Ddeliberto@aol.com
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