Chapter 03: Objective testing

Chapter 3: Objective testingI. Subjective & Objective testingII. Objective testsIII. General principles of multiple choice itemsIV. Important guidelines of multiple choice items V. Components of multiple choice itemsI. Subjective & Objective testingSubjective & Objective terms the scoring methodsAll tests subjectively constructed by the test writerObjective tests: only one correct answer. + scored mechanically by computer + responsible for testing a large number of candidates Reading, vocabulary & grammar objective methodsWriting & speaking  subjective methodsObjective tests  requiring more careful preparationPro. Duong Thieu Tong: + reliability of obj. tests: test writers + reliability of subj. tests: test markersSome criticism(1) Obj. tests: simpler to answer than subj. tests + the degree of difficulty determined by the test constructors + no indication that all objective tests - easy + carefully selected and constructed & rewritten where necessary + setting the pass-mark or the cutting - off point depending on the tester’s subjective judgment or on a particular external situation + pre-tested before being administrated on a wider basis (2) the multiple choice type encourages guessing+ four or five alternatives for each item  sufficient to reduce the possibility of guessing + In reality, candidates rarely make wild guess; most base their guessing on partial knowledgeProf. Duong Thieu Tong If Sts don’t prepare well for the test & the tests are difficult unable to make guess long tests unable to guess correctly reliability: 0 candidates guess easily reliability: high Sts’ guessing (+ score) educational experts in the modern time: prevention of guessing & correction for guessing Obj. tests: gram., voc.& phonologyA poor objective test: poor written items, irrelevant areas or skills (as they are testable), not communicative skillsObjective tests cannot - test students’ ability to communicate - evaluate their actual performanceA good classroom test: objective & subjective itemsIII. General principles of  multiple choice itemsOne of the most widely useful types of itemsThe most time-consuming item to constructNot testing language as communicationA useful means of teaching & testing various learning situation (esp. gram & vocabulary not ability to use the language)Measuring Sts’ ability to recognize correct grammatical forms helping both T &Ss to identify areas of difficulty The number of optionspublic tests: 5 optionsclassroom tests (esp. grammar) : 4 optionsvocabulary & reading : 5 optionsThe number of options varying - the level of difficulty- the language areas being testedthe purpose of the testMultiple choice items- long enough reliable assessment - short enough practicableIV. Important guidelines  of multiple choice itemsEach item: only one absolutely correct answerOnly one feature at a time: being testedEach option: grammatically correct when placed in the stem.(4) a grammar item not contain other grammatical features as difficult as the area being tested, and a vocabulary item not contain more difficult semantic features in the stem than the area being tested.(5) Items: as brief and as clear as possible(6) Items: arranged in rough order of increasing difficultyV. Components of multiple choice items1. The stem2. The correct option3. The distractors1. The stemthe primary purpose: to present the problem clearly and concisely The forms (i) incomplete sentence, (ii) a complete statement; & (iii) a question.the stem: those words or phrases which would have otherwise to be repeated in each optionthe stem allowing the number of choices 2. The correct option(a) avoid confusing students by having a different number of correct options for each item (b) the correct option: approximately the same length as the distractors3. The distractorsEach distractor must be: - attractive & plausible - grammatically correct when standing by itselfPlausible distractors best based on: mistakes in the students’ own written work; their answers in previous tests; teacher’s experience; &a contrastive analysis between L1 & L2