Objective type test

Nursing Education

1. Nursing Education P radeep mk m.sc. Nursing

2. Objective Type Test

3. An essay type test may be objective centered or objectivebased , though it may be difficult to score it objectively.Nowadays students denounce essay type examinationbecause of its heavy fire or strain, and also the parentscriticize it because of its injurious effects on the physicalhealth of their children, and the psychologists also criticize this type test because of its unreliability and invalidity.Educationologists attack this essay type test, because it lacksdefiniteness in aim and purpose.

4. Cont..., To overcome some of the evil effects of essay type test, objective type tests seem to be very useful. Most of the modem educationologists lay much stress on objective type tests to supplement the essay type it may not be objective centered if it is not planned with reference to the objectives of instruction.

5. Definition Objective test is one that can be provicled with a single pre-determined test of correct answers so that objective opinion or judgment in the scoring procedure is eliminated. -RL Ebei ami DA Frisbe, 1986 Objective test items require students to work or select acorrect or best answer. These items are called objective because they can be scored more objecitvely than any othertype of item used to measure students performance selectedresponse items include alternative response, matching,keyed and multiple choice items. Loit M Ctzrry, 1988

6. Cont..., Objective test has a clear and unambiguous scoring criteria, because multiple choice and true talse tests can usually be scored objectively, they are sometimes retenedto as objective tests. Gilbert Sax, 1989 Objective test items are items that can be objectively scored items on which persons select a response from a lis t of options. W Wiersma and G Jars, 1990

7. Cont..., Th e objective type test refers to any written test thatrequires the examinee to select the correct answer from among one or more of several alternatives or a supply a word of two and that de m ands an ob j e ctive ju dg e me nt where it is scored.

8. Advantages of Objective test 1, It can be scored objectively and easily. The scoring will not vary from time to time or from examiner to examiner. The mood of the examiner in no way affects scoring. 2. In this ty p e, more extensive and representative sampling can be obtained. This reduce the role of luck and craming of expected question. As a result there is greater reliability and better con tent validity. They can be made to cover more material than traditional type. 3. It possesses economy of time, for it takes less time to answer than an essay test. C omparatively many test items can be presented to students. It also saves , a lot of time of the scorer. 4. Students like them very much, because there is no question as to the accuracy of marks they rece ive and there is no choice of bias or favoritism by teacher

9. Cont..., 5. It elimates extraneous (irrelevant) factors such as speed of writing, fluency of expression, litera c y style, good hand writing neatness, etc. 6. They discourage cramming and encourage thinking observation and scrutiny. 7. It creates an incentive for pupils to building a b r oad base of knowledge, skills and abilities. They are mo r e educative for the students. 8. It measures the higher mental processes of understanding, application, analysis, predicton and interpretations.

10. Disadvantages of objective test 1. O bjectives like ability to organize matte abili ty to p resent matter logically and in a coherent fashio n, etc ., cannot be evaluated. 2. Guessing is possible. No doubt the chances of s uc cess may be reduced by the inclusion of a large n umber of items. 3. The const ru ction of adequate objective type items is difficult. It requires special abilities and is time consuming. 4. Printing cost is considerably greater tha n that of an essay type test. U se of this type test are very expe nsive.

11. Classification of Objective type test There are a number of varieties in ob j ec ti ve type test. The common type which are widely used are given, 1. Su ppl y type or recall type. a. Short answer. b .Co m pletion . 2 . Selection type or recognition type. a . Alternate response test. b . Matching, c . Multiple choice. 3. Context-dependent type. a . pictorial form. b . Interpretative.

12. Introduction to Short Answer Type Test: The modern trend is to include more short answer questions in the question papers in order to improve their reliability, validity and sampling capacity. Short answer questions generally require exact answers and, although taking many forms, they share the following distinctive features:

13. (i) They usually take less than five minutes to read and answer, many take less than a minute. (ii) Short answer questions permit larger sampling of content. (iii) They tend towards greater objectivity in scoring. (iv) More reliable and valid than essay questions. (v) The answer is supplied by the pupil, not pre-selected as in objective questions. (vi) Precise and specific as to the scope and length of answers.

14. Classification of Short Answer Type Test: They can be grouped into two broad categories: (a) Extended answer. (b) Insert and completion. Extended Answer Type: The extended answer version includes questions which require pupils to write a brief description, draw a map, make a list, perform a calculation, translate a sentence. Write down a definition or formula and so on. They are probably the commonest form of questions used in schools and are frequently used in examining Boards. They are deceptively easy to set and usually difficult to mark with any degree of speed and consistency.

15. Examples 1: Give the titles of two novels of Prem Chand and for each the names of three of the principal character. (a) Title: Character: (i)………. (ii)………………. (iii)……………… (b) Title: Character: (i)……….. (ii)………………. (iii)……………… 2. Describe briefly two factors which contributed to the outbreak of the First World War. Do not write more than thirty words about each factor. 3. Name the two types of chemical compounds which combine to form salts, and then name one inorganic and one organic salt. 4. Make diagrams to show the structure of (i) An atom. (ii) A human cell. (iii) Methyl alcohol. 5. Write two separate sentences, one containing the word ’eminent’ and the other containing ‘imminent’.

16. (b) Insert or Completion Type: The commonest form of completion questions is one where the pupil is required to add one or two words to complete an incomplete statement correctly. Where the missing words are in the body of the statement to be completed, it is usually called an insert type. A completion type is where the words are required at the end of the statement. The use of insert or completion questions is not, however, limited to written statements and can be used to prepare extremely good questions based on incomplete maps, drawings, diagrams, formulae, calculations, and the like.

17. Examples 2: 1. Complete the missing words in this paragraph. That night there was so little hotel a…tion that they had to take an expensive………….. of rooms. After paying the bill they were almost p…………… less. (A useful technique for testing vocabulary and spelling). 2. Complete the following formulae: Ammonia : N………. Sulphuric : H……… Sodium carbonate : ……………… CO

18. Merits of Short Answer Type Test: 1. Objectivity of scoring can be better ensured in short answer type question in comparison lo long answer question. 2. Besides, the question-setter can ask a number of such questions as compared to long-answer type question within the same time limit. Thus, there can be a greater coverage of content (course). 3. They are more reliable than the long-answer type-questions. 4. There is less chance of guessing by the students. 5. Preparation and administration are easy. 6. It is a compromise between the essay and the objective form of test items.

19. Demerits of Short Answer Type Test: There are no such significant demerits of the short answer type test items. Handwriting, language, expression and the way of organisation of answer may affect the scores. However, the use of short-answer type tests are to be preferred to long- answer type tests.

20. 2. Completion Type Test Items (Fill up the Blanks): The completion test may be defined as a series of sentences in which certain important words or phrases have been omitted and blanks submitted for the pupil to fill in. A sentence may contain a simple blank, or it may contain two or more blanks. The sentences in the test may be disconnected, or they may be organized into a paragraph.

21. Example 2: 1. There is more perspiration in the………….. season. 2. The……… is obtained by dividing the……….. by the M.A. 3. The first performance test of Intelligence was prepared by………….

22. Advantages: 1. Completion-type items are easy to construct. 2. Such type of items are popular and widely used. The pupils are quite familiar with such items. 3. There is no scope of guess work and as such they are more reliable. 4. Such items can measure both knowledge and comprehension (understanding) of the subject matter, while simple recall type items can measure the knowledge aspect only.

23. Limitations: 1. Such items cannot measure higher levels of objective like application, analysis, synthesis or evaluation. 2. Such items fail to test the reasoning power, power to explain, discriminate, illustrate or estimate. 3. These questions are mostly based on memory. 4. Scoring is a bit more laborious as the blanks are scattered here and there.

24. Rules and Suggestions for Construction: 1. Avoid vague statements and see that there is a definite answer to the item. 2. Omit the keywords and phrases. Don’t omit trivial details as in the item— “The first battle of Panipath………… fought between Babur………. Ibrahim Lodi.” 3. Don’t omit too many keywords. This will make the question ambiguous and there may be many possible answers. 4. Don’t omit a part of the sentence. A single word, a date, a number or at best of phrase may be omitted. 5. Avoid giving gaps at the beginning of an item.

25. 6. See that the items do not contain any clue—Ex. ‘Paper boats are made of……………. ‘. 7. Make the blanks of uniform length. 8. Avoid using statements directly from the text. It would encourage rote memory than understanding. 9. Prepare a scoring key containing correct answers. 10. Each blank should be given equal credit (marks).

26. 2. Selection type or recognition type . a. Alternate response test. True-False Test Items A true-false item can be written in one of three forms: simple, complex, or compound. Answers can consist of only two choices (simple), more than two choices (complex), or two choices plus a conditional completion response (compound)

27. Advantages In Using True-False Items True-False items can provide ...  the widest sampling of content or objectives per unit of testing time. scoring efficiency and accuracy. versatility in measuring all levels of cognitive ability. highly reliable test scores. an objective measurement of student achievement or ability.

28. Limitations In Using True-False Items True-false items ... incorporate an extremely high guessing factor. For simple true-false items, each student has a 50/50 chance of correctly answering the item without any knowledge of the item's content. can often lead an instructor to write ambiguous statements due to the difficulty of writing statements which are unequivocally true or false. do not discriminate between students of varying ability as well as other item types. can often include more irrelevant clues than do other item types. can often lead an instructor to favor testing of trivial knowledge.

29. Example Allsessions of Congress are called by the President.(F) The Supreme Court isfrequentlyrequired to rule on the constitutionality of a law. (T) An objective test isgenerallyeasier to score than an essay test. (T) The sum of the angles of a triangle is always 1800 . (T) Each molecule of a given compound is chemically the same as every other molecule of that compound. (T) The galvanometer is the instrument usually used for the metering of electrical energy used in a home. (F)

30. Matching Test In general, matching items consist of a column of stimuli presented on the left side of the exam page and a column of responses placed on the right side of the page. Students are required to match the response associated with a given stimulus . Directions; On the line to the left of each factual statement, write the letter of the principle which bests explains the statement's occurrence. Each principle may be used more than once.

31. Limitations; Included directions which clearly stated the basis for matching the stimuli with the response. Explained whether or not a response could be used more than once and indicated where to write the answer. Used only homogeneous material. When possible, arranged the list of responses in some systematic order (e.g., chronologically, alphabetically). Avoided grammatical or other clues to the correct response. Kept items brief (limited the list of stimuli to under 10). Included more responses than stimuli. When possible, reduced the amount of reading time by including only short phrases or single words in the response list.

32. Example Column I Column II 1. ___ Water A. H2SO4 2. ___ Salt B. HCl 3. ___ Ammonia C. NaCl 4. ___ Sulfuric Acid D. H2O E. H2HCl

33. Multiple-choice test items The multiple-choice item consists of two parts: (a) the stem, which identifies the question or problem and (b) the response alternatives. Students are asked to select the one alternative that best completes the statement or answers the question.

34. Advantages In Using Multiple-Choice Items Multiple-choice items can provide ... versatility in measuring all levels of cognitive ability. highly reliable test scores. scoring efficiency and accuracy. objective measurement of student achievement or ability. a wide sampling of content or objectives. a reduced guessing factor when compared to true-false items. different response alternatives which can provide diagnostic feedback.

35. Limitations In Using Multiple-Choice Items Multiple-choice items ... are difficult and time consuming to construct. lead an instructor to favor simple recall of facts. place a high degree of dependence on the student's reading ability and instructor's writing ability.

36. Example; . Include in the stem any word(s) that might otherwise be repeated in each alternative. Undesirable: In national elections in the United States the President is officially a. chosen by the people. b. chosen by members of Congress. c. chosen by the House of Representatives. *d. chosen by the Electoral College.

37. The daily minimum required amount of milk that a 10 year old child should drink is a. 1-2 glasses. *b. 2-3 glasses. *c. 3-4 glasses. d. at least 4 glasses.

38. 3,Context-dependent type a. pictorial form . 1. What is the capital of Oregon? a. Portland b. Salem c. Eugene d. Corvallis 2. Which is the largest state in the United States of America? 3. Which state has the highest population?

39. b. Interpretative . The phrase "Context-dependent item sets" may be new to you, but I'm sure you've seen this type of question before. By way of definition, let me provide you with an example : Case Study: Mr. West wants his students to truly understand Civil War battles. He engages the help of a local Historical Re-enactment Society and assigns each of his students to the Union or Confederate side. His students join the re-enactors from 7:00am-7:00pm for a full day of activities which include a long march (complete with rudimentary battle gear), setting up camp, cooking over campfires, scouting territory, and engaging in a historically representative battle. 1. Mr. West's strategy is most representative of which of the following learning theories:      a. Behaviorism      b. Cognitivism      c. Social Cognitivism 2. Mr. West is using which of the following strategies:      a. maintenance rehearsal      b. shaping      c. multisensory teaching      d. negative reinforcement 3. As which type of memory or knowledge will this lesson most likely be stored?      a. Declarative      b. Episodic      c. Procedural      d. Self-regulatory 

40. 1. Define the intended learning outcome(s) that the exercise will be designed to assess. 2. Select or create a display consisting of information that is— Directly relevant to the intended learning outcome, and Novel to the students 3. Construct a series of test items that require students to reason with their knowledge and understanding of the subject by analyzing, interpreting, evaluating, and/or drawing inferences from the information in the display. 4. Write each item so that it complies with accepted principles of effective test item construction. 5. Design the page layout so that it calls students’ attention to the dependent relationship between the display and each accompanying test item. 6. Provide adequate directions which describe the tasks the examinees are expected to perform. Students should not be expected to infer what is expected of them. 7. Define the criteria which will be used to evaluate students’ responses. 8. Ask a knowledgeable colleague to review the exercise in terms of— How well the tasks and content of the exercise match the task and content of the intended learning outcome. The accuracy, completeness, and relevance of the scoring criteria. 9. Revise the exercise as needed. 10. Use the exercise on a trial basis. Analyze students’ responses and make further refinements.