ASLER 1 – Ma’am, Zabalo
Midterm
1 ASSESSING STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES
Outcomes assessment
Is the process of gathering information on whether the instruction,
services and activities that the program provide are producing the
desired student learning outcomes?
Principles of good practice in assessing learning outcomes
1. The assessment of student learning starts with the institution’s mission
and core values. There should be a clear statement on the kinds of learning
that the institution values most for its students.
[Link] works best when the program has clear statement of
objectives aligned with the institutional mission and core values. Such
alignment ensures clear, shared and implementable objectives.
3. Outcomes-based assessment focuses on the student activities that will
still be relevant after formal schooling concludes. The approach is to
design assessment activities which are observable and less abstract
such as “to determine the student’s ability to write a paragraph” which
is more observable than “to determine the student’s verbal ability.”
4. Assessment requires attention not only to outcomes but also and equally
to the activities and experiences that lead to the attainment of learning
outcomes. These are supporting student activities.
5. Assessment works best when it is continuous, ongoing and not episodic.
Assessment should be cumulative because improvement is best achieved
through a linked series of activities done over time in an instructional
cycle.
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6. Begin by specifying clearly and exactly what you want to assess. What
you want to assess is/ are stated in your learning outcomes/ lesson
objectives.
7. The intended learning outcome/lesson objective NOT CONTENT is the
basis of the assessment task. You use content in the development of the
assessment tool and task but it is the attainment of your learning
outcome NOT content that you want to assess. This is Outcomes-Based
Teaching and Learning.
8. Set your criterion of success or acceptable standard of success. It is
against this established standard that you will interpret your
assessment results.
9. Make use of varied tools for assessment data-gathering and multiple
sources of assessment data. It is not pedagogically sound to rely on just
one source of data gathered by only one assessment tool. Consider
multiple intelligences and learning styles. DepED Order No. 73, s. 2012
cites the use of multiple measures as one assessment guideline.
10. Learners must be given feedback about their performance. Feedback
must be specific. “Good Work!” is positive feedback and is welcome but
actually is not a very good feedback since it is not specific. A more
specific better feedback is “You observed rules on subject-verb
agreement and variety of sentences. Three of your commas were
misplaced.”
11. Assessment should be on real-word application and not on out-of-
context drills.
12. Emphasize on the assessment of higher-order thinking.
13. Provide opportunities for self-assessment.
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REPORTERS
1st CONSTRUCTIVE ALIGNMENT
Constructive Alignment
Is a Teaching principle that combines constructivism, the idea that
learners construct or create meaning out of learning activities and
what they learn, and alignment. A curriculum design concept that
emphasizes the importance of defining and achieving intended
learning outcomes.
What is the Goal?
To support students in developing as much meaning and learning as
possible from a well-designed, coherent, and aligned course,
Courses are congruent and cohere in an explicit way when there is
good fit and flow between a course’s intended learning outcomes,
teaching and learning activities, and assessments of student learning.
Constructive Alignment by: John Biggs (2014)
Thoughtfully determining intentions for what students should learn
and how they will demonstrate their achievement of these intended
learning outcomes and clearly communicating these to students.
3 main components:
Learning outcomes
Teaching & Learning Activities
Assessments
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2nd SCORING RUBRICS
Rubrics
Is a coherent act of criteria for students’ work that includes
description levels of performance quality on the criteria.
The main purpose of this is to assess performance made evident in
processes and products.
It serves as a scoring guide that seeks to evaluate a student’s
performance in many different tasks based on a full range of criteria
rather than a single numerical score.
The major parts of Rubrics on how to create and use rubrics
according to Brook hart, Susan (2013):
Coherent sets of criteria.
Descriptions of levels of performance for these criteria.
There are two different types of rubrics and of methods for evaluating
students’ efforts such as:
Analytic Rubrics
Identify and assess components of a finished product.
Is good for formative assessment.
It is also adaptable to summative assessment because if you need an
overall score for grading and you can combine the scores.
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Holistic Rubric
Assess student work as a whole.
Scoring is faster than with analytical rubric.
It is good for summative assessment.
This are the example of rubrics grading system:
4 Points
Provides an accurate analysis/co momentary of what the text says
explicitly and inferentially.
Cites convincing text evidence to support the analysis.
3 Points
Provides a mostly accurate commentary of what the text says explicitly
and inferentially.
Cites text evidence to support the analysis.
2 Points
Provides a generally accurate analysis/commentary of what the text
says explicitly or inferentially.
Cites text evidence.
1 Points
Provides a minimally accurate analysis/commentary of what the text
says.
Cites textual evidence.
Shows limited comprehension of ideas expressed in the text.
0 Points
Provides an inaccurate analysis/commentary of the text.
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Shows little to no comprehension if the ideas expressed in the text.
Characteristic of good rubrics
A good rubric must have a list of specific criteria to be rated. These
should be uni-dimensional, so the students and raters know exactly
what the expectations are levels of performance the scoring scale
should include 3-5 levels of performance example: excellent, good,
fair/poor.
Advantage and Dis-advantage of using rubrics:
Advantage
help clarify vague, fuzzy goals
help student to understand your expectations
help student self-improve etc…
Dis - advantages
Rubrics may not fully convey all the information instructors want
student to know.
Importance:
Rubrics are great for students; they let students know what is
expected of them, and demystify grades by clearly stating, in age –
appropriate vocabulary, the expectations for a project.
Rubrics also help teachers authentically monitor a students’ learning
process and develop and revise a lesson plan.
A well-constructed rubric identifies (Carnegie Mellon, 2001):
Criteria
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The aspects of performance (e.g., argument, evidence, clarity) that will
be assessed.
Descriptors
The characteristics associated with each dimension (e.g., argument is
demonstrable and original, evidence is diverse and compelling).
Performance Levels
A rating scale that identifies students’ level of mastery within each
criterion.
Important Characteristics of Rubrics
Criteria
An effective rubric must possess a specific list of criteria, so students
know exactly what the teacher is expecting.
Gradations
There should be gradations of quality based on the degree to which a
standard has been met (basically a scale). The gradations should
include specific descriptions of what constitutes "excellent", "good",
"fair", and "needs improvement". Each gradation should provide
descriptors for the performance level. Typically there are 4-6 gradation
levels on a rubric.
Descriptions
Effective rubrics offer a lot of descriptive language. The rubric
describes exactly what makes an assignment quality. By specificity,
the descriptors enable student performers to verify and comprehend
their scores.
Continuity
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The difference in quality from a score point of 5 to 4 should be the
same difference in quality from a score point of 3 to 2. All descriptors
should model and reflect the consistent levels of continuity.
Reliability
A "good" rubric should be able to be used by various teachers and
have them all arrive at similar scores (for a given assignment).
Reliability also can refer to time (for example, if you are scoring your
100th essay - the rubric allows you to judge the 100th essay with the
same criteria that you judged the 1st essay).
Validity
A rubric possessing validity, scores what is central to the performance
and assignment, not what is easy for the eye to see and simple for the
teacher to grade.
Models
Don't forget to model exemplars of products at various achievement
levels (be sure to keep the models anonymous).
Advantages of Using Rubrics
For Instructors:
1. Rubrics can reduce time spent grading by allowing instructors to refer
to a substantive description without writing long comments.
2. Rubrics can help instructors more clearly identify strengths and
weaknesses across an entire class and adjust their instruction
appropriately. 3. Rubrics can be impartial.
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Scoring can be prescribed by the rubric and not the instructor’s
predispositions towards students.
4. Rubrics allow consistent assessment.
Reproducible scoring by a single individual is enhanced.
Reproducible scoring by multiple individuals can be enhanced with
training.
Greater precision and reliability among scored assessments.
5. Rubrics can reduce the uncertainty which can accompany grading, thus
discouraging complaints about grades.
6. Most assessments do not have an answer key.
Rubrics can provide that key.
7. Rubrics allow instructors to organize and clarify their thoughts.
They tell what is important enough to assess.
They allow comparison of lesson objectives to what is assessed.
Instruction can be redesigned to meet objectives with assessed items.
8. Rubrics can help instructors teach.
They focus instructors on what they intend to assess.
They allow educators to organize their thoughts.
They can provide a scaffold with which the students can learn.
For Students:
1. They allow for better peer feedback on student graded work.
They allow more accurate peer and self-assessment by students.
2. Rubrics document and communicate grading procedures.
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Students can compare their assignment to the rubric to see why they
received their grade.
3. Students can use rubrics as a guide to completing an assignment. They
help students with the learning process and can increase the quality of
student work.
4. Non-scoring rubrics can encourage students to self-assess performance.
Disadvantages of Using Rubrics:
1. Rubrics may not fully convey all information instructor wants students to
know. If educators use the rubric to tell students what to put in an
assignment, then that may be all they put. It may also be all that they
learn. Multiple assessments are useful ways around this disadvantage, as
well as directed instruction or discussion coupled with the assignment.
2. They may limit imagination if students feel compelled to complete the
assignment strictly as outlined in the rubric. List creativity as a criteria if
you wish students to be more adventuresome in their assignments.
3. Rubrics may lead to anxiety if they include too many criteria. Students
may feel that there is just too much involved in the assignment. Good
rubrics keep it simple.
4. Reliability can be a factor as more individuals use the rubric. Especially
when used for peer assessment among untrained users, the
reproducibility and reliability will be reduced.
5. They take time to develop, test, evaluate, and update.
Importance:
Help clarify vague, fuzzy goals.
Help students understand your expectations.
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Help students self-improve.
Inspire better student performance.
Make scoring easier and faster.
Make scoring more accurate, unbiased, and consistent.
Improve feedback to students.
Reduce arguments with students.
Improve feedback to faculty and staff.
Rubrics are great for students: they let students know what is
expected of them, and demystify grades by clearly stating, in age-
appropriate vocabulary, the expectations for a project. Rubrics also help
teachers authentically monitor a student's learning process and develop and
revise a lesson plan.
3rd VARIETY OF ASSESSMENT METHODS, TOOLS, AND TASKS
Types of Assessment Methods:
Pre-Assessment or Diagnostic Assessment
Before creating the instruction, it’s necessary to know for what kind of
students you’re creating the instruction.
Formative Assessment
Formative assessment is used in the first attempt of developing
instruction.
Summative Assessment
Summative assessment is aimed at assessing the extent to which the
most important outcomes at the end of the instruction have been
reached.
Confirmative Assessment
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When your instruction has been implemented in your classroom, it’s
still necessary to take assessment.
Norm-Referenced Assessment
This compares a student’s performance against an average norm.
Criterion-Referenced Assessment
It measures student’s performances against a fixed set of
predetermined criteria or learning.
Standards Assessment
It measures the performance of a student against previous
performances from that student.
Types of Assessment Tools:
Rubrics
For assessing qualitative student work such as essays, projects,
reports, or presentations, we recommend the use of rubrics.
Curriculum Mapping
While not a tool for data collection, a good curriculum map can serve
to focus assessment, and the improvements that follow, where it will
be most useful, informative, or effective.
Focus Groups
The candid reflections or ideas from a small group of students or
participants can provide unanticipated insights valuable for guiding
the direction and methods for assessments.
1.1. Portfolios
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Portfolios can provide a window into the process of student learning,
whether across a semester-long project or a four-year tenure at the
university, that can be assessed (usually by using a rubric).
Structured Interviews
While time-consuming, structured interviews are useful when you
want to ask specific questions, but also want to leave room for
unplannedfor topics or ideas to emerge.
Survey
Conducting an assessment takes time, thought, attention, planning,
and often collaboration.
Types of Assessment Tasks:
Essays
Help you to learn academic writing skills, including formulating an
argument; presenting evidence; integrating material from sources; and
referenappropriately Group.
Group Work
Emphasizes collaborative learning, problem-solving and critical
evaluation, and is a valuable preparation for the workplace.
Journals
Encourage an ongoing personal connection with learning. The less
formal writing approach can promote creative and lateral thinking
around paper content.
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Oral Presentations
Help you master oral communication and persuasive skills.
Seminars
Allow you, individually or with a group, to research a topic, provide a
presentation to your class and facilitate the discussion.
Case Studies
Apply theoretical ideas to practical contexts.
Field Work
Provides an opportunity for on-site work on a project in a context
related to your discipline.
Participation
Marks engage you with course learning and develop your ability to
communicate and discuss ideas.
Practicums
Give you the opportunity to demonstrate the skills or competencies
that will be needed in real life situations.
1.2 Portfolios
Enable you to represent your learning in a range of ways and to take
responsibility for your progress Written.
Written Preparation
Exercises encourage reading and teach academic reading and writing
skills.
4th THE OUTCOMES ASSESSMENT PHASES IN THE INSTRUCTIONAL CYCLE
Assessment
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In education, the term assessment refers to the wide variety of
methods or tools that educators use to evaluate, measure and
document the academic readiness, learning progress, skill acquisition
or educational needs of students.
Phase 1: Institutional Mission
Statements provide various constituencies students,
faculty, legislators, etc. With the institution’s educational goals
and guidance concerning the achievement of these goals.
Example
The DepEd Mission
To protect and promote the right of every Filipino to quality, equitable,
culture-based and complete basic education where:
Students
Learn in a child-friendly, gender-sensitive, safe and motivating
environment.
Teachers
Facilitate learning and constantly nurture every learner.
Administrators and Staff
As stewards of the institution, ensure an enabling and supportive
environment for effective learning to happen.
Family, Community and other Stakeholders
Are actively engaged and share responsibility for developing life-long
learners.
Phase 2: Program Goals
Are broad statements of the kinds of learning we hope students will
achieve they describe learning outcomes and concepts (what you want
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students to learn) in general terms (e.g. clear communication, problem
solving skills, etc.)
Example
Goal:
Student will develop positive cross cultural attitudes.
Objectives:
By grade 4-6, students will demonstrate positive cross cultural
attitudes as indicated by Agreement with cultural items on the
CrossCultural Attitude Scale.
This scale ranges from Strongly Disagree to Strongly Agree. See what
data to Collect for various attitude scales.
Phase 3: Subject Objectives
Are brief statements that describe what students will be expected to
learn by the end of school year, course, unit, lesson, project or class
period.
Example
This course is designed to prepare you for professional writing experiences.
By the end of the course, you should able to:
Identify the primary and secondary audience(s) of a text.
Craft text which take into consideration that need of your primary
audience(s).
Write an array of genres for a variety of purposes.
Identify different rhetorical strategies and appeals in the writing of
others.
Use various rhetorical strategies and appeals to make arguments in
your own writing.
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Appreciate the requirements and limitations placed on different types
of writing by their unique rhetorical situations.
Craft texts which consider the requirements and limitations of their
unique rhetorical situations.
Phase 4: Desired Student Learning Outcomes
Are statements that describe significant and essential learning that
learners have achieved and can reliably demonstrate at the end of a
course or program. In other words, learning outcomes identify what
learner will know and able to do by the end of the course or program.
Example
The learner will have demonstrated the ability to make engine repairs
on a variety of automobiles.
In the above statement, the ability to make engine repairs implies that
the person has the requisite knowledge to do so.
Phase 5: Diagnostic Assessment
Is a type of assessment which examines what student knows and can
do prior to a learning program being implemented. Assessment of
students’ skills and knowledge upon entry to the program provides a
baseline against which to assess progress.
Example
Baseline test
Journal
Performance task
Word splash
Phase 6: Deciding on Lesson Focus
The first phase of a gradual release of responsibility model is the focus
lesson. This is the time when the teacher is demonstrating, modeling
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and sharing his or her thinking with students. Although this segment
may be brief (5-15 minutes), it is powerful.
Phase 7: Supporting Student Activities
Students apply principle of logical thinking and persuasive argument in
writing.
1. Forming opinion about the topic.
2. Researching and writing about variety of perspectives.
3. Adapting style to identified audience.
4. Employing clear argument in writing.
Phase 8: Formative Assessment Outcomes
Refers to a wide variety of methods that teachers use to conduct in
process evaluations of student comprehension, learning needs and
academic progress during a lesson, unit or course.
Example
Metacognition Table
At the end of class, each student answers the following questions
presented to them on index cards:
What did we do in class?
Why did we do it?
What did I learn today?
How can I apply it?
What questions do I have about it?
Phase 9: Review/Reteach
Examine or assess (something) formally with the possibility or intention
of instituting change if necessary.
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Phase 10: Mastery Learning
Is a method of instruction where the focus is on the role of feedback in
learning. Furthermore, mastery in learning refers to a category of
instructional methods which establishes a level of performance that all
students must “master” before moving on to the next unit (Slavin,
1987).
Phase 11: Summative Assessment of Outcomes
Or summative evaluations refer to the assessment of participants
where the focus is on the outcome of a program. This contrasts with
formative assessment, which summarizes the participant’s
development at a particular time.
5th PORTFOLIO
Portfolio
Is a purposeful collection of student’s work or documented
performance (e.g. video of dance) that tells the story of student’s
achievements of growth.
A selection of students work such as paper and test.
Types of Portfolio
According to: Charlotte Danielson and Leslye Abrutyn.
Working Portfolio
It is a project “in the works” which is containing work in progress as
well as finished sample works.
It is also called Development Portfolio.
Display, Showcase or Best Work Portfolio
This Portfolios are designed to display a learner’s best quality of work.
It is the display of the students “best works”.
Assessment or Evaluation Portfolio
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The main function of an assessment portfolio is to document what a
student has learned based on standards and competencies expected of
student at each grade level.
ASSESSMENTS METHODS AND MULTIPLE INTELLIGENCES
/ASSESSMENT OF LEARNING OUTCOMES IN THE K-12 PROGRAM
6th
Methods of Assessments
Direct Assessments
Identify and critically examine the work products your students produce
as part of the course curriculum, and determine which of these are
relevant, valid, and reliable assessments of your learning outcomes.
Example
1. Written Work
Demonstrates knowledge of important content on an exam or in a
paper.
Shows analysis, application, synthesis, and evaluation capabilities.
Displays writing skills.
Produces reflections on what, how, when, and why they learned.
2. Portfolios of Student Work
Are assessed systematically using a rubric.
May be evaluated to determine student learning over time, or may be
composed of the student’s best work.
Encourage student self-reflection.
3. Visual or audio recording of oral presentations or performances with self,
peer, and or instructor evaluations using a rubric; may include
recordings of subsequent performances to document improvements.
4. Capstone Projects.
5. Field or service learning projects.
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6. Performance on in-class tests (or portion of a larger exam), assuming they
are valid, reliable and objective.
7. Presentations
Demonstration of acquired skills.
Demonstration of ability to work collaboratively.
Indirect Assessments
Gathering information through means other than looking at actual
samples of student work. Indirect measures can give us information
quickly, but may not provide real evidence of student learning means
example:
1. Surveys
Surveys can reveal your students’ attitudes and opinions about what
they learned, which may also help you evaluate your outcomes.
2. Course Evaluations that you create to garner specific information
from students
Entrance and/or Exit tickets, for example.
3. Curriculum and Syllabus Analysis
Self or faculty/student group
4. External Reviewers
Colleague or Industry Professional.
Multiple Intelligences
Refers to a theory describing the different ways students learn and
acquire information. These multiple intelligences range from the use of
words, numbers, pictures and music, to the importance of social
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interactions, introspection, physical movement and being in tune with
nature.
Howard Gardner’s Theory of Multiple Intelligences
Proposes that people are not born with all of the intelligence they will
ever have. This theory challenged the traditional notion that there is
one single type of intelligence, sometimes known as “g” for general
intelligence, that only focuses on cognitive abilities.
Intrapersonal
Understanding yourself, what you feel and what you want.
Linguistic
A master of spoken and written language.
Bodily Kinesthetic
Using one’s body in highly differentiated and skilled ways.
Interpersonal
Communicating and reading people.
Logical Reasoning
Skilled at deductive reasoning, detecting patterns and logical thinking.
Musical
Capacity to recognize, create, reproduce and reflect on music.
Spatial
Seeing and mapping the world in 3D.
Naturalist
Understanding nature and organic purposes.
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Using Multiple Intelligences in Testing and Assessment:
Although Howard Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences (MI) is
over a decade old, teachers are still trying to find the best way to use
this theory to assess students with different styles of learning and
varied academic strengths.
Multiple Intelligences shape the way students understand, process,
and use information.
Assessment of Learning Outcomes in the K to 12 Program
The assessment process is holistic, with emphasis on the formative or
developmental purpose of quality assurance in student learning. It is also
standards-based as it seeks to ensure that teachers will teach according to
the standards and students will aim to meet or even exceed the standards.
The students’ attainment of standards in terms of content and performance
is, therefore, a critical evidence of learning.
The assessment shall be done at four levels which are an adaptation of
the cognitive levels for learning. Weights are assigned to the levels.
The levels are defined as follows:
Knowledge
Refers to the substantive content of the curriculum, the facts and
information that the student acquires.
Process
Refers to cognitive operations that the student performs on facts and
information for the purpose of constructing meanings and
understandings. This level is assessed through activities or tests of
analytical ability.
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Understandings
Refer to enduring big ideas, principles and generalizations inherent to
the discipline, which may be assessed using the facets of
understanding. Assessment at this level, should require ability to
synthesize, generalize and judge accordingly.
Products/Performances
Refer to real-life application of understanding as evidenced by the
student’s performance of authentic tasks. At these level students are
expected to be able to apply what has been learned in contrived or real
situations.
7th MULTIPLE CHOICE TEST
Multiple Choice Test
It is a form of an objective assessment in which respondents are asked
to select only correct answers from the choices offered on the list.
It assesses students’ ability to recognize a correct answer, rather to
construct an answer.
Options should provide plausible alternatives to the correct answer.
The answers are easier to recognize.
The purpose of a multiple choice items is to measure candidate ability
with regard to a specific content area.
Advantages
Quick and simple to answer.
Simple to analyze.
They can limit the respondent in their answer.
Disadvantages
Limited feedback to correct errors in student understanding.
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Result may be biased by reading ability or test-wiseness.
Measuring ability to recognize and express ideas is not possible.
Characteristics of multiple choice test:
Good multiple-choice tests use clear and concise language in both the
question and the answers. The question should focus the test-taker on the
content, not trying to understand what the question is asking. That means
that the best questions test the student on a single concept or fact.
Importance of multiple choice test:
Multiple choice test items are less susceptible to guessing than
true/false questions, making them a more reliable means of assessment.
The reliability is enhanced when the number of multiple choice items
focused on a single learning objective is increased.
8th RULES IN CONSTRUCTING TRUE-FALSE TESTS
Binomial-Choice Tests
Are tests that have only two (2) options such as true or false, right or
wrong, good or better and so on. A student who knows nothing of the
content of the examination would have 50% chance of getting the
correct answer by sheer guess work.
Rule 1:
Do not give a hint (inadvertently) in the body of the question.
Example:
The Philippines gained its independence in 1898 and therefore
celebrated its centennial year in 2000.
Rule 2:
Avoid using the words “always”, “never” “often” and other adverbs that
tend to be either always true or always false.
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Example:
Christmas always falls on a Sunday because it is a Sabbath day.
Rule 3:
Avoid long sentences as these tend to be “true”. Keep sentences
short.
Example:
Tests need to be valid, reliable and useful, although, it would require a
great amount of time and effort to ensure that tests possess these test
characteristics.
Tests need to be valid, reliable and useful since it takes very little
amount of time, money and effort to construct tests with these
characteristics.
Rule 4:
Avoid trick statements with some minor misleading word or spelling
anomaly, misplaced phrases, etc.
A wise student who does not know the subject matter may detect this
strategy and thus get the answer correctly.
Example:
The Raven was written by Edgar Allen Poe.
The Principle of our school is Mr. Albert P. Panadero.
RULE 5:
Avoid quoting verbatim from reference materials or textbooks. This
practice sends the wrong signal to the students that it is necessary to
memorize the textbook word for word and thus, acquisition of higher
level thinking skills is not given due importance.
Rule 6:
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Avoid specific determiners or give-away qualifiers.
Rule 7:
With true or false questions, avoid a grossly disproportionate number
of either true or false statements or even patterns in the occurrence of
true and false statements.
9th MATCHING TYPE
What is a Matching-Type Test?
An objective test consisting of two sets of items to be matched with
each other for a specified attribute.
A “recognition” and “structured-response” type of test.
The Matching Format
The matching test item format provides a way for learners to connect a
word, sentence or phrase in one column to a corresponding word,
sentence or phrase in a second column. The items in the first column
are called premises and the answers in the second column are the
responses.
The convention is for learners to match the premise on the left with a
given response on the right. By convention, the items in Column A are
numbered and the items in Column B are labeled with capital letters.
Premises (Column A) Responses (Column B)
A. Teacher
___1. Person that makes an action
or process easy. B. Instructional Designer
___2. Person who guide or instruct. C. Facilitator
___3. Person who are tasked with D. Trainer
developing entire course or
E. Meeting Organizer
curriculum.
___4. Person who helps students
acquire knowledge.
When to Use Matching
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The matching test item format provides a change of pace, particularly
for self-check and review activities. Many instructional designers
employ them in quizzes and tests too. They are effective when you
need to measure the learner’s ability to identify the relationship or
association between similar items. They work best when the course
content has many parallel concepts, for example:
Terms and Definitions
Objects or Pictures and Labels
Symbols and Proper Names
Causes and Effects
Scenarios and Responses
Principles and Scenarios to which they apply
Types of Matching-Type Tests:
Perfect Matching
An option is the only answer to one of the items in column A.
Imperfect Matching
An option is the answer to more than one item in the column.
Sequencing Matching
Requires the examinees to arrange things, steps, or events in
chronological order.
Multiple Matching
Requires the examinees to match the items in column A to B, then
match the answers from column B to column C, and further much
answers from column C to column D.
Construction Guidelines
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If you decide to use a matching format, take the time to construct
items that are valid and reliable. Here are some guidelines for this.
Two-part directions
Your clear directions at the start of each question need two parts: 1)
how to make the match and 2) the basis for matching the response
with the premise. You can also include whether items can be re-used
or not. Example for exercise above:
Drag each career name in Column B. to the best definition in Column
A. No items may be used more than once.
Parallel content
Within one matching test item, use a common approach, such as all
terms and definitions or all principles and the scenarios to which they
apply.
Plausible answers
All responses in Column B should be plausible answers to the
premises in Column A. Otherwise, the test loses some of its reliability
because some answers will be “give-aways.”
Clueless
Ensure your premises don’t include hints through grammar (like
implying the answer must be plural) or hints from word choice (like
using the term itself in a definition).
Unequal responses
In an ideal world, you should present more responses than premises,
so the remaining responses don’t work as hints to the correct answer.
This is not often possible when using a template.
Limited premises
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Due to the capacity limitations of working memory, avoid a long list of
premises in the first column. A number that I’ve come across is to
keep the list down to six items. Even less might be better, depending
on the characteristics of your audience.
One correct answer
Every premise should have only one correct response. Obvious, but
triple-check to make sure each response can only work for one
premise.
ADVANTAGES
Validity and reliability of the matching type exams are higher than the
essay.
The sampling of the examination is more representative and so
measurement is more extensive. This is because more items are
included in the test compared to essay.
Handicaps such as poor vocabulary, poor-handwriting, poor spelling,
poor grammar and the like do not adversely affect the ability to make
a reply.
Scoring is not subjective, because responses are single word, letters
and other symbols with definite value points and hence, the personal
element of the scorer is removed.
Saves time and energy in answering the questions.
Easy to check.
Allows the comparison of related ideas, concepts or theories.
DISADVANTAGES
It is hard to prepare.
It measures factual knowledge only.
It does not help in nor encourage the development of the ability of the
students to organize and express their ideas.
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It encourages memory work even without understanding.
There are certain subjects or courses that are not amendable to
objective examinations.
Since there are many choices, eliminating other possible answers is
harder compared to the multiple type of exam.
10th SUPPLY TYPE OR CONSTRUCTED – RESPONSE TYPE
Supply Type
Another useful device for testing lower order thinking skills is the
supply type of test. Like the multiple choice test, the items in this kind
of test consist of a stem and a blank where the students would write
the correct answer.
Example:
The study of life and organisms is called ____________.
Supply type tests
Depend heavily on the way the stems are constructed. These tests
allow for one and only one answer and, hence, often test only the
student’s knowledge.
Completion type of test
Example:
Instructions: Write an appropriate synonym of each of the following.
Each blank corresponds to a letter.
Metamorphose: _ _ _ _ _ _
Flourish: _ _ _ _
The appropriate synonym for the first is change with six (6) letters
while the appropriate synonym for the second Is grow with a four (4) letters.
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Guidelines in the formulation of a Completion type of test.
The following guidelines can help you formulate a Completion type of
test, the fill in the blank type.
Avoid over multilated sentence.
Avoid open – ended item. There should be only one Acceptable answer.
This item is open – ended hence, no good Test items.
The blank should be at the end or near the end of the Sentence. The
question must first be asked before an Answer is expected. Like the
matching type of test, the stem (where the question is packed) must be
in the first Columns.
Ask question on more significant item not on trivial Matter.
The length of the blanks must not suggest the answer. So better to
make the blanks uniform in size.
11th TYPES OF ESSAY (Restricted Essay Non-restricted/Extended essay)
Restricted Essay
It is also referred to as short focused response. This form of essay test
requires a limited amount of writing or requires that a given problem
be solved in a few sentences.
Examples:
Are asking students to “write an example,” List three reasons,” or
“compare and contrast two techniques.”
Sample Short Response Question
How are the scrub jay and the mockingbird different? Support your
answer with details and information from the article.
Non-restricted/Extended Essay
This form of essay test requires a student to present his answer in
several paragraphs or pages of writing. It gives students more freedom
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to express ideas, opinions and use synthesizing skills to change
knowledge into a creative ideas.
Extended responses can be much longer and complex than short
responses, but students are encouraged to remain focused and
organized.
Sample Extended Response Question
Robert is designing a demonstration to display at his school’s science
fair. He will show how changing the position of a fulcrum on a lever
changes the amount of force needed to lift an object. To do this,
Robert will use a piece of wood for a lever and block of wood to act as
a fulcrum. He plans to move the fulcrum to different places on the
lever to see how its placement affects the force needed to lift an object.
PART A: Identify at least two other actions that would make Robert’s
demonstration better.
PART B: Explain why action would improve demonstration.
The following are the rules of thumb which facilitate the scoring of essays;
Rule 1
Phrase the direction in such a way that students are guided on the
key concepts to be included. Specify how the students should
respond.
Rule 2
Inform the students on the criteria to be used for grading their essays.
This rule allow the students to focus on relevant and substantive
materials rather than on peripheral and unnecessary facts and bits of
information.
Rule 3
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Put a time limit on essay test.
Rule 4
Decide on your essay grading system prior to getting the essays of
your students.
Rule 5
Evaluate all of the students’ answers to one question before
proceeding to the next question.
Rule 6
Evaluate answers to essay questions without knowing the identity of
the writer.
Rule 7
Whenever possible, have two or more persons grade each answer.
Rule 8
Do not provide optional questions.
Rule 9
Provide information about the value/weight of the question and how it
will be scored.
Rule 10
Emphasize higher level thinking skills.
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