WRITING SELECTION

ITEMS
MS. SHIJI THOMAS
PROFESSOR
CARITAS COLLEGE OF NURSING
MULTIPLE CHOICE
QUESTIONS
Nature of multiple choice items

 The multiple choice items consists of a stem, which

presents a problem situation, and several alternatives
(options or choices), which provides possible
solutions to the problem
 The stem may be question or an incomplete
statement
 The alternatives include the correct answer and
several plausible wrong answers called distracters
Example – question form

1. Which one of the following item types is an example

of a supply type test item?
A. Multiple choice item
B. True- False item
C. Matching item
*D. Short-answer item
Example – incomplete statement
form

 An example of a supply-type test item is the:

A. Multiple choice item
B. True-false item
C. Matching item
D. Short answer item
 The question form is easier to write and forces the test maker
to pose a clear problem but tends to result in a longer stem
 The alternatives in the preceding examples contain only one
correct answer and the distracters are clearly incorrect.
 Another type of MCQ is the best answer form, in which
alternatives are all partially correct but one is clearly better than
others which is used for complex achievement
 Eg; Which item type is best for measuring
computational skill?
 A. Multiple choice item
 B. True- false item
 C. Matching type
 D. Short answer type
 multiple –choice items typically include either three,
four or five choices
 The larger number will, of course reduce the
student’s chances of obtaining the correct answer by
guessing
Uses of multiple choice items

 Used to measure knowledge outcomes and various types

of complex learning outcomes
 The single item format is most widely used for measuring
knowledge, comprehension and application outcomes
 The interpretive exercise consisting of a series of multiple
choice items based on introductory material is useful for
measuring analysis, interpretation and other complex
learning outcomes
Knowledge items

 Typically measure the degree to which previously learned material; has been
remembered
 Focus on simple recall of information
 Examples
 Outcome: identify the meaning of a term
 Reliability means the same as:
A. consistency
B. relevancy
C. representativeness
D. usefulness
 Outcome: identifies the order of events
 What is the first step in constructing an achievement
test?
A. Decide on test length
B. Identify the intended learning outcomes
C. Prepare a table of specifications
D. Select the item types to use
Comprehension items

 Typically measure the lowest level of understanding

 Comprehension an be measured by requiring
students to respond in various ways but it is
important that the items contain some novelty
Examples

 Outcome: identifies an example of a term

 Which one of the following statements contains a
specific determiner?
A. America is a continent
B. America was discovered in 1492
C. America has some big industries
D. America’s population is increasing
 Outcome: interprets the meaning of an idea
 The statement that “test reliability is a necessary but
not sufficient condition of a test validity” means that
A. A reliable test will have some degree of validity
B. A valid test will have some degree of reliability
C. A reliable test may be completely invalid and a valid
test completely unreliable
 Outcome: identifies the example of a concept or principle
 Which of the following is an example of a criterion
referenced interpretation?
A. Derik earned the highest score in science
B. Erik completed his experiment faster than his classmates
C. Edna’s test score was higher than 50% of the class
D. Tricia set up her laboratory equipment in five minutes
 Outcome: predicts the most possible effect of an action
 What is most likely to happen to the reliability of the
scores for a multiple choice test, where the number of
alternatives for each item is changed from three to four?
A. It will decrease
B. It will increase
C. it will stay the same
D. There is no basis for making a prediction
Application items

 Measures understanding but at a higher level than

comprehension
 Here the students must demonstrate that they not
only grasp the meaning of information but can also
apply it to concrete situations that are new to them
 Thus application items determine the extent to which
students can transfer learning and use it effectively in
solving new problems
Examples

 Outcome: distinguishes between properly an improperly stated

outcomes
 Which of the following learning outcomes is properly stated in
terms of student performance ?
A. Develops an appreciation of the importance of testing
B. Explains the purpose of test specifications *
C. learns how to write good test items
D. Realizes the importance of validity
 Outcome: improves defective test items
 Directions: Read the following test item and then indicate the best
change to make to improve the item
 Which one of the following types of learning outcomes is most
difficult to evaluate objectively?
1. A concept
2. An application
3. An appreciation
4. None of the above
 The best change to make in the previous item would be to:
A. Change the stem to incomplete statement form
B. Use letters instead of numbers for each alternative
C. Remove the indefinite articles “a” and “an” from the
alternatives
D. Replace “none of the above” with “an interpretation” *
Multiple choice items- strengths

 Learning outcomes from simple to complex can be measured

 Highly structured and clear tasks are provided
 A broad sample of achievement can be measured
 Incorrect alternative provide diagnostic information
 Scores are less influenced by guessing than true-false items
 Scoring is easy, objective and reliable
Multiple choice items- Limitations

 Constructing good items is time consuming

 It is frequently difficult to find plausible distractors
 This item is ineffective for measuring some types of problem
solving ability and the ability to organize and express ideas
 Scores can be influenced by reading ability
Rules for writing multiple choice
items

1. Design each item to measure an important learning

outcome
 When writing the item, focus on the functioning
content of the item and resist the temptation to
include irrelevant material or more obscure and less
significant content to increase item difficulty
 Items designed to measure complex achievement
must contain some novelty
2. Present a single clearly formulated problem in the stem of the item
 The task set forth in the stem of the item should be so clear that a
student can understand it without reading the alternatives
 Example
 Poor: A table of specifications:
A. Indicates how a test will be used to improve learning
B. Provides a more balanced sample of content
C. Arranges the instructional objectives in order of their importance
D. Specifies the method of scoring to be used on a test
 Better : What is the main advantage of using a table
of specifications when preparing an achievement
test?
A. It reduces the amount of time required
B. It improves the sampling of content
C. It makes the construction of test items easier
D. It increases the objectivity of the test
3. State the stem of the item in simple, clear language
 The stem should be stated as precisely as possible
and should be free of unnecessarily complex wording
and sentence structure
 Poorly stated stem items frequently introduce
sufficient ambiguity to prevent a knowledgeable
student from responding correctly
 Example
 Poor: The paucity of plausible , but incorrect, statements related
to a central idea poses a problem when constructing which one
of the following type of test items?
A. Short answer
B. True- false
C. Multiple choice
D. Essay
 Better : The lack of plausible , but incorrect, alternatives will
cause the greatest difficulty when constructing:
A. Short answer items
B. True- false items
C. Multiple choice items
D. Essay items
 Avoid loading the stem with irrelevant and thus nonfunctioning
material
4.Put as much of the wording as possible in the stem
of the item
 Avoid repeating the same material in each of the
alternatives
 By moving all of the common content to the stem,
it is usually possible to clarify the problem further
and to reduce the time the student needs to read
the alternatives
 Poor: In objective testing, the term objective:
A. Refers to the method of identifying the learning
outcomes
B. Refers to the method of selecting the test content
C. Refers to the method of presenting the problem
D. Refers to the method of scoring the answers *
 Better: In objective testing, the term ‘objective’ refers
to the method of:
A. identifying the learning outcomes
B. selecting the test content
C. presenting the problem
D. scoring the answers *
5. State the stem of the item in positive form, whenever possible
6. Emphasize negative wording whenever it is used in the stem of
an item
7. Make certain that the intended answer or correct or clearly best
8. Make all alternatives grammatically consistent with the stem of
the item and parallel in form
9.Avoid verbal clues that might enable students to select the
correct answer or to eliminate an incorrect alternative
10. Make the distracters plausible and attractive to the uninformed
11. Vary the relative length of the correct answer to eliminate
length as a clue
12. Avoid using the alternative “all of the above” and use “none of
the above” with extreme caution
13. Vary the position of correct answer in a random manner
14. Control the difficulty of the item either by varying the problem
in the stem or by changing the alternatives
15. Make certain each item is independent of the other items in the
test
16. Use an efficient item format
17. Follow the normal rules of grammar
18. Break or bend any of these rules if it will improve the
effectiveness of the item
TRUE- FALSE ITEMS
 Typically used to measure the ability to identify whether the
statements of fact are correct
 The basic format is simply a declarative statement that the
student must judge as true or false
 There are modifications of this basic form in which the student
must respond “yes” or “no”,”agree” or “disagree”, “right” or
“wrong” etc
 Such variations are usually given a more general term
alternative response items
Example

 True- false items are classified as a supply-type item. T *F

 In some cases the student is asked to judge each
statement as true or false, and then to change the
false statements so that they are true
 When this is done, a portion of each statement is
underlined to indicate the part that can be changed
 Cluster type true-false format
 A series of items is based on a common stem
 Eg: which of the following terms indicate observable student
performance? Circle Y for yes and N for no
 *Y N 1. Explains
 *Y N 2. identifies
 Y *N 3. Learns
 *Y N 4. Predicts
 Y * N 5. Realizes
True- false items: strengths

 The item is useful for outcomes where there are only two
possible alternatives
 Less demand on reading ability than multiple choice items
 A relatively large number of items can be answered in a typical
testing period
 Complex outcomes can be measured when used with
interpretive exercises
 Scoring is easy, objective and reliable
True- false items: limitations

 It is difficult to write items beyond the knowledge level that are

free from ambiguity
 Marking an item false provides no evidence that the student
knows what is correct
 No diagnostic information is provided by the incorrect answers
 Scores are more influenced by guessing than with any other
type
Rules for writing true- false items

1. Include only one central idea in each statement

2. Keep the statement short and use simple vocabulary and
sentence structure
3. Word the statement so precisely that it can unequivocally be
judged true or false
4. Use negative statements sparingly and avoid double
negatives
5. Statements of opinion should be attributed to some source
unless used to distinguish facts from opinion
6. When cause-effect relationships are being measured, use only
true propositions
 Avoid extraneous clues to the answer
 Base items on introductory material to measure more complex
learning outcomes
MATCHING ITEMS
 A True variation of multiple choice item
 A good practice is to switch to the matching format only when it
becomes apparent that the same alternatives are being
repeated in several multiple choice items
 We can eliminate the repetition of the alternative answers and
present the same items in a more compact form
 The matching format consists of a series of stems,
called premises and a series of alternative answers
called responses
 These are arranged in columns with directions that
set the rules for matching
Matching items- strengths

 A compact and efficient form is provided where the same set of

responses fit a series of item stems (premises)
 Reading and response time is short
 This item is easily constructed if converted from multiple choice
items having a common set of alternatives
 Scoring is easy, objective and reliable
Matching items- limitations

 Largely restricted to simple knowledge outcomes based on

association
 Difficult to construct items that contain a sufficient number of
homogenous responses
 Susceptibility to irrelevant clues is greater than in any other
types
Rules for writing matching items

 Include only homogenous material in each matching item

 Keep the list of items short and place the brief responses on the
right
 Use a larger or smaller number of responses than premises and
permit the responses to be used more than once
 Place the responses in alphabetical or numerical order
 Specify in the directions the basis for matching and indicate that
each response may be used once, more than once or not at all
 Put all the matching items on the same page
 THE INTERPRETIVE
EXERCISE
 Complex learning outcomes can frequently be more
effectively measured by basing a series of items on a
common selection of introductory material, which
may be a paragraph, a table, a chart, a graph, a map
or a picture
 The test items that follow the introductory material
may be designed to call forth any type of intellectual
ability or skill that can be measured objectively.
 THE INTERPRETIVE EXERCISE-
STRENGTHS

 An efficient means of measuring the interpretation of printed

information in various forms is provided
 More meaningful complex learning outcomes can be measured
than with the single item format
 The use of introductory material provides a common basis for
responding
 Scoring is easy, objective and reliable
THE INTERPRETIVE EXERCISE-
LIMITATIONS

 It is difficult to construct effective items

 Written material is highly dependent on reading skill
 This item type is highly subject to extraneous clues
 It is ineffective in measuring the ability to originate, organize
and express ideas
RULES FOR CONSTRUCTING
INTERPRETIVE EXERCISES

1. Select introductory material that is relevant to the learning

outcomes to be measured
2. Select introductory material that is new to the examinees
3. Keep the introductory material brief and readable
4. Construct test items that call forth the type of performance
specified in the learning outcome
5. Follow the rules of effective item writing that pertain to the
type of objective item used
REASON ASSERTION TYPE

 Used to assess higher cognitive domain of the

students
 Frequently used in competitive examinations
 Test items consist of two statements in which one is
assertion and other is reason
 Common key items are provided for 5-6 questions
and students are asked to select the appropriate key
for a particular test item
EXAMPLE

 Mark the right answer in appropriate space provided for it using the following key
for the question nos. I and 2. Each question consists of two statements: one is
assertion and the other is reason
 Key
a) Both the statements are true and the reason is the correct explanation for the
assertion
b) Both the statements are true and the reason is not the correct explanation for
the assertion
c) The assertion is true but the reason is a false statement
d) The assertion is false and the reason is a true statement
e) Both the reason and assertion are false statements
 Q1:
 Assertion: lithium therapy is most effective in mood disorders
 Reason: Lithium replaces sodium from cells. Which causes
increased risk of hypernatremia
 Q2
 Assertion: Right ventricular failure is manifested by
dependent edema and jugular venous pressure
 Reason: RVF leads to increased peripheral pooling of blood
and increased capillary hydrostatic pressure