Deck 2: Test Design and Construction

Question 1

The procedure for constructing a screening test is different from that for constructing an achievement test.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

The row and column headings for a two -way table of specifications for a test consist of cognitive and affective objectives.

Answer 2

False

Question 3

The use of a taxonomy of educational objectives encourages the test constructor to prepare items that measure higher-order educational objectives.

Answer 3

True

Question 4

The Taxonomy of Educational Objectives: Cognitive Domain consists of six progressively inclusive categories arranged from least to most complex.

Question 5

A table of specifications is a listing of specific procedures for constructing a classroom test.

Question 6

On a well-constructed essay test, all items are attempted by all examinees.

Question 7

Essay items are most susceptible to guessing, and multiple-choice items are most susceptible to bluffing.

Question 8

Essay items can measure the ability to organize, relate, and communicate better than objective items.

Question 9

Compared with objective items, essay items usually provide a better sampling of an examinee?s knowledge of the subject-matter of the test.

Question 10

More complex educational objectives cannot be measured with true-false and multiple-choice items.

Question 11

Interrelated and interlocking items are good objective test items because they do a better job of measuring complex instructional objectives.

Question 12

Questions rather than incomplete statements are preferred on short answer items.

Question 13

False items tend to be more discriminating than true items.

Question 14

Short-answer and matching items are useful only in measuring rote memory or knowledge of facts.

Question 15

Ebel maintained that true-false items are trivial or ambiguous, and tend to misdirect efforts to learn.

Question 16

An acquiescence response set is more likely to affect responses to multiple-choice items than other types of objective test items.

Question 17

Specific determiners are particularly troublesome on short-answer and completion items.

Question 18

Matching items measure more complex cognitive objectives than other types of objective test items.

Question 19

On a matching item, the number of stimulus options (premises) should equal the number of response options.

Question 20

A ranking item is a special type of rearrangement item.

Question 21

The most versatile of all objective test items, in that it can be adapted to the assessment of simple or complex objectives, is the true-false item.

Question 22

Multiple-choice items emphasize recognition rather than recall.

Question 23

The effectiveness of a multiple-choice item is determined primarily by the skill with which the distracters are constructed or selected.

Question 24

An average high-school student can be expected to answer about 75 multiple-choice items and 150 true-false items in an hour.

Question 25

Arranging test items in groups according to type or topic tends to improve test scores.

Question 26

Grouping test items according to difficulty level or type does not appear to affect test scores significantly.

Question 27

Separate answer sheets can be used in marking test answers in the upper elementary school grades and beyond.

Question 28

Oral and written tests measure different aspects of achievement.

Question 29

Oral tests are better than written tests for measuring the extent of students? knowledge of specific facts.

Question 30

Scores on oral achievement tests are usually highly correlated with scores on comparable written examinations.

Question 31

High school and college students usually prefer oral to written examinations.

Question 32

The first step in devising a test to screen job applicants is

A) analyzing the job content into components.
B) constructing a table of specifications.
C) consulting a taxonomy of job objectives.
D) writing test items to predict the criterion.

Question 33

Classroom achievement tests are measures of

A) affective objectives.
B) cognitive objectives.
C) nonintellective objectives.
D) psychomotor objectives.

Question 34

In Bloom?s Taxonomy of Educational Objectives: Cognitive Domain, ?analysis and synthesis? are considered to be more fundamental (i.e., they appear earlier in the taxonomy) than

A) application.
B) comprehension.
C) evaluation.
D) knowledge.

Question 35

Before beginning the task of writing items for an achievement test, it is important to construct a(an)

A) expectancy chart.
B) list of critical behaviors.
C) predictable criterion.
D) table of specifications.

Question 36

In constructing an objective test, approximately __________ more items than needed for the final version of the test should be prepared initially

A) 10%
B) 20%
C) 50%
D) 75%

Question 37

The only thing that is ?objective? about an objective test is the

A) construction.
B) design.
C) interpretation.
D) scoring.

Question 38

Although __________ items are useful in measuring knowledge of terminology, they are of little value in assessing higher-order thinking.

A) essay
B) multiple-choice
C) short-answer
D) true-false

Question 39

Short answer items are most useful in measuring

A) ability to evaluate propositions.
B) analysis and synthesis.
C) knowledge of terminology.
D) understanding of principles.

Question 40

Qualifying words such as ?never, sometimes, and always,? which reveal the answer to an examinee who has no information about the subject of the item, are called

A) false positives and false negatives.
B) glittering generalities.
C) interlocking adverbs.
D) specific determiners.

Question 41

On which kind of objective test items are specific determiners a more serious problem?

A) matching
B) multiple-choice
C) short-answer
D) true-false

Question 42

Bluffing is more of a problem on __________ tests.

A) essay
B) objective
C) oral
D) performance

Question 43

The tendency to answer an item on the basis of its form rather than its content is known as a

A) content distraction.
B) context effect.
C) form bias.
D) response set.

Question 44

On a matching item, the number of

A) response options should equal the number of premises.
B) response options should be greater than the number of premises.
C) the number of premises should be greater than the number of response options.
D) the number of premises is immaterial, but the number of response options should be substantially less.

Question 45

Rearrangement and ranking items are special varieties of

A) matching items.
B) multiple-choice items.
C) short-answer items.
D) true-false items.

Question 46

Recall is to recognition as __________ is to __________.

A) essay, multiple-choice
B) matching, ranking
C) multiple-choice, true-false
D) short answer, completion

Question 47

The type of test item preferred by most professional testers, because of its ability to measure both simple and complex skills, is the

A) completion item.
B) essay item.
C) multiple-choice item.
D) true-false item.

Question 48

The type of objective item that is most effective in measuring comprehension, application, and other higher order objectives of instruction is the __________ item.

A) multiple-choice(completion)
B) rearrangement
C) short answer
D) true-false

Question 49

?Which of the following terms does not belong with the others?? is the stem of a(n) __________item.

A) classification
B) correlate
C) oddity
D) relational

Question 50

The results of psychometric research have revealed that the quality of a cognitive test is improved when

A) examinees are urged to attempt each item before going on to the next item.
B) items are arranged in order from least to most difficult.
C) items of the same general type are grouped together.
D) more time is spent in item writing and less time in item arrangement.

Question 51

In a typical 50-minute class period at the high-school or college level, an examinee can be expected to answer approximately __________ multiple-choice or __________ true-false items during the time limit.

A) 25, 50
B) 40, 75
C) 50, 100
D) 60, 100

Question 52

The arrangement in which test items are placed in order of increasing difficulty but are alternated with other items of similar difficulty throughout the test is known as the __________ format.

A) critical incidence
B) homogeneous hierarchy
C) spiral omnibus
D) tandem order

Question 53

Which of the following is a type of Likert scale?

A) visual analogue
B) true-false
C) performance assessment
D) hierarchical omnibus

Question 54

Likert scales request examinees to make ratings using __________ choices.

A) 5
B) 7
C) 4
D) can be all of the above

Question 55

Test scores are higher when items are grouped
(1) in order from easiest to most difficult, and
(2) according to the type of item

A) Both 1 and 2 are true
B) Only 1 is true
C) Only 2 is true
D) Neither 1 nor 2 is true

Question 56

Which of the following can be evaluated more effectively by a written test than by an oral test?

A) personal qualities
B) cheating and bluffing
C) knowledge of facts
D) in-depth understanding

Question 57

Oral tests are used most often in grades

A) 1-3.
B) 4-6.
C) 7-9.
D) 10-12.

Question 58

Separate answer sheets can be used at the __________ school level and beyond.

A) primary
B) upper elementary
C) junior high
D) senior high

Question 59

Match the descriptive phrase with the each question type:

-Best objective item for measuring complex mental processes

A) Multiple-choice
B) Double-choice

Question 60

Match the descriptive phrase with the each question type:

-Easiest objective item to construct

A) Short-answer
B)Rearrangement

Question 61

Match the descriptive phrase with the each question type:

-Homogeneous list of terms, phrases, or other materials

A) Matching
B) Double-choice

Question 62

Match the descriptive phrase with the each question type:

-Most difficult item to score

A) Essay
B) Rearrangement

Question 63

Match the descriptive phrase with the each question type:

-Scores most affected by specific determiners and guessing

A) True-false
B) Double-choice

Question 64

Describe two or more taxonomies of educational objectives and the purposes for which they are used.

Question 65

List several advantages and disadvantages of each of the following types of test items. (a) objective, (b) essay, (c) oral, (d) performance

Question 66

Take a position on the utility of true-false items as measures of cognitive ability, and defend it with logical reasoning and references.