At the end of the discussion, the students should be able to:

• Explain the different types of objective tests;

• Construct a table of specification that balances an item between lower-
level thinking skills and those test higher-order thinking skills;
• Identify the 7 rules in constructing true-false questions;
• Critique a multiple-choice test question through assisting its guidelines;
• Differentiate the matching type and supply type items; and
• Formulate and essay that corresponds to the following rules in facilitating
the scoring of essays.
TOPICS covered:
5.1 Types of Objective Tests
5.2 Planning a Test and Construction of Table of
Specifications
5.3 Constructing Test Items
5.3.1 Constructing a True-False Test
5.3.2 Multiple Choice Test
5.3.3 Matching Type and Supply Type Items
5.3.4 Essays
Categories of Objective Tests:
 True-False Items
 Multiple-Choice Type Items
 Matching Item
 Enumeration and Fill-in-the Blanks
 Essays

Developing objective tests requires careful PLANNING and EXPERTISE in

terms of actual test construction.
The important steps in planning for a test are:
1. Identifying test objectives
2. Deciding on the type of objective test to be
prepared
3. Preparing a Table of Specifications (TOS)
4. Constructing the draft test items
5. Item Analysis and Try-out
 An objective test, if it is to be COMPREHENSIVE, must
cover the various Levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy.

Each objective includes a statement of what is to be

achieved and, preferably, by how many percent of the
students.
KNOWLEDGE
COMPREHENSION
APPLICATION
ANALYSIS
SYNTHESIS AND EVALUATION
Example:
We want to construct a test on the topic:
“Subject-Verb Agreement in English” for a
Grade V class.
The following are typical objectives:

Knowledge/Remembering. The students must be able to

identify the subject and the verb in a given sentence.

Comprehension/Understanding. The students must be able

to determine the appropriate form of a verb to be used
given the subject of a sentence.

Application/Applying. The students must be able to write

sentences observing rules on subject-verb agreement.
The following are typical objectives:

Analysis/Analyzing. The students must be able to break

down a given sentence into its subject and predicate.

Evaluation/Evaluating. The students must be able to

evaluate whether or not a sentence observes rules on
subject-verb agreement.

Synthesis/Creating. The students must be able to formulate

rules to be followed regarding the subject-verb agreement.
 The test objectives guide the kind of objective tests
that will be designed and constructed by the teacher.
For instance, for the first four (4) levels, we may
want to construct a multiple-choice type of test while for
application and judgment, we may opt to give an essay
test or a modified essay test.
 A table of specifications or TOS is a test map that
guides the teacher in constructing a test. The TOS ensures
that there is balance between items that test lower level
thinking skills and those which test higher order thinking
skills (or alternatively, a balance between easy and
difficult items) in the test.
The simplest TOS consists of four (4) columns:
(a) level of objective to be tested
(b) statement of objective
(c) item numbers where such an objective is being tested,
and
(d) Number of items and percentage out of the total for
that particular objective.
 Table of Specifications Prototype
Level Objective Item Numbers No. %
1. Knowledge Identify the subject-verb 1,3,5,7,9 5 14.29%
2. Comprehension Form appropriate verb forms 2,4,6,8,10 5 14.29%

3. Application Write sentences observing 11,13,15,17,19 5 14.29%

rules on subject-verb
agreement
4. Analysis Determine subject and 12,14,16,18,20 5 14.29%
predicate
5. Evaluation Evaluate whether or not a 21,22,23,24,25 5 14.29%
sentence observes rules on
subject-verb agreement

6. Synthesis Formulate rules on subject 26-35 10 28.57%

verb agreement
Total 35 100%
Tips in Preparing the Table of Specifications
(TOS):
1. Don’t make it overly detailed.
2. It's best to identify major ideas and skills rather than specific details.
3. Use a cognitive taxonomy that is most appropriate to your discipline,
including non-specific skills like communication skills or graphic skills or
computational skills if such are important to your evaluation of the answer.
4. Weigh the appropriateness of the distribution of checks against the
students' level, the importance of the test, the amount of time available.
5. MATCH the question level appropriate to the level of thinking skills.
Intended Learning Process Dimension
Time Type of
Outcome Total %
Allotted Test R U Ap An E C
(Objective)

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

Total

%
 Item Number
Topics No. of Weight Total No.
Remembering Understanding Applying Analyzing Evaluating Creating of Items
Hours (%)
(5%) (15%) (20%) (30%) (26%) (4%)

The Nature of 1 2 3 5 5
8 32% (#1) (#4-5) (#11-13) (#21-25) (#36-40) 16
Mathematics

The Language of 1 2 2 3 2
5 20% (#2) (#6-7) (#14-15) (#26-28) (#41-42) 10
Sets

The Language of 1 2 2 3
4 16% (#9) (#16-17) (#29-30) (#43-45) 8
Relations and
Functions
Inductive and 1 1 1 2 3
4 16% (#3) (#8) (#18) (#31-32) (#46-48 8
Deductive
Reasoning
Problem Solving 1 2 3 2
4 16% (#10) (#19-2-) (#33-35) #(49- 8
Strategies
50)

Total 25 100% 3 7 10 15 13 2 50
 The actual construction of the test items follows the TOS. As a general
rule, it is advised that the actual number of items to be constructed in the
draft should be double the desired number of items.
For instance, if there are five (5) knowledge level items to be
included in the final test form, then at least ten (10) knowledge level items
should be included in the draft.
The subsequent test try-out and item analysis will most likely eliminate
many of the constructed items in the draft (either they are too difficult, too
easy or non-discriminatory), hence, it will be necessary to construct more
items than will actually be included in the final test form.
 The test draft is tried out to a group of pupils or
students.
The purpose of this try out is to determine the :
(a.) item characteristics through item analysis, and
(b) characteristics of the test itself-validity, reliability, and
practicality.
5.3.1 CONSTRUCTING A TRUE OR FALSE TEST

5.3.2 CONSTRUCTING MULTIPLE CHOICE TEST

5.3.3 CONSTRUCTING MATCHING TYPE

AND SUPPLY TYPE ITEMS

5.3.4 CONSTRUCTING ESSAY TESTS

1. Number test questions continuously.
2. Keep your test question in each test group uniform.
3. Make your layout presentable.
4. Do not put too many test questions in one test group.
• T or F: 10 – 15 questions
• Multiple Choice: max. of 30 questions
• Matching type: 5 questions per test group
• Others: 5 – 10 questions
 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.
 Although correction-for-guessing formulas exist, it is best that
the, teacher ensures that a true-false item is able to discriminate
properly between those who know and those who are just
guessing.

A modified true-false test can offset the effect of guessing

by requiring students to explain their answer and to disregard a
correct answer if the explanation is incorrect.
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. ___

Obviously, the answer is FALSE because 100 years from

1898 is not 2000 but 1998.
Rule 2: Avoid using the words “always”, “never” “often” and
other adverbs that tend to be either always true or always
false.

Example: Christmas always falls on a Sunday because it is a

Sabbath day.

Statements that use the word “always” are almost always

false. A test-wise student can easily guess his way through a
test like these and get high scores even if he does not know
anything about the test.
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. _______

Notice that the statement is true. However, we are also not sure
which part of the sentence is deemed true by the student. It is just
fortunate that in this case, all parts of the sentence are true and
hence, the entire sentence is true. The following example illustrates
what can go wrong in long sentences:
Rule 3: Avoid long sentences as these tend to be “true”. Keep
sentences short.

Example: 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.

The first part of the sentence is true but the second part is
debatable and may, in fact, be false. Thus, a “true” response is
correct and also, a “false” response is correct.
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: True or False.

The Principle of our school is Mr. Albert P. Panadero.

The Principal’s name may actually be correct but since the word is
misspelled and the entire sentence takes a different meaning, the
answer would be false! This is an example of a tricky but utterly
useless item.
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. Avoid specific determiners or give-away qualifiers.

Students quickly learn that strongly worded statements are

more likely to be false than true, for example, statements with
“never” “no” “all” or “always.” Moderately worded statements are
more likely to be true than false. Statements with “many” “often”
“sometimes” “generally” ‘frequently” or “some” should be
avoided.
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.
A generalization of the true-false test, the multiple-choice type of
test offers the student more than two(2) options per item to choose
from.
Each item in a multiple-choice test consists of two parts:
(a) the stem
(b) the options.
In the set of options, there is a “correct” or “best” option while all
the others are considered “distracters”.
Rule 1: Do not use unfamiliar words, terms and phrases.

Example: What would be the system reliability of a computer system whose

slave and peripherals are connected in parallel circuits and each one has a
known time to failure probability of 0.05?

A student completely unfamiliar with the terms “slave” and “peripherals”

may not be able to answer correctly even if he knew the subject matter of
reliability.
Rule 2: Do not use modifiers that are vague and whose meanings
can differ from one person to the next such as: much, often,
usually, etc.

Example: Much of the process of photosynthesis takes place in the:

A. Bark B. Leaf C. stem

The qualifier “much” is vague and could have been replaced by

more specific qualifiers like: ” 90% of the photosynthetic process”
or some similar phrase that would be more precise.
Rule 3: Avoid complex or awkward word arrangements. Also, avoid use
of negatives in the stem as this may add unnecessary
comprehension difficulties.

Example:

(Poor) As President of the Republic of the Philippines, Corazon Cojuangco

Aquino would stand next to which President of the Philippine Republic
subsequent to the 1986 EDSA Revolution?

(Better) Who was the President of the Philippines after Corazon C.

Aquino?
Rule 4: Do not use negatives or double negatives as such statements tend to
be confusing.

Example:
(Poor) Which of the following will not cause inflation in the Philippine economy?

(Better) Which of the following will cause inflation in the Philippine economy?

(Poor) What does the statement “Development patterns acquired during the formative
years are NOT Unchangeable” imply?
A. B. C. D.

(Better) What does the statement “Development patterns acquired during the formative
years are changeable” imply?
A. B. C. D.
Rule 5: Each item stem should be as short as possible; otherwise
you risk testing more for reading and comprehension skills.

Rule 6: Distracters should be equally plausible and attractive.

Example: The short story: May Day’s Eve, was written by which Filipino author?
a. Jose Garcia Villa d. Robert Frost
b. Nick Joaquin e. Edgar Allan Poe
c. Genoveva Edrosa Matute

Rule 7: All multiple choice options should be grammatically consistent

with the stem.
Rule 8: The length, explicitness, or degree of technicality of alternatives should
not be the determinants of the correctness of the answer. The following
is an example of this rule

Example: If the three angles of two triangles are congruent, then the triangles
are:
A. congruent whenever one of the sides of the triangles are congruent
B. similar
C. equiangular and therefore. must also be congruent
D. equilateral if they are equiangular

Rule 9: Avoid stems that reveal the answer to another item.

Rule 10: Avoid alternatives that are synonymous with others or those that,
include or overlap others.

Example: What causes ice to transform from solid state to liquid state’?
A. Change in temperature
B. Changes in pressure
C. Change in the chemical composition
D. Change in heat levels

Rule 11: Avoid presenting sequenced items in the same order as in the text.

Rule 12: Avoid use of assumed qualifiers that many examinees may not be
aware of.
Rule 13: Avoid use of unnecessary words or phrases, which are not relevant to
the problem at hand.

Example: The side opposite the thirty degree angle in a right triangle is equal to
half the length of the hypotenuse. If the sine of a 30-degree is 0.5 and its
hypotenuse is 5, what is the length of the side opposite the 30-degree angle?
A. 2.5 B. 3.5 C. 5.5 D. 1.5

Rule 14: Avoid use of non-relevant sources of difficulty such as requiring a

complex calculation when only knowledge of a principle is being tested.

Note in the previous example, knowledge of the sine of the 30-degree angle
would have led some students to use the sine formula for calculation even if a
simpler approach would have sufficed.
Rule 15: Avoid extreme specificity requirements in responses.

Rule 16: Include as much of the item as possible in the stem. This allows for less
repetition and shorter choice options.

Rule 17: Use the “None of the above” option only when the
keyed answer is totally correct.

When choice of the “best” response is intended, “none of the above” is

not appropriate, since the implication has already been made that the correct
response may be partially inaccurate.
Rule 18: Note that the use of “all of the above” may allow credit for partial
knowledge.

In a multiple option item, (allowing only one option choice) if a student

only knew that two (2) options were correct, he could then deduce the
correctness of “all of the above”. This assumes you are allowed only one
correct choice.

Rule 19: Having compound response choices may purposefully increase

difficulty of an item.
Rule 20: The difficulty of a multiple choice item may be controlled by varying
the homogeneity or degree of similarity of responses. The more
homogeneous, the more difficult the item.

Example:
(Less Homogeneous) (More Homogeneous)
Thailand is located in: Thailand is located next to:
A. Southeast Asia A. Laos and Kampuchea
B. Eastern Europe B. India and China
C. South America C. China and Malaya
D. East Africa D. Laos and China
E. Central America E. India and Malaya
 Matching type items may be considered as modified multiple-choice type items
where the choices progressively reduce as one successfully matches the items on
the left with the items on the right.
Example: Match the items in column A with the items in column B.

A B
_________1. Magellan a. First President of the Republic
_________2. Mabini b. National Hero
_________3. Rizal c. Discovered the Philippines
_________4. Lapu-Lapu d. Brain of Katiputian
_________5. Aguinaldo e. The great painter
f. Defended Limasawa island

Normally, column B will contain more items than column A to prevent guessing
on the part of the students. Matching type items, unfortunately, often test lower
order thinking skills (knowledge level) and are unable to test higher order
thinking skills such as application and judgement skills.
A variant of the matching type items is the data sufficiency and comparison type of test
illustrated below:

Example: Write S if the item on the left is greater than the item on the right; N if the item
on the left is less than the item on the right; S if the item on the left equals the item on the
right and U if the relationship cannot be determined.
A B
Square root of 9 ______ a. -3
Square root of 25 ______ b. 615
36 inches ______ c. 3 meters
4 feet ______ d. 48 inches
1 kilogram ______ e. 1 pound

The data sufficiency test above can, if properly constructed, test higher-order thinking skills.
Each item goes beyond simple recall of facts and, in fact, requires the students to make
decisions.
Another useful device for testing lower-order thinking skills is the supply type
of tests. 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 living organisms is called ____________.

Supply type tests depend heavily on the way that the stems are constructed.
These tests allow for one and only one answer and, hence, often test only the
students’ knowledge. It is , however, possible to construct supply type of tests
that will test higher order thinking as the following example shows:
Example: Write an appropriate synonym for 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 four (4) letters.

Notice that these questions require not only mere recall of words but also
understanding of these words.
Essays, classified as non-objective tests, allow for the assessment of higher-
order thinking skills.

Stecklein (1995) has listed 14 types of abilities that can be measured by

essay items:

1. Comparisons between two or more things

2. The development and defense of an opinion
3. Questions of cause and effect
4. Explanations of meanings
5. Summarizing of information in a designated area
6. Analysis
7. Knowledge of relationship
8. Illustrations of rules, principles, procedures, and applications
9. Applications of rules, laws, and principles to new situations
10. Criticisms of adequacy, relevance, or correctness
11. Formulation of new questions and problems
12. Reorganization of facts
13. Discrimination between objects, concepts, or events
14. Inferential thinking
Rule 1: Phrase the direction in such a way that students are guided on the key
concepts to be included.

Example: Write an essay on the topic: “Plant Photosynthesis” using the

following keywords and phrases: chlorophyll, sunlight, water, carbon
dioxide, oxygen, by-product, stomata.
Note that the students are properly guided in terms of the keywords that the
teacher is looking for in this essay examination. An essay such as the one given
below will get a score of zero (0). Why?

Plant Photosynthesis
Nature has its own way of ensuring the balance between food producers and
consumers. Plants are considered producers of food for animals. Plants
produce food for animals through a process called photosynthesis. It is a
complex process that combines various natural elements on earth into the final
product which animals can consume in order to survive. Naturally, we all need
to protect plants so that we will continue to have food on our table. We should
discourage the burning of grasses, cutting trees, and illegal logging. If the
leaves of plants are destroyed, they cannot perform photosynthesis and
animals will also perish.
• Rule 2: Inform the students on the criteria to be used for grading their essays.
This rule allows the students to focus on relevant and substantive materials rather
than on peripheral and unnecessary facts and bits of information.

• Example: Write an essay on the topic: “Plant Photosynthesis” using the

keywords indicated. You will be graded according to the following criteria:
(a) coherence, (b) accuracy of statements, (c) use of keywords, (d) clarity and
(e) extra points for innovative presentation of ideas.
Rule 3: Put a time limit on the 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.

Scoring or grading essay tests question by question, rather than student

by student, makes it possible to maintain a more uniform standard for judging
the answers to each question.
This procedure also helps offset the halo effect in grading. student.
Rule 6: Evaluate answers to essay questions without knowing the identity of the
writer.

This is another attempt to control personal bias during scoring. Answers

to essay questions should be evaluated in terms of what is written, not it terms
of what is known about the writers from other contacts with them. The best way
to prevent our prior knowledge from influencing our judgment is to evaluate
each answer without knowing the identity of the writer. This can be done by
having the students write their names on the back of the paper or by using
code numbers in place of names.
•
Rule 7: Whenever possible, have two or more persons grade each answer. The
best way to check on the reliability of the scoring of essay answers is to obtain
two or more independent judgments.
Although this may not be a feasible practice for routine classroom
testing, it might be done periodically with a fellow teacher (one who is equally
competent in the area). Obtaining two or more independent ratings becomes
especially vital where the results are to be used for important and irreversible
decisions, such as in the selection of students for further training or for special
awards. Here the pooled ratings of several competent persons may be needed
to attain level of reliability that is commensurate with the significance of the
decision being made.

•
Extended response type. The test may be answered by the examinee in
whatever manner he wants
Example: Do you think teachers should be allowed to work abroad as
domestic helpers? Explain your answer.

Restricted response type. The test limits the examinees response may be
answered by the examinee’s responses in terms of length, content, style or
organization.
Example: Give and explain three reasons why the government should or
should not allow teachers to work abroad as domestic helpers.
1. The task is clearly defined. The students are given an idea on the scope
and direction you intended for the answer to take. The question starts with
a description of the required behavior to put them in the correct mind
frame.
E.g. “Compare” or “Analyze”
2. The questions are written in the linguistic level appropriate to the students.
Questions require a student to demonstrate command of background
information, not simply repeating information.
3. Questions regarding a student’s opinion on a certain issue should focus not on
the opinion but on the way it is presented and argued.
4. A larger number of shorter, more specific questions are better, than, one or
two longer questions.
Proposed Criteria in Grading Essay Test
• Ideas (20%)
• Weight of Evidence Presented (40%)
• Correct Usage (20%)
• Logical Conclusions drawn from the evidence (20%)
Proposed Criteria in Grading Essay Test
• Ideas (20%)
• Weight of Evidence Presented (40%)
• Correct Usage (20%)
• Logical Conclusions drawn from the evidence (20%)
• Making a good test takes time
• Teachers have the obligation to provide their
students with the best evaluation
• Tests play an essential role in the life of the
students, parents, teachers and other educators
• Break any of the rules when you have a good reason
for doing so! (emphasis mine)