Developing Test Questions

Developing Test Questions

The purpose of any test should be to evaluate a student’s knowledge of a subject by providing him or her the opportunity to display what he or she knows about the subject. The goal should be to develop test items that students with a understanding of the topic answer correctly and students who do not possess an adequate understanding of the subject answer incorrectly. What on the surface may seem like a simple objective in reality is a very difficult task. Tests should be fair, yet challenging to students. Overall, tests should reflect the course and lesson objectives, which should be clearly stated prior to testing. The following is a listing of the characteristics of some of the more popular question types as well as suggestions for writing test items.

Multiple Choice

This is the most commonly used question type and one of the most difficult to construct properly. A multiple choice question has two main parts, the item stem and the item options. Item stems should present a single, clearly formulated question or problem. Excessive verbiage or irrelevant information should be eliminated from the stem. Also, it is recommended that negatively stated stems be avoided. However, when the are used, underline and/or capitalize the negative word. The item options include the correct answer and the wrong answers, also known as distracters. In developing the options for the item, all distracters should be plausible and attractive to the less knowledgeable or skillful student. Also, be sure that there is only one correct or best response to the item. Use the alternatives of “none of the above” and “all of the above” sparingly. When used, such alternatives should occasionally be used as the correct response.

True/False

Some view true/false questions as nothing more than a multiple choice item with only two options. Therefore, the guidelines for developing quality true/false items are similar to those for developing multiple choice items. An advantage to using this type of question is that they can cover a large amount of content in a short amount of time. Most students can answer 3-4 questions per minute. However, these advantages come a price. Students have a greater chance of selecting the correct response by guessing. Also, this type of question can only evaluate at the knowledge level of comprehension, which is the lowest level of Bloom’s Cogitative Taxonomy. This can be raised by having students change false items to make them correct.

Matching

Items in which students select the correct response from a provided list are often used on topics which contain a large number of facts. These questions are capable of covering a large amount of content knowledge in a minimal amount of space on the test. However, these questions are often very time consuming for students. This item type is also not good for evaluating for higher levels of learning. When writing this type of item, less than 15 possible responses should be included per item. Group responses within items such that all are plausible. Also, all responses for a given item should appear on a single page.

Short Answer

Short answer items are generally easy to construct. The also encourage more intensive study by the student as they must know the answer versus just being able to recognize the answer. However, this may emphasize the memorization of facts over understanding concepts. Scoring of these items is more difficult as there may be more than one correct answer for the item.

Essay

Essay questions are one of the easiest items to construct, however, they are also one of the most difficult to score objectively. Quality essay questions allow students to demonstrate their ability to organize knowledge and express their opinions on the topic. Phrase each item so that the student’s task is clearly indicated. This type of item is time consuming for students to answer. This can limit the amount of material than can be tested in an exam. To aid in the scoring this type of item, develop a scoring model or rubric. On the rubric list the items or factors that you will use in scoring the items. Indicate a point value or weight for each item. Be sure to share this rubric with the students. This will provide a guide for students in writing their response, thus increasing the quality of answers you receive.

Test item development is an important component of teaching. By taking the time and effort to select the correct type of test item and develop it properly, the evaluation activity will be more productive for both the teacher and the student.