This document discusses key considerations for constructing effective exams, including practicality, norm-referenced vs criterion-referenced approaches, reliability, validity, and fairness. It emphasizes that exams must be practical given constraints like time, cost and administration logistics. They should reliably and validly measure the intended objectives, whether ranking students against peers or assessing specific lesson criteria. Fairness ensures all students have equal opportunity to demonstrate knowledge regardless of background. The goal is for assessments to accurately reflect what was taught without unintended biases.

1. Issues regarding construction of
exams

2. How do we know the test is ‘good’ or not?
 Is it dependable ?
 Is it administrable within the given
constraints?
 Does it accurately measure what we want to
measure?

3. Practicality
It is within the means of financial limitations , time constraints, ease of
administration and scoring and interpretation
 A test of language proficiency that takes a student to study for
ten hours to study is impractical.
 A test that requires individual one to one proctoring is
impractical for a group of 500 people and a handful of
examiners.
 A test that takes few hours for students and several hours for
examiners is impractical which is common is most classroom
situations.
 The value and quality of a test are dependant on such nitty-gitty
practical considerations.

4. Norm-referenced
Each test-taker’score is interpreted in relation to mean, median , standard deviation
and percentile ranks. The purpose in each tests is to place test-taker’s along a
mathematical continuum in rank order.
 Standardized tests are intended to be administered to large audiences ,
with results quickly disseminated to test-takes. Such test must have fixed,
predetermined responses in a format that can be electronically scanned.
Practicality is a primary issue.
Criterion-referenced
Designed to give test-takers feedback on specific course or lesson objectives which
is the criteria.
Classroom tests involving small numbers and connected to a curriculum are typical
of criterion referenced testing. Teachers may sometimes find difficulty in coping
with students coming from different cultural backgrounds in devotion of time
and putting efforts in order to offer them appropriate and useful feedback.
Testing and teaching are interrelated.

5. Reliability
A reliable test is consistent and dependable.
 If the examiners give the same test to the same subject or
matched subject on two different occasions , the test itself
would yield similar results it should have test reliability.
 Sometimes the tests yields unreliable results because of
factors beyond the control of the test writer.
 Let’s look at some more factors that has to be kept in mind by
the examiners while constructing tests..

6. VALIDITY
A Test actually measures what it is intended to measure.
 How can teachers be somewhat assured that a test is indeed valid ?
CONTENT VALIDITY
If a test actually samples the subject matter about which conclusions are
to be drawn , if it requires the test-taker perform the behavior that is
being measured.
FACE VALIDITY
To achieve “peak” performance on test, a learner needs to be convinced
that the test is indeed testing what it claims to test.
CONSTRUCT VALIDITY
One way to look at construct validity is to ask the question “ Does this test
actually tap into the theoretical construct as it has been defined ?”

7. FAIRNESS.
Fairness is one that provides all students an equal opportunity to
demonstrate the skills and knowledge being assessed.It should
all students to show what they have learned from instruction . An
assessment should not discriminate between students except on
the grounds of ability being assessed.

8. Key components of Fairness
 Students knowledge of learning targets and assessments.
 Opportunity to learn.
 Prerequisite knowledge and skills.
 Avoiding stereotypes.
 Avoiding bias in assessment tasks and procedures.
TO TEACH IS TO
LEARN TWICE……