ICT role in 21st century education and it's challenges.
Preparing biology paper 1 examinations – cpd
1. PREPARATION OF BIOLOGY
MULTIPLE CHOICE EXAMINATION
QUESTIONS ( BIOLOGY P. 1 ) - CPD
MEETING 22ND APRIL, 2009.
IAN CHIRAMBO, BSc.Ed, MBA.Ed (Reading Stg 3)
SENIOR BIOLOGY CONSULTANT (EXAMINER)
TICH EDUCATIONAL CONSULT
2. Preparing Multiple choice questions
Biology Paper 1.
To write good multiple choice examination
question one needs the following Instruments:
1. Cognitive domain
2. Biology syllabus
3. Test specification Table
4. Rules for writing multiple choice questions
3. COGNITIVE DOMAIN
• The six levels of cognition are necessary for
writing good examination questions.
• The six levels listed below are in increasing
order of difficulty.
• The appropriate instructions used to reflect
the different levels of cognition are also listed
below:
4. Domain A
1. Knowledge
• The ability to recall previously learned facts.
Instruction
- Identify
- list
- name
- state
- define
- label
5. 2. Comprehension( understanding)
• The ability to understand previously learned
material, facts and figures.
Instruction:
- give examples
- describe
- estimate
- illustrate
- explain,
- summarize
6. Domain B
3. Application
• The ability to apply acquired knowledge,
understanding and skills to new situations or
problems.
Instruction:
- apply, construct,
- prepare, relate,
- solve, calculate,
- demonstrate, predict
- show, use
7. 4. Analysis
• The ability to identify and understand the
components parts and structure of material.
Instruction:
- analyze
- determine
- differentiate
- distinguish
- outline
8. 5. Synthesis
• The ability to use acquired knowledge,
understanding and skills to develop new ideas,
technique or solutions.
Instruction:
- compose
- design
- organize
- propose
- compile
- develop
9. 6. Evaluation
• The ability to assess the value of material for a
given purpose and to make appropriate
decisions.
Instruction:
- compare
- contrast
- assess
- conclude
- evaluate
10. BIOLOGY SYLLABUS
• The syllabus is required for two purposes.
1. To guide setter of the assessment objectives
2. To guide setter of the scope of the topics
coverage.
11. ASSESSMENT OBJECTIVES
• Describes the knowledge, skills and abilities
which learners are expected to demonstrate
at the end of the course.
• They reflect those aspects of the aims which
will be assessed.
• There are three assessment objectives listed in
the syllabus but only two will be considered.
12. DOMAIN
A. Knowledge and understanding
Learners SBAT demonstrate knowledge and
understanding in relation to:
1. Facts, laws, definitions, concepts and
theories relating to biological phenomena
2. Biological
vocabulary, terminology, conventions, symbol
s, quantities and units.
13. 3. Scientific instruments and apparatus used in
biology, including techniques of operations and
aspects of safety.
4. Scientific quantities and their determination
5. Biological and technological applications with
their social, economic and environmental
implications.
14. B. Handling information and solving
problems
Using oral, written, symbol, graphical and
numerical materials learners should be able
to:
1. Locate, select, organize and present
information from a variety of source.
2. Translate information from one form to
another
3. Manipulate numerical and other data
15. 4. Use information to identify patterns, report
trends and draw inferences.
5. Present reasoned explanations for phenomena,
patterns and relationships.
6. Make predictions and propose hypotheses
7. Solve problems
16. SCOPE OF TOPIC COVERAGE
The Biology syllabus contains 13 units.
Bigger units of the syllabus areas can be subdivided to give 16 units.
As seen in the Test Specification Table on slide 17.
Questions should come from all the units / subunits of the syllabus.
Without it, questions maybe prepared from one area of the syllabus.
Or questions maybe biased towards topics on animals only and / or
plants only.
17. TEST SPECIFICATION TABLE
TOPIC K C AP AN SY EV TOTAL
Living organisms 3
Nutrition in Plants 3
Animal Nutrition 3
Transport in Plants 2
Transport in Animals 3
Respiration 3
Growth & Dev. in Animals 2
Growth & Dev. in Plants 2
Homeostasis / Excretion 2
Responses Plants / Animals 3
Locomotion 2
Reproduction in Plants 2
18. RULES FOR WRITING MULTIPLE-
CHOICE QUESTIONS.
1. Use Plausible Distractors (wrong-response
options)
- Only list plausible distractors, even if the
number of options per question changes.
- Write the options so that they are
homogenous in content
- Use answers given in previous open-ended
exams to provide realistic distractors.
19. 2. Use a Question format
- Multiple-choice items should be prepared as
questions, rather than incomplete statements.
Examples;
Incomplete statement Format;
- Photosynthesis is the …… less effective
Direct Question Format;
- Which of the following statements correctly
defines photosynthesis?... More effective
20. 3. Emphasize higher-level thinking.
- Use memory-plus application questions.
These questions require learners to recall
principles, rules or facts in a life context.
- The key to preparing memory-plus applications is
to place the concept in a life situation or context
that requires the student to first recall the facts
and then apply or transfer the application of
those facts into a situation.
21. 4. Keep option lengths similar
- Avoid making your correct answer the long or
short answer.
5. Balance the placement of the correct answer
- Correct answers should not always be the
second and third options and /or first and
last all the time.
22. 6. Be Grammatically correct
- Use simple, precise and unambiguous wording
- Learners will be more likely to select the correct
answers by finding the grammatically correct
option.
7. Avoid Clues to the correct Answer
- Avoid answering one question in the test by
giving the answer somewhere else in the test
- Avoid extremes –never , always , only
- Avoid nonsense words and unreasonable
statements.
23. 8. Avoid Negative Questions
- Learners may be able to find an incorrect
answer without knowing the correct answer.
9. Use only one correct potions
- The item should include one and only one
correct or clearly best answer.
- With one correct answer, alternatives should
be mutually exclusive and not overlapping.
- more than one right answer lowers
discrimination between pupils.
24. 10. Use only a single, clear-defined problem and
include the main idea in the question.
- Pupils must know what the problem is without
having to read the response options
11. Avoid the “ All the above “ option
- Pupils merely need to recognize two correct
options to get the answer correct
12. Avoid the “ none of the above “ option
- You will never know if pupils know the correct
answer
25. N.B;
A well prepared paper should have question
representation from all the six levels of the
cognitive domain and all the units of the
syllabus should be covered.
Good skill in construction of test items is critical to the reliability of the evaluation process in any learning process.
The test specification table is used to make sure that the paper is balanced both by way of topic coverage and also to ensure all the levels of cognition are applied.The level of questions prepared from the different units need to be indicated in the table appropriately. The table will clearly show if at all most questions are at knowledge level because then the knowledge boxes for all the topics will be filled up. The sum of the tallies from the units are entered in the last column and the summation of the all the figures should be able to forty.
