educational purposes

1. Constructing Objective
Paper and Pencil Tests
Presented by:
Ericson V. Traje

2. Writing Alternate-Response Items
• It’s a test wherein there are only
two possible answers to the stem

3. Guidelines In Writing Alternate-
Response Items
• Avoid the use of negatives.
• Avoid the use if unfamiliar or esoteric
language.
• Use relatively short statements.
• Use qualitative and precise rather than
qualitative language where possible
• Don’t make true items longer than false items.
• Refrain from creating a pattern of response.
• A statement must only have one central idea.
• Avoiding quoting exact statement from the
textbook

4. Sample # 1
POOR
• The raison d’etre for capital punishment is
retribution according to some peripatetic
politicians
IMPROVED
• According to some politician ,the justification for
the existence of capital punishment can be traced
to the biblical statement, “an eye for an eye, a
tooth for a tooth.”

5. Sample # 2
POOR
• The raison d’etre for capital punishment is
retribution according to some peripatetic
politicians
IMPROVED
• According to some politician ,the justification for
the existence of capital punishment can be traced
to the biblical statement, “an eye for an eye, a
tooth for a tooth.”

6. Sample # 2
POOR
• The raison d’etre for capital punishment is
retribution according to some peripatetic
politicians
IMPROVED
• According to some politician ,the justification for
the existence of capital punishment can be traced
to the biblical statement, “an eye for an eye, a
tooth for a tooth.”

7. Writing Matching Items
• It is designed to measure
student’s ability to single out pair
of matching phrases, words or
other facts from the separate
lists.

8. Guidelines In Matching Items
• Make all questions and all options the
same type.
• Be sure that the whole matching
exercise is found on one page only.
• Avoid including many premises on one
matching type.
• Premises or responses composed of
one or two words should be arranged
alphabetically.

9. Sample
Directions: Match Column A with Column B. You will be given one point for
each correct match.
1. Execution of Rizal A. 1521
2. Pseudonym of Ricarte B. 1896
3. Hero of Tirad Pass C. G.del Pilar
4. Arrival of Spaniards in Phil. D.Spolarium
5. Masterpiece of Juan Luna E. Vibora
Directions: Match Column A with Column B. You will be given one point for each
correct match.
__1. National Hero of the Phil. A. Aguinaldo
__2. Hero of Tirad Pass B. Bonifacio
__3. Brain of the Katipunan C. Del Pilar
__4. Brain of the Phil. Revolution D. Aquino
__5. The Sublime Paralytic E. Mabini E. Rizal

10. Writing Completion Items
• Completion items require the
students to associate an
incomplete statement with a
word or phrase recalled from
memory

11. Guidelines In Completion Items
• As a general rule, it is best to use ONE blank in a
completion item.
• The blank should be placed NEAR or at the END of
the sentence
• Give clear instructions indicating whether synonyms
will be correct and whether spelling will be a factor in
scoring
• Give clear instructions indicating whether synonyms
will be correct and whether spelling will be a factor in
scoring
• Avoid using direct statements from the textbook with
a word or two missing
• All blanks for all items should be of equal length and
long enough to accommodate the longest response.

12. Writing Arrangement Items
• It is used for testing knowledge
of sequence and order

13. Guidelines In Arrangement Items
• Items to be arranged should belong to one
category only.
• Provide instructions on the rationale for
arrangement or sequencing.
• Specify the response code students have to
use in arranging the items.
• Provide sufficient space for the writing of
answer.

14. Writing Completion-Drawing Items
• It is one wherein an incomplete
drawing is presented which the
student has top complete.
Guidelines In Completion-Drawing Items
• Provide instruction on how the drawing
will be completed.
• Present the drawing to be completed.

15. Writing Correction Items
• It is similar to the completion
item, except that some words or
phrase have to be changed to
make the sentence correct.

16. Guidelines In Correction Items
• Underline or italicize the word or phrase to
be corrected in a sentence.
• Specify in the instruction where students
will write their correction of the underlined
or italicized word or phrase.
• Write items that measure higher levels of
cognitive behavior.

17. Sample
Directions: Change the underlined word or phrase to make
each of the following statements correct. Write your answer
on the space before each number.
_________1. Inflation caused by increase demand is known
as oil-push.
_________2. Inflation is the phenomenon of falling prices.
_________3. Expenditure on non-food items increases with
increased income according to Keynes.
_________4. The additional cost for producing an
additional unit of a product is average cost.

18. Writing Identification Items
• It is one wherein an unknown
specimen is to be identified by
name or other criterion

19. Guidelines In Identification
Items
• The direction of the test should indicate
clearly what has to be identified.
• Sufficient space has to be provided for the
answer to each item.
• The question should not be copied verbatim
from the book.

20. Sample
Directions: Following are phrase definitions of term, opposite
each number, write the term defined.
_________1. Weight divided by volume
_________2. Degree of hotness or coldness of a body
_________3. Changing speed of a moving body
_________4. Ratio of resistance to effort

21. Writing Enumeration Items
• An enumeration item is one wherein the
student has to list down parts or
elements/components of a given concept or
topic.
Guidelines In Enumeration Items
• Exact numbers of expected answers have to be
specified.
• Spaces for the writing of answers have to be
provided and should be of the same length

22. Writing Identification Items
• It consists of a pair of words, which
are related to each other. This type
of item is often used in measuring the
student’s skill in sensing association
between paired words or concepts

23. Guidelines In Analogy Items
• The pattern of relationship in the first pair
of words must be the same pattern in the
second pair.
• Options must be related to the correct
answer.
• The principle of parallelism has to be
observed in writing options.
• More than three options have to be included
in each analogy item top lessen guessing.
• All items must be grammatically consistent.

24. Sample
Sampaguita : Philippines – Rose of Sharon : Korea
Bonifacio : Philippines, ________ ; USA
a. Jefferson
b. Lincoln
c. Madison
d. Washington

25. Writing Interpretive Items
• Writing Interpretative Items
Interpretative test item is often used
in testing higher cognitive behavior.

26. Guidelines In Interpretive Items
• The interpretative exercise must be related
to the instruction provided the students.
• The material to be presented to the
students should be new to them but similar
to what was presented during instruction.
• Written passages should be as brief as
possible.
• The students have to interpret, apply,
analyze and comprehend in order to answer a
given question in the exercise

27. Writing Short Explanation Items
• This type of item is similar to an essay test
but requires a short response, usually a
sequence or two. This type of question is a
good practice for the students in expressing
themselves concisely
Guidelines In Short Explanation Items
• Specify in the instruction of the test, the
number of sentences that the students can use
in answering the question.
• Make the question brief and to the point for the
students not to be confused.