Assessment of learning

ASSESSMENT OF LEARNING
 Focuses on the development and utilization of
assessment tools to improve the teaching-learning
process.
 It emphasizes on the use of testing for measuring
knowledge, comprehension and other thinking skills .

MEASUREMENT
 Refers to the quantitative aspect of evaluation. It
involves outcomes that can be quantified statistically.
EVALUATION
 Is the qualitative aspect of determining the
outcomes of learning. It involves value judgment .
TEST
 Consist of questions or exercises or other devices
from measuring the outcomes of learning.

CLASSIFICATION OF TESTS
1. According to manner of response
a. Oral
b. Written
2. According to method of preparation
a. Subjective/essay
b. Objective
3. According to nature of answer
a. Personality tests
b. Intelligence test
c. Aptitude test
d. Achievement or summative test
e. Sociometric test
f. Diagnostic or formative test
g. Trade or vocational test

 Objective tests are tests which have definite answers
and therefore are not subject to personal bias.
 Teacher-made tests or educational tests are
constructed by the teachers based on the contents of
different subjects taught.
 Diagnostic tests are used to measure a student’s
strengths and weaknesses, usually to identify
deficiencies in skills or performance.
 Formative and summative are terms often used with
evaluation, they may also be used with testing.
 Standardized tests are already valid, reliable and
objective.

 Standards or norms are the goals to be achieved
expressed in terms of the average performance of
the population tests.
 Criterion-referenced measure is a measuring
device with a predetermined level of success or
standard on the part of the test-takers.
 Norm-referenced measure is a test that is scored
on the basis of the norm or standard level of
accomplishment by the whole group taking the test.

CRITERIA OF A GOOD EXAMINATION
 Validity refers to the degree to which a test
measures what it is intended to measure.
 Reliability pertains to the degree to which a test
measures what it suppose to measure.
 Objectivity is the degree to which personal bias is
eliminated in the scoring of the answers.
 Nominal scales are the least sophisticated; they
merely classify or events by assigning numbers to
them.

ORDINAL MEASUREMENT
 Ordinal Scales
 Interval Measurement
 Ratio Measurement
 Norm-referenced and criterion referenced
Measurement
 Norm-Referenced Interpretation
 Criterion-referenced Interpretation

DISTINCTION BETWEEN NORM-REFERENCED
AND CRITERION-REFERENCED TESTS
 Norm-referenced
interpretation is a relative
interpretation based on
an individual’s position
with respect to some
group, often called the
normative group. Norms
consist of the scores,
usually in some form of
descriptive statistics, of
the normative group.
 The concepts of criterion-
referenced testing have
developed with a dual meaning
for criterion-referenced. On one
hand, it means referencing an
individual’s performance to
some criterion that is a defined
performance level. The
individual’s score is interpreted
in absolute rather than relative
terms. The criterion, in this
situation, means some level of
specified performance that has
been determined independently
of how others might perform.
Norm-Referenced Test Criterion-Referenced Test

STAGES IN TEST CONSTRUCTION
I. Planning the test
a. Determining the objective
b. Preparing the Table of Specifications
c. Selecting the Appropriate Item Format
d. Writing the Test Items
e. Editing the Test Items
II. Trying out the Test
a. Administering the first Tryout – then Item Analysis
b. Administering the Second Tryout – then Item Analysis
c. Preparing the final Form of the Test
III. Establishing Test Validity
IV. Establishing the Test Reliability
V. Interpreting the Test Score

MAJOR CONSECRATIONS IN TEST CONSTRUCTION
 Type of test
 Test Length
 Item Formats

POINTS TO BE CONSIDERED IN PREPARING A TEST
1. Are the instructional objectives clearly defined?
2. What knowledge, skills and attitudes do you want to
measure?
3. Did you prepare a table of specifications?
4. Did you formulate well defined and clear test items?
5. Did you employ correct English in writing the items?
6. Did you avoid giving clues to the correct answer?
7. Did you test the important ideas rather than the
trivial?
8. Did you adapt the test’s difficulty to your student’s
ability?

9. Did you avoid using textbooks jargon?
10. Did you cast the items in positive form?
11. Did you prepare a scoring key?
12. Does each item have a single correct answer?
13. Did you review your items?

GENERAL PRINCIPLES IN CONSTRUCTING
DIFFERENT TYPES OF TESTS
 The test items should be selected very carefully.
Only important facts should be included.
 The test should have extensive sampling of items.
 The test items should be carefully expressed in
simple, clear, definite, and meaningful sentences.
 There should be only one possible correct response
for each test item.
 Each item should be independent. Leading clues to
other items should be avoided.
 Lifting sentences from books should not be done to
encourage thinking and understanding.
 The first person personal pronouns/and we should
not be used.

 Various types of test items should be made to avoid
monotony.
 Majority of the test items should be of moderate
difficulty. Dew difficult and few easy items should be
included.
 The test items should be arranged in an ascending
order of difficulty. Easy items should be at the
beginning to encourage the examinee to pursue the
test and the most difficult items should be at the end.
 Clear, concise, and complete directions should
precede all types of test. Sample test items may be
provided for expected responses.
 Items which can be answered by previous experience
alone without knowledge of the subject matter should
not be included.
 Catchy words should not be used in the test items.

 Test items must be based upon the objectives of the
course and upon the course content.
 The test should measure the degree of achievement
or determine the difficulties of the learners.
 The test should emphasize ability to apply and use
facts as well as knowledge of facts.
 The test should be of such length that it can be
completed within the time allotted by all or nearly all of
the pupils.
 Rules governing good language expression,
grammar, spelling, punctuation, and capitalization
should be observed in all items.
 Information on how scoring will be done should be
provided.
 Scoring Keys in correcting and scoring tests should
be provided.

POINTERS TO BE OBSERVED IN CONSTRUCTING
AND SCORING THE DIFFERENT TUPES OF TESTS
A. RECALL TYPES
1. Simple recall type
a. This type consists of questions calling for a single word or
expression as an answer.
b. Items usually begin with who, where, when, and what.
c. Score is the number of correct answers.
2. Completion type
a. Only important words or phrases should be omitted to avoid
confusion.
b. Blanks should be of equal lengths.
c. The blank, as much as possible, is placed near or at the end of
the sentence.
d. Articles a, an, and the should not be provided before the omitted
word or phrase to avoid clues for answers.
e. Score is the number of correct answers.

3. Enumeration type
a. The exact number of expected answers
should be stated.
b. Blanks should be of equal lengths.
d.
4. Identification type
a. The items should make an examinee think
of a word, number, or group of words that would
complete the statement or answer the problem.
b. Score is the number of correct answers.

B. RECOGNITION TYPES
1. True-false or alternate-response type
a. Declarative sentences should be used.
b. The number of “true” and “false” items should be more or less
equal.
c. The truth or falsity of the sentence should not be too evident.
d. Negative statements should be avoided.
e. The “modified true-false” is more preferable than the “plain true-
false”.
f. In arranging the items, avoid the regular recurrence of “true” and
“false” statements.
g. Avoid using specific determiners like: all, always, never, none,
nothing, most, often, some, etc. and avoid weak statements as
may, sometimes, as a rule, in general etc.
h. Minimize the use of qualitative terms like: few, great, many, more,
etc.
i. Avoid leading clues to answers in all items.
j. Score is the number of correct answers in “modified true- false
and right answers minus wrong answers in “plain true-false”.

2. Yes-No type
a. The items should be in interrogative sentences. b. The
same rules as in “true-false” are applied.
3. Multiple-response type
a. There should be three to five choices. The number of
choices used in the first item should be the same number of choices
in all the items of this type of test.
b. The choices should be numbered or lettered so that only
the number or letter can be written on the blank provided.
c. If the choices are figures, they should be arranged in
ascending order.
d. Avoid the use of “a” or “an” as the last word prior to the
listing of the responses.
e. Random occurrence of responses should be employed.
f. The choices, as much as possible, should be at the end of
the statements.
g. The choices should be related in some way or should
belong to the same class.
h. Avoid the use of “none of these” as one of the choices.
i. Score is the number of correct answers.

4. Best answer type
a. There should be three to five choices all of which
are right but vary in their degree of merit, importance or
desirability.
b. The other rules for multiple-response items are
applied here.
5. Matching type
a. There should be two columns. Under “A” are the
stimuli which should be longer and more descriptive than the
responses under column “B”. The response may be a word, a
phrase, a number, or a formula.
b. The stimuli under column “A” should be numbered
and the responses under column “B” should be lettered.
Answers will be indicated by letters only on lines provided in
column “A”.
c. The number of pairs usually should not exceed
twenty items. Less than ten introduces chance elements.
Twenty pairs may be used but more than twenty is decidedly
wasteful of time.

d. The number of responses in column “B” should
be two or more than the number of items in Column “A”
to avoid guessing.
e. Only one correct matching for each item should
be possible.
f. Matching sets should neither be too long nor too
short.
g. All items should be on the same page to avoid
turning of pages in the process of matching pairs.
h. Score is the number of correct answers.

 C. ESSAY TYPE EXAMINATIONS
Common types of essay questions.(The types are
related to purposes of which the essay examinations are
to be used.)
1. Comparison of two things
2. Explanation of the use or meaning of a
statement or passage.
3. Analysis
4. Decisions for or against
5. Discussion

HOW TO CONSTRUCT ESSAY EXAMINATIONS.
1. Determine the objectives or essentials for each
question to be evaluated.
2. Phrase questions in simple, clear and concise
language.
3. Suit the length of the questions to the time available
for answering the essay examination. The teacher
should try to answer the test herself,
4. Scoring:
a. Have a model answer in advance.
b. Indicate the number of points for each question.
c. Score a point for each essential.

ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES
OF THE OBJECTIVE TYPE OF TESTS
 Advantages
 The objective test is free from personal bias in scoring.
 It is easy to score. With a scoring key, the test can be
corrected by different individuals without affecting the
accuracy of the grades given.
 It has high validity because it is comprehensive with wide
sampling of essentials.
 It is less time-consuming since many items can be
answered in a given time.
 It is fair to students since the slow writers can accomplish
the test as fast as the fast writers.

 Disadvantages
 It is difficult to construct and requires more time to
prepare.
 It does not afford the students the opportunity in training
for self- and thought organization.
 It cannot be used to test ability in theme writing or
journalistic writing.

ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES
OF THE ESSAY TYPE OF TESTS
 Advantages
 The essay examination can be used in practically all subjects of
the school curriculum.
 It trains students for thought organization and self expression.
 It affords students opportunities to express their originality and
independence of thinking.
 Only the essay test can be used in some subjects like
composition writing journalistic writing which cannot be tested
the objective type test.
 Essay examination measures higher mental abilities
comparison, interpretation, criticism, defense of opinion and
decision.
 The essay test is easily prepared.
 It is inexpensive.

 Disadvantages
 The limited sampling of items makes the test unreliable
measure of achievements or abilities.
 Questions usually are not well prepared.
 Scoring is highly subjective due to the influence of the
corrector's personal judgment.
 Grading of the essay test is inaccurate measure pupils'
achievements due to subjectivity of scoring.

STATISTICAL MEASURES OR TOOLS USED
IN INTERPRETING NUMERICAL DATA
 Frequency Distributions
 A simple, common sense technique for describing a set of
test scores is through the use of frequency distribution. A
frequency distribution is merely listing of the possible score
values and the number of persons who achieved each
scores. Such an arrangement presents the scores in a
more simple and understandable manner than merely
listing all of the separate scores. Consider a specific set of
scores to clarify these ideas.

 A set of scores for a group of 25 students who took a
50- item test is listed in Table 1. It is easier to analyze
the scores if they are arranged in a simple frequency
distribution. The steps that are involved in creating
the frequency distribution are:
 First, list the possible score values in rank order, from
highest to lowest. Then, a second column indicates the
frequency or number of persons who received each score.
For example, three students received a score of 47, two
received 40, and so forth. There is no need to list score
values below the lowest score that anyone received.

Table 1. Scores of 25 Students on a 50-Item Test
Student Score Student Score
A 48 N 43
B 50 O 47
C 46 P 48
D 41 Q 42
E 37 R 44
F 48 S 38
G 38 T 49
H 47 U 34
I 49 V 35
J 44 W 47
K 48 Y 40
L 49 X 48
M 40

Table 2. Frequency Distribution of the 25 Scores of Table 1
Score Frequency Score Frequency
50 1 41 1
49 3 40 2
48 5 39 0
47 3 38 2
46 1 37 1
45 0 36 0
44 2 35 1
43 1 34 1
42 1

 When there is a wide range of scores in a frequency
distribution, the distribution can be quite long , with a lot of
zeros in the column of frequencies. Such a frequency
distribution can make interpretation difficult and confusing.
A grouped frequency distribution would be more
appropriate in this kind of situation. Groups of score values
are listed rather than each separate possible score value.
 If we were to change the frequency distribution and Table 2
into a grouped frequency distribution, we might choose
intervals such as 48 -50 , 45 -47, and so forth. The
frequency corresponding to intervals 48 -50 would be 9 (1
+ 3 + 5). The choice of width of the interval is arbitrary, but
it must be the same for all intervals. In addition, it is a good
idea to have an odd-numbered interval width (we used 3
above) so that the midpoint of the interval is a whole
number. This strategy will simplify subsequent graphs at
description of data. The grouped frequency distribution is
presented in Table 3.

Table 3. Grouped Frequency Distribution
Score Interval Frequency
48-50 9
45-47 4
42-44 4
39-41 3
36-38 3
33-35 2
Frequency distributions summarize sets of test
scores by listing the number of people who
received each test score. All of the test scores can
be listed separately, or the scores can be grouped
in a frequency distribution.

MEASURES OF CENTRAL TENDENCY
 Frequency distributions are helpful for indicating the
shape to describe a distributions of scores, but we
need more information than the shape to describe a
distribution adequately. We need to know where on
the scale of measurement a distribution is located
and how the scores are dispersed in the distribution.
For the former, we compute measures of central
tendency, and for the latter, we compute measures
of dispersion. Measures of central tendency are
points of the scale of measurement, and they are
representative of how the scores tend to average.
There are three commonly used measures of central
tendency: the mean, the median, and the mode,
but the mean is by far the most widely used .

THREE MEASURES OF CENTRAL TENDENCY
 The Mean is the arithmetic average
 The mean of a set of scores is the arithmetic mean. It is
found by summing the scores and dividing the sum by
the number of scores . The mean is the most commonly
used measure of central tendency because it is easily
understood and is based on all the scores in the set;
hence , it summarizes a lot of information. The formula
of the mean is as follows.

 Where
 𝑥 is the mean,
 X is the symbol for score, the Summation operator
 N is the number of scores.
For the set of scores in table 1,

𝑥 =
𝑓𝑥 𝑚𝑑𝑝𝑡
𝑛
Where 𝑓𝑥 𝑚𝑑𝑝𝑡 means that the midpoint of the interval
is multiplied by the frequency for that interval. In
computing the mean for the scores in Table 3, using
formula we obtain :

 The Median Another measure of central tendency is the
median which is the point that divides distribution in half;
that is, half of the scores fall above the median and half of
the scores fall below the median. When there are only a few
scores, the median can often be found by inspection. If
there is an odd number of scores, the middle score is the
median. When there is even a number of scores, the
median is halfway between the two middle scores .
However, when they are tied scores in the middle of the
distribution, or when the scores are in a frequency
distribution, the median may not be so obvious. Consider
again the frequency distribution in Table 2. There were 25
scores in the distribution, so the middle score should be the
median. A straightforward way to find this median is to
augment the frequency distribution with a column of
cumulative frequencies. Cumulative frequencies indicate the
number of scores at or below each score. Table 4 indicates
the cumulative frequencies for the data in Table 2.

 For example, 7 persons scored at or below a score of
40, and 21 persons scored at or below a score of 48.
To find the median, we need to locate the middle
score in the cumulative frequency column, because
this score is the median. Since there are 25 scores in
the distribution, the middle one is the 13th, a score of
46. Thus, 46 is a median of this distribution; half of
the people scored above 46 and half scored. When
there are ties in the middle of the distribution, there
may be a need to interpolate between scores to get
the exact median. However, such precision is not
needed for most classroom tests. The whole number
closest to the median is usually sufficient.

 The Mode The measure of central tendency that is
the easiest to find is the mode. The mode is the most
frequently occurring score in the distribution. The
mode of the scores in Table 1 is 48. Five persons had
two scores of 48 and no other score occurred as
often. Each of these three measures of central
tendency - the mean, the median, and the mode
means a legitimate definition of “average”
performance on this test. However, each does
provide different information. The arithmetic average
was 44; half the people scored at or below 46 and
more people received 48 than any other score.

 When a distribution has a small number of very
extreme scores, though, the median may be a better
definition of central tendency. The mode provides the
least information and is used infrequently as
“average”. The mode can be used with nominal scale
data, just as an indicator of the most frequently
appearing category. The mean, the median, and the
mode all describe central tendency:
 The mean is the arithmetic average.
 The median divides the distribution in half.
 The mode is the most frequent score.

MEASURES OF DISPERSION
 Measures of central tendency are useful for
summarizing average performance, but they tell us
nothing about how the scores are distributed or
“spread out” around the averages . Two sets of test
scores may have equal measures of central
tendency, but they may differ in other ways. One of
the distributions may have the scores tightly
clustered around the average, and the other
distribution may have scores that are widely
separated. As you may have anticipated, there are
descriptive statistics that measure dispersion, which
also are called measures of variability. These
measures indicate how spread out the scores tend
to be.

 The Range
 The range indicates the difference between the highest
and lowest scores in a distribution. It is simple to calculate,
but it provides limited information. We subtract the lowest
from the highest score and add 1 so that we include both
scores in the spread between them. For the scores of
Table 2, the range is 50 - 34 + 1 = 17.
 A problem with using the range is that only the two most
extreme scores are used in this computation. There is no
indication of the spread of scores between highest and
lowest. Measures of dispersion that take into consideration
every score in the distribution are the variance and
standard deviation. The standard deviation is used a
great deal in interpreting scores from standardized tests.

 The Variance
 The variance measures how widely the scores in the
distribution are spread about the mean . In other words,
the variance is the average squared difference between
the scores and the mean. As a formula, it looks like this:
An Equivalent formula, easier to compute is:
The computation of the variance for the scores of Table 1 is
illustrated in Table 5. The data for the students K through V
are omitted to save space, but these values are included in
the column totals and in the computation.
𝑠2 =
( 𝑥 − 𝑥)2
𝑛
𝑠2
=
𝑥2
𝑛
𝑥2

THE STANDARD DEVIATION
 The standard deviation also indicates how spread
out the scores are, but is expressed in the same
units as original scores. The standard deviation is
computed by finding the square root of the
variance.
𝑠 = 𝑠2

To determine the mean:
𝑥 =
1100
25
= 44 .
Then, to determine the variance:
S2 =
(𝑥− 𝑥)2
𝑛
=
570
25
= 22.8

GRAPHING DISTRIBUTIONS
 A graph of distribution of test course is often better
understood than is the frequency distribution or a mere table of
numbers.
 The general pattern of scores, as well as any unique
characteristics of the distribution, can be seen easily in simple
graphs. There are several kinds of graphs that can be used, but
a simple bar graph, or histogram, is as useful as any. The
general shape of the distribution is clear from the graph. Most
of the scores in this distribution are high, at the upper end of the
graph. Such a shape is quite common for the scores of
classroom tests. That is, test scores will be grouped toward the
right end of the measurement scale.
 A normal distribution has most of the test scores in the middle
of the distribution and progressively fewer scores toward
extremes. The scores of norm groups are seldom graphed but
they could be if we were concerned about seeing the specific
shape of the distribution of scores. Usually, we know or assume
that the scores are normally distributed.

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