The document outlines assessment methods in education, focusing on true/false and fill-in-the-blank test items. It discusses the advantages and disadvantages of these formats, along with tips for creating effective questions, such as avoiding absolute qualifiers and ensuring clarity in statements. Additionally, it emphasizes the importance of assessing students' knowledge accurately while minimizing guesswork.

1. Assessment In Education
Session 5

2. Agenda
True and False Test Items
• Advantages/Disadvantages of T/F
• Tips and suggestions for T/F
• Matching Test Items
• Advantages/Disadvantages
• Tips and suggestions
• Fill in the blanks
• Suggestions and Tips for making blank items

3. True-false questions require the students
to select a response (true or false) that
shows recognition of correct or incorrect
information that is presented to them.

4. True-False Items
There are two types of true-false items
1. right-wrong with a tick and cross
2. yes-no in a written form (T-F)

5. True-False Item Examples
Example:
Instructions
Please indicate whether you think the following statements for items
are True or False by circling the right answer.
⮚
Right-Wrong Question
Students are allowed to choose which hall they want to live in on
campus.
True False
⮚
Yes-No Question
If a student is placed in a temporary triple room, are they
guaranteed to be reassigned to a double room?
Yes No

6. Each statement is clearly true or clearly false.
Minor details should not make a statement false.
Statements are written concisely without more
elaboration than necessary.
Statements are NOT quoted exactly from text.
What to Look for on
True/False Tests

7. • Give emphasis on the use of quantitative terms than qualitative terms.
• Avoid using of specific determiners which usually gives a clue to the
answer.
• False = all, always, never, every, none, only
• True = generally, sometimes, usually, maybe, often
• Discourage the use of negative statements.
• Whenever a controversial statement is used, the authority should be
quoted.
• Discourage the use of pattern for answers.
Tips in Making True/False Tests

8. Making True/False Tests
Advantages:
• Can test large amounts of content
• Students can answer 3-4 questions per minute

9. Making True/False Tests
• Disadvantages:
• They are easy to construct and answer
• It is difficult to discriminate between students that know the
material and students who do not
• Students have a 50-50 chance of getting the right answer by
guessing
• Need a large number of items for high reliability

10. What are Qualifiers
• Qualifiers are words that modify a statement by expressing
the amount, quality, degree, or intensity.
All or Nothing Qualifiers
• All or nothing words are usually false because there are very few
things that are 100 percent true.
• T F All birds can fly.

11. • This statement is false because not all birds can fly: most can
but some can’t – like penguins and ostriches.
• One small word can make a huge difference in the basic true-
false statement. Qualifiers may overstate a statement (all) or
may understate it (none).

12. • “All or none” words are also called “absolutes” and include
all, none, no, every, only, never, always, entirely.
• These words are usually connected with a false statement
because there are very few things in this world that are 100%
one way or the other.

13. •T F Most snakes are poisonous.
• This one sounds like it could be true (especially if you don’t
like snakes), but it’s actually false: of the three thousand
different kinds of snakes, only about 250 types are
poisonous: this is not most.

14. Why are these true-false questions crummy?
• There is no advantage for not using specific determiners in true-false items.
T F
• Test validity is a function of test reliability, which can be improved by using
fewer items. T F
• A nickel is larger than a dime. T F
• An eagle's range of sight is precisely 1,000 ft. T F
• The telephone was invented a long time ago. T F

15. Suggestions to Design T/F Items

16. Base true-false items upon statements that are absolutely
true or false, without qualifications or exceptions.
Undesirable Desirable
• Genetics and eye specialists
believe that the
predisposition to near
sightedness is hereditary
• Nearsightedness is
Hereditary in origin

17. Express the item statement as simply and as clearly as
possible.
Undesirable Desirable
• The construction and
maintenance of interstate
high ways are provided by
both state and federal
governments
• When you see a highway
with a mark that read
‘Interstate 80’ you know
that the construction and
upkeep of that road is
maintained by the state and
federal government.

18. Express a single idea in each test item.
Undesirable Desirable
• Water will boil at a higher
temperature if the
atmospheric pressure on its
surface is increased.
• Water will boil at a higher
temperature if the
atmospheric pressure on its
surface is increased and
more heat is applied to the
container.

19. Include enough background information and qualifications
so that the ability to respond correctly to the item does not
depend on some special, uncommon knowledge.
Undesirable Desirable
• According to John Dewy, the
second principle of
education is that the
individual gathers
knowledge.
• The second principle of
education is that the
individual gathers
knowledge

20. Avoid the use of extreme modifiers or
qualifiers
Undesirable Desirable
The sum of the angles of a triangle
is always 180 degree.(T)
The galvanometer is the
instrument usually used for the
meeting of electrical energy used
in a home.(F)
• All sessions of congress are called
by the President. (F)
• The Supreme Court frequently rules
on the constitutionality of law. (T)
• An objective test is generally easier
to score than an essay test .(T)

21. Carefully read the question and look for qualifiers or
keywords that provide clues to the correct answer.
• More modest qualifiers, such as
"sometimes, often, many, few,
generally, etc", are more likely to
reflect a true statement, sentence, or
answer.
• Stricter qualifiers, such as always or
never, often reflect a false statement,
sentence, or answer.
• sometimes
• seldom
• few
• always
• every
• often
• frequently
• never
• Generally
• All
• Always
• Only
• Best

22. • True-False questions may use words called “absolutes” or “qualifier's.
Absolute words hint that there are no exceptions to the facts stated in
the question. Examples of such words are never, none, always, all,
every, only. These words tend to make a statement false (but not
always).

23. Avoid lifting statements from the text, lecture or other
materials so that memory alone will not permit a correct
answer.
Undesirable Desirable
• If you were to stand in a
boat and throw a life jacket
forward to another boat ,
chances are your boat would
jerk backward.
• For every action there is an
opposite and equal reaction

24. Avoid using negatively stated item
statements.
Undesirable Desirable
• The Supreme court is
composed of nine justices.
• The Supreme Court is not
composed of nine justices

25. Avoid the use of unfamiliar vocabulary.
Undesirable Desirable
• According to some
politicians, justification for
capital punishment is
revenge.
• According to some
politician, the raison d’etre
for capital punishment is
revenge.

26. Tips and suggestions
• When possible, provide explicit directions as to what amount of variation
will be accepted in the answers.
• Give much more credit for completions than for true-false or matching items
• Avoid using a long quote with multiple blanks to complete.
• When working with definitions, supply the term, not the definition, for a
better judge of student knowledge.
• For numbers, indicate the degree of precision/units expected.

27. Fill in the Blank Test Items/Completion Based
Items

28. Fill in the Blank Test Items
• Good for:
• Knowledge levels
• Recall and memorization of facts
• Good for who, what, where, when content
• Minimizes guessing
• Encourages more intensive study. Student must know the answer vs.
recognizing the answer.
• Can usually provide an objective measure of student achievement or
ability

29. Fill in the Blank Test Items
Disadvantages:
Difficult to assess higher
levels of learning because
the answers to completion
items are usually limited to a
few words
Difficult to construct so
that the desired response
is clearly indicated
May
overemphasize
memorization of
facts
Questions may
have more
than one
correct answer
Scoring is time
consuming

30. Quiz Time-Take a snapshot of this slide
Question Blanks
Sentence Multiple Choice
Objective End
Question Number
Response Grammatically
Select Beginning
answer

31. Fill in the Blank Test Items
Test Your Knowledge of Completion Items
Directions: Fill in the blanks.
1. A fill-in-the-blank question asks students to supply rather than__________ the
answer.
2. The main problem in constructing completion items is to limit the number of
possible ________.
3. Put blanks at the of the statement rather than the_____________.
4. Completion items are faster to answer than _________ items because there are
no alternatives to consider.
5. Make the__________of equal length.

32. Fill in the Blank Test Items
Test Your Knowledge of Completion Items
Directions: Fill in the blanks.
6. A direct___________ is often more desirable than an incomplete .
7. When doing fill-in-the-blank test items, read the with the intent to give an answer
that is_________correct.
8. Always concentrate on the of blanks to fill in.
9. When you do not know the exact ____________, provide a descriptive answer.
10. Scoring completion items is less___objective_____than multiple choice or true-false
because the student supplies the response.

34. Suggestions For Writing Completion Test Items
Omit only significant words from the statement.
Undesirable:
• Every atom has a central_____
called a nucleus.
Desirable:
• Every atom has a central core
called a(n)____________.

35. Suggestions For Writing Completion Test Items
Do not omit so many words from the statement that the intended
meaning is lost.
Undesirable:
• The_ were to Egypt as the were to Persia and as __ were
to the early tribes of Israel.
Desirable:
• The Pharaohs were to Egypt as the__ were to Persia and as were
to the early tribes of Israel

36. Suggestions For Writing Completion Test Items
Avoid obvious clues to the correct response.
Undesirable:
• Most of the United States’ libraries
are organized according to the___
decimal system.
Desirable:
• Which organizational system is
used by most of the United
States’ libraries?
____________

37. Suggestions For Writing Completion Test Items
Be sure there is only one correct response
Undesirable:
• Trees which shed their leaves
annually are__ .
Desirable:
• Trees which shed their leaves
annually are called
_____________

38. Suggestions For Writing Completion Test Items
Avoid grammatical clues to the correct response.
If the indefinite article is required
before a blank, use a(n) so that
the student does not know if the
correct answer begins with a
vowel or a consonant.
Undesirable:
• A subatomic particle with a
negative electric charge is called
an____.
Desirable:
• A subatomic particle with a
negative electric charge is called
a(n) .

39. Suggestions For Writing Completion Test Items
If possible, put the blank at the end of a statement rather than at the beginning.
• Asking for a response before the
student understands the intent
of the statement can be
confusing and may require more
reading time.
Undesirable:
• ____is the measure of
central tendency that is most
affected by extremely high or
low scores.
Desirable:
• The measure of central tendency
that is most affected by
extremely high or low scores is
the _____.

40. Why are these completion items of poor-quality?
• The________of___ took place in the year .
• __________ was a crucial event to German history.

41. Tips and suggestions
• When possible, provide explicit directions as to what amount of variation will
be accepted in the answers.
• Give much more credit for completions than for true-false or matching items
• Avoid using a long quote with multiple blanks to complete.
• When working with definitions, supply the term, not the definition, for a better
judge of student knowledge.
• For numbers, indicate the degree of precision/units expected.