Writing+Common+Formative+Assessments

= Writing Test Items =


 * = Types = || = Benefits = || =Drawbacks = ||
 * =Selected Response = || * Provides equal opportunity for students who cannot write well
 * Easier to grade! Quick feedback.
 * Wider variety of platform (clicker technology)
 * Grading is less subjective
 * Can teach standardized testing skills || * Guessing reduces validity
 * Cheating is easier
 * Difficult to construct well
 * Cannot see the breakdown in students’ understanding
 * More difficult to write as higher level questions ||
 * =Constructed Response = || * Lends itself to higher cognitive skills
 * Allows a students to demonstrate shades (nuances) of meaning
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Allows further insight into students’ though processes
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Easier to differentiate
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Is also a way to have students synthesize their learning (further cements learning)
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Feedback is more meaningful || * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Grading is more subjective
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Time consuming to grade
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Danger of confusing a student’s ability to write with their mastery of the content.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;">Students who are not adept writers might not even attempt ||

Multiple choice item writing guidelines

 * 1) Three main parts: stem, correct/best answer, and distracters (incorrect but plausible answers)
 * 2) Used with __comprehension item set__ (reading passage), __pictorial set__ (graph or chart), or __problem-solving set__ (math or science word problem)
 * 3) Clear directions; no ambiguiuty about what is being asked.
 * 4) Focus each item on single concept or idea
 * 5) Matched to targeted concepts and/or skills
 * 6) Self-contained question stem
 * 7) Incomplete statement stem (partial sentence)
 * 8) One clearly correct or best anser
 * 9) "Best" answer preferable to "correct" answer for critical thinking
 * 10) For completion questions, no blanks in front/middle
 * 11) Answer choices equal in length
 * 12) Distracters are plausible (in the ballpark of possibility)
 * 13) Distracters reflect common student errors/misconceptions
 * 14) Questions written to assess higher-level thinking skills
 * 15) Positive working, no negatives (not, never, except) in item stems
 * 16) Avoid or limit use of "all of above," "none of above," "I don't know"
 * 17) No humor in choices
 * 18) No unintentional clues to right answer (unparallel grammar, unrelated choices, always/never, etc.)
 * 19) Vary the number of choices
 * 20) Vary position of right answer; equal number of positions
 * 21) List choices in logical, alphabetical, or numerical order
 * 22) Format items vertically (recommended), horizontally, or two-column format

True/False Test Item Writing Recommendations

 * 1) Several true/false questions related to targeted content
 * 2) Entirely true or entirely false
 * 3) Write so students must think; no easy answer
 * 4) Write items in pairs; one true and one false
 * 5) Only one concept per question
 * 6) Equal number of true/false items
 * 7) Equal item length
 * 8) Avoid negative statements
 * 9) List several statements with directions to mark true statements with A and false statements with B

Matching Test Item Writing Recommendations

 * 1) Clearly stated directions
 * 2) state how many times responses can be used
 * 3) Premises (items) on the left, responses (answers) on the right
 * 4) Brief permises with even shorter responses
 * 5) Unequal number of premises and responses
 * 6) More responses than premises
 * 7) Use responses more than once
 * 8) Use homogeneous items only (similar sorts of things)
 * 9) Use grammatically parallel construction
 * 10) All Premises and responses for any item on same page

Fill-in with answer choices provided test item writing recommendations

 * 1) Answers provided in word bank
 * 2) Students write selected answer or mark their answer choice
 * 3) Easy to score as right/wrong
 * 4) Ask direct question to elicit concise response
 * 5) Direct question better than incomplete statement stem
 * 6) Response blanks at end of incomplete statement stems
 * 7) One blank per item; two maximum
 * 8) Equal length of blanks to prevent unintended clues
 * 9) Provide sufficient answer space

Short constructed-response test item writing recommendations

 * 1) Used to measure recall and understanding
 * 2) Useful format for covering content
 * 3) Good source of common student errors to use as distracters
 * 4) Easy to score as right/wrong
 * 5) Ask direct question to elicit concise response
 * 6) Direct question better than incomplete statement stem
 * 7) Response blanks at end of incomplete statement stems
 * 8) One blank per item; two maximum
 * 9) Equal length of blanks to prevent unintended clues
 * 10) Provide sufficient answer space

Extended constructed-response test item writing recommendations

 * 1) Student writing samples (i.e., compare historical events, interpret scientific information, solve open-ended math and science problems, multi-paragraph writing, essays)
 * 2) Applicable to critical thinking (predicting, evaluation) and problem solving
 * 3) Set clear and specific context for problem in directions
 * 4) Structure items so task explicitly describe
 * 5) Specigy reasoning students are to provide
 * 6) Add details to eliminate ambiguity
 * 7) Indicate what is to be included without "giving it away"
 * 8) More questions with shorter answers vs. fewer questions with longer answers
 * 9) No choices in questions (i.e., answer either 1 or 3)
 * 10) For each item, specify point value, acceptable response length, time allocation
 * 11) Directions should match rigor of targeted skills
 * 12) Write sample response to evaluate question quality
 * 13) Provide students with models of well-written papers
 * 14) Don't confuse writing skills with what you're measuring
 * 15) Critique for bias or possible disadvantage to students
 * 16) Use scoring guide to evaluate student product or performance