Table of Contents

Course Guide ixăxix

Course Assignment Guide xxiăxxv

Topic 1 Roles of Assessment in Teaching and Learning 1

1.1 Tests, Measurement, Evaluation and Assessment 2
1.2 Why Do We Assess? 5
1.3 General Principles of Assessment 10
1.4 Types of Assessment 11
1.4.1 Formative vs Summative Assessments 11
1.4.2 Norm-referenced vs Criterion-referenced 15
Tests
1.5 Current Trends in Assessment 17
Summary 19
Key Terms 19

Topic 2 Foundation for Assessment: What to Assess 20

2.1 What to Assess 21
2.2 Three Types of Learning Outcomes 22
2.3 Assessing Cognitive Learning Outcomes 24
2.4 Assessing Affective Outcomes 30
2.5 Assessing Psychomotor Learning Outcomes 35
Summary 40
Key Terms 41

Topic 3 Planning the Classroom Test 42

3.1 Purpose of Classroom Testing 43
3.2 Planning the Classroom Test 44
3.2.1 Deciding Its Purpose 44
3.2.2 Specifying the Learning Objectives 45
3.2.3 Developing Test Specifications 45
3.2.4 Selecting Best Item Types 49
3.2.5 Preparing Rubrics or Marking Schemes 50
3.2.6 Preparing Test Items 51
3.3 Assessing TeacherÊs Own Test 52
Summary 53
Key Terms 54

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Topic 4 Constructing Objective Test Items 55

4.1 What is an Objective Test? 56
4.2 Short-answer Questions 57
4.3 True-false Questions 60
4.3.1 Limitations of True-false Questions 61
4.3.2 Suggestions for Construction of True-false Questions 62
4.4 Matching Questions 64
4.4.1 Advantages of Matching Questions 65
4.4.2 Limitations of Matching Questions 66
4.4.3 Suggestions for Writing Good Matching Questions 67
4.5 Multiple-choice Questions 68
4.5.1 Parts of a Multiple-choice Question 69
4.5.2 Construction of Multiple-choice Questions 70
4.5.3 Advantages and Limitations of MCQs 75
4.5.4 Constructing MCQs to Measure Higher-order 77
Thinking (HOT)
Summary 81
Key Terms 82

Topic 5 Constructing Essay Questions 83

5.1 What is an Essay Question? 84
5.2 Types of Essays 85
5.3 Why are Essay Questions Used? 86
5.4 Deciding Whether to Use Essay Or Objective Questions 87
5.5 Limitations of Essay Questions 88
5.6 Some Misconceptions about Essay Questions 89
5.7 Some Guidelines for Constructing Essay Questions 91
5.8 Verbs Describing Various Kinds of Mental Tasks 98
5.9 Marking Essay Questions 103
Summary 108
Key Terms 109

Topic 6 Authentic Assessments 110

6.1 What is Authentic Assessment? 111
6.1.1 Types of Authentic Assessments 112
6.1.2 Characteristics of Authentic Assessments 113
6.2 How to Create Authentic Assessments? 115
6.2.1 Advantages of Authentic Assessments 116
6.2.2 Criticisms of Authentic Assessments 117
6.3 Differences between Traditional Assessment and 118
Authentic Assessment

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6.4 Assessment Tools 121

6.4.1 Scoring Rubrics 122
6.4.2 Rating Scales 124
6.4.3 Checklists 126
Summary 127
Key Terms 127

Topic 7 Project and Portfolio Assessments 128

7.1 Project Assessment 129
7.1.1 Assessing Learners with Projects 132
7.1.2 Designing Effective Projects 135
7.1.3 Possible Problems with Project Work 138
7.1.4 Group Work in Projects 139
7.1.5 Assessing Project Work 140
7.1.6 Assessing Process in a Project 145
7.2 Portfolio Assessment 149
7.2.1 What is Portfolio Assessment? 150
7.2.2 Rationale for Portfolio Assessment 150
7.2.3 Types of Portfolios 151
7.2.4 How to Develop a Portfolio 152
7.2.5 Advantages and Disadvantages of Portfolio 153
Assessment
7.2.6 How and When Should a Portfolio be Assessed? 155
Summary 158
Key Terms 159

Topic 8 Test Reliability and Validity 160

8.1 What is Reliability? 160
8.2 The Reliability Coefficient 162
8.3 Methods to Estimate the Reliability of a Test 165
8.4 Inter-rater and Intra-rater Reliability 169
8.5 Types of Validity 171
8.6 Factors Affecting Reliability and Validity 175
8.7 Relationship between Reliability and Validity 176
Summary 178
Key Terms 179

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Topic 9 Appraising Classroom Tests and Item Analysis 180

9.1 What is Item Analysis? 181
9.2 Steps in Item Analysis 181
9.3 The Difficulty Index 183
9.4 The Discrimination Index 185
9.5 Application of Item Analysis on Essay-type Question 188
9.6 Relationship between Difficulty Index and Discrimination 191
Index
9.7 Distractor Analysis 193
9.8 Practical Approach to Item Analysis 194
9.9 Usefulness of Item Analysis to Teachers 196
9.10 Cautions in Interpreting Item Analysis Results 198
9.11 Item Bank 199
9.12 Psychometric Softwares 200
Summary 201
Key Terms 202

Topic 10 Analysis and Interpretation of Test Scores 203

10.1 Why Do We Use Statistics? 204
10.2 Describing Test Scores 206
10.3 Standard Scores 214
10.4 The Normal Curve 218
Summary 219
Key Terms 220

References 221

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