Question Bank Development: A Probe into its Theoretical and

Practical Connotation

Faculty Professional Development Programme (FPDP)

of UOU

Dr. Rajani Ranjan SinghSchool of Education

Uttarakhand Open University

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Why we move to Question ?• Question is the index of cognitive Ignition and hence the

reflection of Personality as a whole.• It is the question which changes the way of perceiving the

world and consequently the course of your life.• "To make my contribution I must Ask Questions, Speak the

Truth, Think for Myself, and Care for My Soul,“• "It is better to be a human being dissatisfied than a pig

satisfied; better to be Socrates dissatisfied than a fool satisfied. And if the fool, or the pig, are of a different opinion, it is because they only know their own side of the question," says John Stuart Mill in Utilitarianism, Ch.2

• Question as catalyst begins the cognitive turbulance.

Take a pause & Think

• Question development or item writing is a work of great contemplation which consists a good planning and better execution for sound and objective results concerning with the prognosis and diagnosis of the human potential. So, if you want to have objective result of measurement and evaluation regarding the abilities of an individual, then you must know the technicality of item engineering which is the vital part of test construction and its standardization.

Assumption of Measurement, Assessment & Evaluation

• Whatever exists at all, exists in some amount E.L.Thorndike,1918.

It provides the criteria of measurement & assessment.

• Anything that exists in amount can be measured or assessed, Mc Call,1939.

That is why, Educational Achievement can be assessed.

Glossary what to be understood before the session

• Educands’ Behaviour and their types Cognitive, Affective and Conative • Objectives and their types Educational and Instructional Objectives• Taxonomy of Instructional Objectives As Per B.S.Bloom Knowledge Understanding (Comprehension) Application Analysis Synthesis Evaluation

Knowledge Dimension

• Factual– Discrete bits of information CONCRETE

• Conceptual– More complex, organized knowledge– Classifications, categories, principles

• Procedural– Steps to take, how to do something– Determining when to do what

• Meta-Cognitive– Personalize understanding for the user– Strategic and contextual ABSTRACT

The Cognitive Process Domain

The KnowledgeDimension

Remember

Understand

Apply

Analyze

Evaluate

Create

Factual

Conceptual

Procedural

Meta Cognitive

How Might This Look?Map out

ObjectivesInstructional activities

Assessments Activities and tests should align in order to meet objectives

Question and its relationship with Normal Probability Curve

Qu. Battle of Haldighati was fought between Mughals and ………….

Question and its relationship with Normal Probability Curve

Qu. The name of the first president of India was……….

Question and its relationship with Normal Probability Curve

Q. The first president of India belonged to…………….district of Bihar.

Connotation of Question Bank

• Question Bank – A series of questions of different types, on the basis of which some information is sought.

• Question Development is a standardized procedure to measure quantitatively or qualitatively one or more than one aspect of traits, by means of sample of verbal or nonverbal behaviour.

• A question bank in the form of a test is an organized succession of stimuli designed to measure quantitatively or evaluate qualitatively of some mental processes, traits or characteristics.

Types of Test

• Objective test and subjective test• Speed test and power test• Individual test and group test• CRT and NRT• Verbal, Nonverbal, and Performance test• Achievement, Personality, Aptitude, Attitude, and

Intelligence test• Diagnostic and Prognostic test• Formative test and summative test• Standardized and Teacher-made test

Tool and Techniques of Educational Assessment

• The assessment process produces the data for cognitive, affective and psychomotor objectives. All techniques of assessment can be broadly classified into two categories: (a) Quantitative and (b) Qualitative

• (A) The Quantitative techniques are mainly used in educational assessment. These are highly reliable and valid They can be classified into three types (i) Oral (ii) Written and (iii) Practical.

• (B) The Qualitative techniques are used for continuous and comprehensive assessment. These techniques are subjective and less reliable, but they are used for assessing the affective objectives. These techniques are like cumulative records, anecdotal records, observation techniques and check list and rating scale.

Tools of the Assessment of Educational Achievement

• Diagnostic Test- It aims at identification of academic strengths and weaknesses in a particular content area. It is also helpful in isolation of children with mental handicap as different from other normal children. In a way, diagnostic test is test for identification. It follows a normative models to make comparative evaluations of individuals.

• Norm -referenced Test- It is used to determine how much overall knowledge of some subject a particular pupil has achieved. The basic report for a norm referenced test is a count of the number of test questions that are answered correctly. The ‘norm’ in a norm referenced test is the achievement of some specific groups of students on the test. An excellence or deficiency of a particular student’s achievement in learning is judged by that student’s standing among those in the specified group.

Tools of the Assessment of Educational Achievement

• Criterion- referenced Test- It is used to determine the certain specified objectives of instruction a particular pupil has attained. The ‘criterion’ in a criterion referenced test indicates the instructional objectives of a content. In contrast to NRT this approach is not concerned with comparison of individuals with a norm or standard. The point of reference is to an absolute standard within an individual rather than a population norm. In target populations, especially individuals with mental handicap, the individual differences are so great that group comparisons are futile. It is also classified as Domain and Objective referenced test as per the type of interpretations

Connotation of an Item

• Item- an item is defined as “ a single question or task that is not often broken down into any smaller units.

• An arithmetical problem, manipulative task, a mechanical puzzle may be an item.

• Lowest common denominator of a test, which is scored is an item.

• Structural and functional unit of a test.

General characteristics of an item

• Well phrased• Should measure the significant aspect of

the subject matter• Should not encourage the guesswork by

the subject• Easy in deciphering the intended idea• Incorporation of Independent items in the

test

Technical characteristics of an item

• Incorporation of sufficient items to make the test reliable

• Moderate difficult• High discriminating power

General Guidelines for Item Writing

• Clarity in writing items• Absence of nonfunctional words• Absence of irrelevant accuracies• Moderate difficulty value• Avoidance of the use of stereotyped words• Avoidance of clues• Interlocking or interdependent items

should not be there

Item Analysis

• Item Analysis: A good question or item discriminates between high achiever and low achiever hence the filtration of items must be there while incorporating into question bank or in a test

To analyze constructed test item in terms of effectiveness of the distractors, difficulty index and discrimination index

To summarize the item analysis procedure in tabular form using the evaluation code

Determine the Upper Group (U) and Lower group (L)

• Upper group is the 27% of the 50 test papers from the highest score, i.e., 14 test papers from the highest score

• Lower group is the 27% of the 50 test papers from the lowest score, i.e., 14 test papers from the lowest score

Estimate Index of Difficulty

Idiff = (U + L)/ (Nu + NL) where

U and L are the number of correct responses in the upper and lower groups respectively Nu and NL are the number of test

papers from the upper and lower groups

Index of Discrimination

• It might be positive• It might be negative• It might be zero• Formula of DI : Ru/Nu-Rl/Nl• Guessing formula :S=R-W/K-1

Distractor Analysis

• Good distractor- More examinees of the lower group

• Poor distractor- More examinees of the higher group

• Correct response should have positive discrimination index

• Distractor should have negative discrimination index

Determine the Index of Difficulty of an Item

Interpretation of Index of Difficulty (Ebel, 1965)

A test item is: If it has a difficulty index of:

Very Easy 0.91 and above

Easy 0.76 to 0.90

Optimum Difficulty 0.26 to 0.75

Difficult 0.11 to 0.25

Very Difficult 0.10 and below

Evaluation Code for Item Analysis

Item Category is Fair

Options Acceptable

Discrimination level

High or Moderate

Difficulty level

Optimum or Easy or Difficult

Recommendation – Retain the test item

Questions to Ask yourself in Designing a Test

• What objectives will (should) I be testing? • What types of items will be included in the

test? • How long will the test be in terms of time

and number of items?• How much will each objective be worth in

terms of weighting and number of items?

Planning a Test

• First step: Outline learning objectives or major concepts to be covered by the test– Test should be representative of

objectives and material covered– Major student complaint: Tests don’t

fairly cover the material that was supposed to be canvassed on the test.

Planning a Test

• Second Step: Create a test blueprint• Third Step: Create questions based on

blueprint– Match the question type with the appropriate

level of learning

• Fourth Step: For each check on the blueprint, jot down (might use 3x5 cards) 3-4 alternative question on ideas and item types which will get at the same objective

• Fifth Step: Organize questions and/or ideas by item types

Planning a Test

• Sixth Step: Eliminate similar questions • Seventh Step: Walk away from this for a

couple of days• Eighth Step: Reread all of the items – try

doing this from the standpoint of a student

Planning a Test

• Ninth Step: Organize questions logically• Tenth Step: Time yourself actually taking

the test and then multiply that by about 4 depending on the level of students

• Eleventh Step: Analyze the results (item analyses)

Translating Course Objectives/Competencies into

Test Items • Syllabus

– Specification table- what was taught/weight areas to be tested

• Creating a Test Blueprint (see handout) – Blueprint- this is the test plan, i.e., which questions test

what concept– Plotting the objectives/competencies against some

hierarchy representing levels of cognitive difficulty or depth of processing

Blue Print of a Question PaperObjectives

Knowledge Understanding

Application Total

Form of Ques

MC VSA SA MC VSA SA MC VSA SA

No.Syst.

1(1)

3(1) 4(2)

+ & - 2(1) 2(2)

2(2) 4(1) 10(6)

x 1(1) 1(1)

2(1) 2(2) 4(1) 10(6)

Div. 2(1) 1(1)

1(1) 4(2) 8(5)

Frac. 1(1)

2(1) 1(1) 4(3)

Measures

1(1)

3(1) 1(1) 1(1) 6(4)

Time 1(1) 2(1) 1(1) 4(3)

Geo 1(1)

1(1) 2(1) 4(3)

Sub Total

3(3)

3(2) 7(4) 5(5)

2(1) 8(4) 6(5) 4(4) 12(4)

50(32)

Total 50

Design of a Question Paper

• Assigning weightage to objectives Objective (K+ U+A+A+S+E) with %age Marks• Assigning weightage to content areas Topics with Marks• Assigning weightage to different types of

Questions Type of Ques./No. of Ques./Marks allotted/Time• Assigning weightage to Difficulty Level Easy (20%)+Average (50%)+Difficult (25%)

Question Arrangement on a Test

• Group by question type– Common instructions will save reading time

• Limit the number of times students have to change frame of reference

• Patterns on test must be logical– Arrange from a content standpoint – Keep similar concepts together

• Group by difficulty (easy to hard)

Selecting the Right Type of evaluation

• How do you know what type of question to use and when?

• It depends on the skill you are testing.• Evaluation should always match as closely

as possible the actual activity you’re teaching.– Examples: Teaching Speech, should evaluate an

oral speech– If testing ability to write in Spanish, better give

an essay.– Testing reading –MC, TF – Wouldn’t use MC to test creative writing

Question Types verses Cognitive Levels of Learning

KnowledgeComprehension

Application AnalysisSynthesis Evaluation

Multiple Choice (MC)True/False (TF)MatchingCompletion Short Answer

MCShort AnswerProblems EssayPerformance

MCShort AnswerEssay

Constructing the Test

• Types of Test Questions: – Multiple-Choice Items– True-False Items – Matching Items– Fill-In, Completion or Short-Answer Items– Essay Questions

Multiple Choice Items

• Advantages: – Extremely versatile-can measure the higher

level mental processes (application, analysis, synthesis and evaluation)

– A compromise between a short answer/essay and T/F item

– Can cover a wide range of content can be sampled by one test

• Disadvantages – Difficult to construct plausible alternative

responses

Types of Multiple Choice Items

• Four Basic Types– Question Type – Incomplete Statement Type – Right Answer Type – Best Answer Type

• Which Type is Best? – Question Type vs. Incomplete Statement– Right Answer vs. Best Answer Type

Multiple Choice Items

1. Writing the stem first: A. Be sure the stem asks a clear question B. Stems phrased as questions are usually easier

to write C. Stems should not contain a lot of irrelevant

info.D. Appropriate reading level/termsE. Be sure the stem is grammatically correctF. Avoid negatively stated stems

Multiple Choice Items

• Writing the correct response – Use same terms/reading level– Avoid too many qualifiers – Assign a random position in the answer

sequence

• Read the stem and correct response together

• Generate the distractors/alternative responses

Multiple Choice Items

• Other Tips for Constructing MC Items:– Items should have 3-4 alternatives. – Stem should present a single, clearly

formulated problem– Simple, understandable, exclude extraneous

words from both stem and alternatives – Include in the stem any word that are repeated

in each response – Avoid all of the above (can answer based on

partial information)– Avoid none of the above

Multiple Choice Items

• Alternative responses/distractors should be plausible and as homogeneous as possible

• Response alternatives should not overlap– Two synonymous terms (arithmetic average/mean)

• Avoid double negatives– None of the following are part of the brain except which

one?

• Emphasize negative wording• Each item should be independent of other items

in the test– Information in the stem of one item should NOT help

answer another item.

True-False Test Items

• Best suited for testing 3 kinds of info.: • Knowledge level learning • Understanding of misconceptions• When there are two logical responses

• Advantages: – Sample a large amount of learning per unit of

student testing time

• Disadvantages: – Tends to be very easy– 50-50 chance of guessing – Tends to be low in reliability

Tips for Constructing True/False Items

– Tips for constructing True-False Items• Avoid double negatives• Avoid long or complex sentences• Specific determiners (always, never, only, etc.)

should be used with caution• Include only one central idea in each statement• Avoid emphasizing the trivial• Exact quantitative (two, three, four) language is

better than qualitative (some, few, many) • Avoid a pattern of answers

Objective Test Item Analyses

• Evaluating the Effectiveness of Items..– Why?

• Scientific way to improve the quality of tests and test items

• Identify poorly written items which mislead students • Identify areas (competencies) of difficulty

– Item analyses provided info. on: • Item difficulty• Item discrimination • Effectiveness of alternatives in MC Tests

Examples

• Match the following:Group A Group B1.Classical Cond. (a) B.F. Skinner 2.Operant Cond. (b) E.L. Thorndike3.Laws of Learning © R.L. Thorndike4.Father of correlation (d) I.P.Pavlov (e) Francis Galton 1. 2. 3. 4. 1. 2. 3. 4. (A) a b c d (B) d a b e © c d a b (D) b a c d

Examples

Autonomous Investment is (A)Functionally related to interest rate(B)Functionally related to both income and

interest rate(C)Functionally related to income alone(D)Independent of income and interest rate

Examples

• Write ‘Y’ for yes or ‘N’ for no as per your answer against the following statement:

1. Maulana Abul Kalam Azad was the first education minister of India ( )

• Fill in the blanks: 2. ………. of the Nov. is observed as Education Day in India.3. Education Day is celebrated on………..• Mark (T) for true or (F) for false for the following

statements:4. Teachers day and Education day, both the days are

related with Dr S.Radhakrisnan. ( )5. Plato’s original name was Aristocle ( )

Examples

• Consider the following the following statements:The coefficient of correlation 1.Is not affected by a change of origin and scale2.Lies between -1 to +13.Is a relative measure of linear association

between two or more variablesWhich of the statements given above is/are

correct(a)1 only (b) 2 and 3 only (c) 1 and 3 only (d) 1,

2 and 3 only

Examples

• What is the correct sequence of the Marxian stage theory of growth?

1. Slavery 2. Primitive Communism 3. Socialism4. Communism 5. Feudalism 6. CapitalismSelect the correct answer using the code given below :(a)1-2—3-4-5-6 (b) 2-1-5-6-3-4 © 1-2-5-6-3-4(d) 2-1-5-6-3-4

• Select the odd one from the following concepts:(a)Reliability, Validity, Norms, Measurement(--------------)(b)Growth, Motivation, Maturation, Development (--------)(c)Saturn, Mars, earth, Pluto ( ---------------)

Examples

• Directions: The following item consists of two statements one labelled as ‘Assertion (A)’ and the other as ‘Reason ®’. You are to examine these two statements carefully and select the correct answer using the codes given below:

(a)Both A and R are individually true and R is the correct explanation of A

(b)Both A and R are individually true and R is not the correct explanation of A

(c)A is true but R is false (d)A is false but R is true1. Assertion (A) : Variance of X is always greater than the

standard deviation of X Reason ® : Variance is square of standard deviation

Examples

• Analogy type item: There are two situations. The first situation is

complete and second is incomplete. It should be completed on the basis of first situation.

1.Socrates : Aristocle :: Aristotle : 2. Mansarovar: Premchand:: Saket : 3.Kolkata: Hooghly:: Hydearbad: Simple Recall Items:1.The term Blog has been derived from the

word………..2.The expanded form of the term ‘Wiki’ is……………..

Short-Answer Items

• Two Types: (Question and Incomplete Statement)• Advantages:

– Easy to construct– Excellent format for measuring who, what, when, and

where info.– Guessing in minimized– Student must know the material- rather than simply

recognize the answer

• Disadvantages: – Grading can be time consuming– More than one answer can be correct

Short Answer Items

• Tips for Constructing Short Answer Items – Better to supply the term and require a

definition– For numerical answers, indicate the degree of

precision expected and the units in which they are to be expressed.

– Use direct questions rather than incomplete statements

– Try to phrase items so that there is only one possible correct response

– When incomplete statements are used, do not use more than one blank within an item.

Examples

1. Enumerate the five functions of measurement.

2. Write down the five examples of learning.3. Write any five features of Indifference Curve.4. Write five differences between language and

literature.5. Define term sonnet and differentiate with satire.6. Indicate the levels or scales of measurement.7. Enumerate the three technical charecteristics of

good measuring tool .8. What is the relationship between social work and

psychology?

Essay Questions

Types of Essay Questions • Extended Response Question

– Great deal of latitude on how to respond to a question. – Example: Discuss essay and multiple-choice type tests.

• Restricted Response Question– More specific, easier to score, improved reliability and

validity– Example: Compare and contrast the relative advantages

of disadvantages of essay and multiple choice tests with respect to: reliability, validity, objectivity, & usability.

Essay Items

• Advantages: – Measures higher learning levels (synthesis,

evaluation) and is easier to construct than an objective test item

– Students are less likely to answer an essay question by guessing

– Require superior study methods– Offer students an opportunity to demonstrate

their abilities to: • Organize knowledge• Express opinions• Foster creativity

Essay Items

• May limit the sampling of material covered• Tends to reduce validity of the test

• Disadvantages– Subjective unreliable nature of scoring

• “halo effect” – good or bad student’s previous level of performance

• Written expression• Handwriting legibility• Grammatical and spelling errors

• Time Consuming

Essay Questions

• Give students a clear idea of the scope & direction intended for the answer– Might help to start the question with the description of the

required behavior (e.g., compare, analyze)

• Appropriate language level for students • Construct questions that require students to

demonstrate a command of background info, but do not simply repeat that info.

• If question calls for an opinion, be sure that the emphasis is not on the opinion but on the way its presented or argued.

• Use a larger number of shorter, more specific questions rather than one or two longer questions so that more information can be assessed.

Essay Questions

• You might – Give students a pair of sample answers to a question of

the type you will give on the test. – Sketch out a rubric (grading scheme) for each question

before reading the papers OR randomly select a few to read and make up the grading scheme based on those answers

– Give students a writing rubric – Detach identifying information and use code numbers

instead to avoid letting personality factors influence you. – After grading all the papers on one item, reread the first

few to make sure you maintained consistent standards – Be clear to student the extend to which factors other

than content (e.g., grammar, handwriting, etc.) will influence the grade.

Essay Questions

• Tips for constructing Essay Questions – Provide reasonable time limits for each question

• “thinking and writing time”

– Avoid permitting students a choice of questions• Will not necessarily get a representative sample of

student achievement. Only be requiring all students to answer all questions can their achievement be compared

– A definite task should be put forth to the student• Critical words: compare, contrast, analyze, evaluate,

etc.

Examples

• Distinguish between criterion-referenced test and norm-referenced test. Which type of test should be preferred in educational measurement and why?

• How can the process of “Management by Learning Objective’s be implemented in the classroom teaching? Discuss the statement with examples.

• Describe the forms of objectives type items and illustrate their forms with suitable examples.

Scoring Essay Items

• Write an outline of the key points (use outline to design a rubric)

• Determine how many points are to be assigned to the question as a whole and to the various parts within it.

• If possible, score the test without knowledge of the student’s name – Face Sheet

• Score all of the answers to one question before proceeding to the next question – Consistent standard

Questions?

A lot of thanks for your

precious time and active

participation