What should I assess on the test?

• Should I be assessing standards or objectives?
• What is a sufficient number of items per standard?
• Does the level of understanding/application asked for in the test questions match the level stated in the standards?

Constructing good items (focus on multiple-choice)

• Terminology for multiple-choice items
• Guidelines for constructing good items: Eliminate rival explanations
  • Reducing cognitive load
  • Reducing the chance of guessing correctly
  • Summary list of guidelines

Assessing more than factual knowledge (through multiple-choice items)

• Comprehension items
• Application items
• Analysis items

 

Copyright 2018, Jon Mueller. Professor of Psychology, North Central College, Naperville, IL. Comments, questions or suggestions about this website should be sent to the author, Jon Mueller, at jfmueller@noctrl.edu.