Developing Multiple Choice Test Items Ari Purnawan Multiple

Developing Multiple Choice Test Items Ari Purnawan

Multiple Choice Items 1. Stem (presents a stimulus) 2. Options, usually 3 - 5 (give alternatives to choose from), one is the key, the others are distractors

Multiple choice • Is most suitable for assessing learning outcomes at the recall and comprehension levels • does not allow test takers to construct, organize, and present their own answers. • enables the test takes to arrive at a correct answer simply by guessing.

Rules • Design each item to measure a specific objective. e. g. questions with wh-q • State the stem and options as simple and directly as possible. • Be sure that there is only one correct answer. • Do not provide clues to the correct answer.

Stems can be: • 1. A complete statement (test takers choose the best response) • 2. A complete question with wh-questions (tts choose the best answer). • 3. An incomplete sentence (tts choose the correct form).

Options: • Must be in an equal form and, if possible, length. • Must be correct by itself • Must contain only one correct answer. (It becomes `correct` only after it is used in the stem or to respond to it. • use uppercase A, B, C, D, E instead of lowercase a, b, c, d

How? • Start from an open-ended question. Choose several wrong answer that many of the tts wrote. • make some adjustments to make all look equal or similar

More things to consider • Each item should measure a specific aspect of language learning. • Each must be independent. • Do not provide an answer to an item in a stem of another item.

Examples 1. According to the text above, a figure that has eight sides is called an: A. pentagon B. quadrilateral C. octagon D. ogive

2. As compared to autos of the 60 s, autos in the 80 s. . A. travelling slower B. bigger interiors C. to use less fuel D. was less constructed in foreign countries E. contain more safety features

3. Switzerland. . A. is located in Asia B. produces large quantities of gold C. has no direct access to the ocean D. is a flat arid plain

References • Brown, H. D. 2001. Teaching by Principles: An interactive approach to language pedagogy (2 nd ed). Language Assessment: Basic Concepts in Test Development New • • • York: Pearson Education Company. Brown, H. D. 2004. Language assessment: Principles and classroom practices. New York: Pearson Education Company. Cohen, A. D. 1994. Assessing Language Ability in the Classroom (2 nd ed). Boston: Heinle & Heinle Publishers. Harmer, J. 2007. The Practice of English language Teaching (4 th ed). Harlow: Pearson. Lado, R. 1977. Language Testing: The Construction and Use of Foreign Language Tests. London: Longman. Stanley, J. C. dan K. D. Hopkins. 1978. Educational and Psychological Measurement and Evaluation. New Delhi: Prentice-Hall.