MODULE 1: BASIC CONCEPTS AND PRINCIPLES OF ASSESSMENT AND TEST

Assessment
• Derived from the Latin assidere which means “to sit beside”
• It is the process of gathering evidence of a student’s performance over a period of time.
Measurement
• It is the process of determining or describing the attributes or characteristics of physical objects
generally in terms of quantity.
Evaluation
• Originates from the root word “value”.
• It is an act of passing judgment on the basis of a set of standards.
Test
• Formal and systematic instruments, usually paper and pencil designed to assess the quality,
ability, and knowledge of students by giving a set of questions in a uniform manner.
Testing
• It is a method used to measure the level of scoring to get information about the extent of the
performance of the student.

TYPES OF ASSESSMENT
Formative Assessment
• It is used during the learning process
• Provide feedback on learning-in-process
• dialogue-based, ungraded
Summative Assessment
• Used at the end of the learning process
• Evaluate student learning against some standard or benchmark
• graded
Diagnostic Assessment
• Pre-assessment
• usually occurs at the beginning of the school year or before a new unit
• Assesses a student’s strengths, weaknesses, knowledge, and skills prior to instruction
Placement Assessment
• It is used to “place” students into a course, course level, or academic program.
• entrance tests
Norm-referenced Assessment
• Type of standardized test that compares students’ performances to one another.
• Ranks students on a “bell curve” to determine the highest and lowest-performing students.
Criterion-referenced Assessment
• designed to measure a student’s academic performance against some standard or criteria
Educational Testing - determines students' knowledge, skills, and experience of particular course
material or content through tests or examinations. They aim to quantify what learners know or
understand.
KINDS OF TESTS
1. Objective Test
Students have to select a pre-determined correct answer from three or four possibilities.
2. Subjective Test
Aims to assess areas of students’ performance that are complex and qualitative, using questions which
may have more than one correct answer or more ways to express it.
3. Diagnostic Test
• This test type is used to identify what the learners know about a certain concept beforehand.
• Usually given at the start of a course and covers what the teachers are to teach in the coming
days.
4. Formative Test
• It is used or given to learners throughout the teaching or lecture process to demonstrate that the
students have understood the course
5. Summative Test
• It used at the end of the year or course material to assess how much knowledge students have
acquired and how much they know or can do. It covers everything about the learning material,
from the first page to the ideas of the last pages.

MODULE 2: DETERMINING PROGRESS TOWARD THE ATTAINMENT OF

LEARNING OUTCOMES
2.1. MEASUREMENT
 Is the process of determining or describing the attributes or characteristics of physical objects
generally in terms of quantity.
 When we measure, we use some standard instrument to find out how long, heavy, hot,
voluminous, etc.
 When we measure, we are actually collecting quantitative information relative to some
established standard.
 Sometimes we can measure physical quantities by combining directly measurable quantities
to form derived quantities.

TYPES OF MEASUREMENT
Measurements can therefore be objective (as in testing) or subjective (as in perceptions).
a) Objective measurements - are measurements that do not depend on the person or
individual taking the measurements.
b) Subjective measurements - often differ from one assessor to the next even if the same
quantity or quality is being measured.

MEASURING INDICATORS, VARIABLES, AND FACTORS

• an educational variable (denoted by an English alphabet like X is a measurable characteristic of a
student
• Variables may be directly measurable as in X= age or X= height of a student.
• An indicator, I, denotes the presence or absence of a measured characteristic,

Thus:
I = I, if the characteristic is present
= 0, if the characteristic is absent
For the variable X= class participation, we can let I1, I2 …,,, denote the participation of a student in n
class recitations and let X= sum of the I’s divided by the recitations. Thus, if there were n= 10
recitations and the student participated in 5 of these 10, then X= 5/10 or 50%.
INDICATORS
The building blocks of educational measurement upon which all other forms of measurement are
built.
A group of indicators constitute a variable.
A group of variables form a construct or a factor.
The variables that form a factor correlate highly with each other but have low correlations with
variables in another group
2.2. ASSESSMENT
• Gathering and organizing data.
• It can be process or product assessment.
• It is a prerequisite to evaluation.
• It is also the interpretation of data.
EVALUATION
• Quantifying the degree to which something possesses.
• Assigning numbers to a performance etc.
• Awarding of points after taking the test.

2.3. APPROACHES TO ASSESSMENT

Assessment FOR Learning - Usually done before or prior to the instruction
a. Placement Assessment - Done prior to the instruction, clustering, and sectioning
b. Formative - Ongoing, for progress monitoring, quiz.
c. Diagnostic - Weakness and strength of the students.
d. Aptitude - Look into the entry knowledge of the student.
Assessment OF Learning - Done after the instruction
a. Summative Assessment - recorded and graded. It is the basis for the grade of the student.
b. The results are communicated to stakeholders for decision-making.
C. Chapter test, long quiz, mid-term, etc.
Assessment AS Learning
Done for the teacher/student to understand their role.
a. Reflection paper
b. Metacognition
c. Training and seminars

MODULE 3: PROGRAM OUTCOMES and STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES

3.1. PROGRAM OUTCOMES FOR TEACHER EDUCATION

The program outcomes specific to degrees are programs spelled out in the specific Policies,
Standards, and Guidelines (PSG) per program or degree issued by the same Commission. The
following are the program outcomes for teacher education in 2017 Philippines Explain the rootedness
of education in philosophical, socio-cultural, historical, psychological, and political contexts.
3.2. THREE TYPES OF LEARNING
3.3. DOMAIN I: COGNITIVE (KNOWLEDGE)
• Knowledge: the ability to recall data and/or information
• Comprehension: the ability to understand the meaning of what is known
• Application: the ability to utilize an abstraction or to use knowledge in a new situation.
• Analysis: the ability to differentiate facts and opinions.
• Synthesis: the ability to integrate different elements or concepts in order to form a sound pattern
or structure so a new meaning can be established.
• Evaluation: the ability to come up with judgments about the importance of concepts.
3.4. DOMAIN II: PSYCHOMOTOR (SKILLS)
• Perception: Students use sensory cues to guide their motor activities.
• Set: Students feel ready to act upon challenges and resolve them.
• Guided response: Students begin learning complex skills often through trial and error or
following instructions
• Mechanism: Students develop basic proficiency when performing particular tasks often through
practice.
• Complex overt response: Students learn to perform a task with advanced proficiency.
• Adaptation: Students have developed their skills and can change them to meet specific
requirements.
• Origination: Students learn how to develop a new skill using principles learned while gaining
the original skill.
3.5. DOMAIN III: AFFECTIVE (ATTITUDE)
• Receiving: Receiving involves a passive awareness of emotions and feelings and a student must
succeed at this level to learn at later stages.
 • Responding: A student actively engages in the learning process by receiving it and reacting to it.
• Valuing: A student values a concept when they express its worth or what it means to them.
• Organizing: A student develops a value system by arranging their values or beliefs in order of
priority.
• Characterizing: A student acts according to the values they have developed and internalized as a
personal philosophy.
3.6. KENDALL’S AND MARZANO’S NEW TAXONOMY
• Robert Marzano, the respected educational researcher, has proposed what he calls A New
Taxonomy of Educational Objectives (2000).
• Marzano’s New Taxonomy is made up of three systems and the Knowledge Domain, all of
which are important for thinking and learning.
• The three systems are the Self-System, the Metacognitive System, and the Cognitive System.

MODULE 5: DISTINGUISHING AND CONSTRUCTING VARIOUS PAPER-AND-PENCIL-

TESTS

5.1. PLANNING A TEST AND CONSTRUCTION OF A TABLE OF SPECIFICATIONS (TOS)

The important steps in planning for a test are:
Step 1: Determine the coverage of your exam
Step 2: Determine your testing objectives for each topic area
Step 3: Determine the duration for each content area
Step 4: Determine the test types for each objective
Step 5: Polish your table of specification
Preparing a Table of Specifications (TOS)
(TOS) Table of Specification is a test map that guides the teacher in constructing a test. It assures that
there is a balance between items that test lower-order thinking skills (LOTS) and those that test higher-
order thinking skills (HOTS). Without the TOS, the tendency for the test maker is to focus too much on
facts and concepts at the knowledge level.
Identifying Test Objectives.
Each objective consists of a statement of what is to be achieved preferably by the students.
 Remembering. Includes those objectives that deal with recall, recognizing facts, terminology,
and such.
 Understanding. Includes some level of understanding. It requires the learner to change the form
of communication to see its relationship or draw a conclusion.
 Applying. Requires the learners to use the previously acquired knowledge.
 Analyzing. It requires the learners to be able to identify if there is an error in a given statement.
 Evaluating. The learner is required to formulate his/her own judgement about the statement.
 Creating. The learners would be able to create his/her own perceptions or opinions about the
given statement.

5.2. TYPES OF PAPER-AND-PENCIL TEST

 Development of paper-and-pencil tests requires careful planning and expertise in terms of actual
test construction.
 The more seasoned teachers can produce true-false items that can test even higher-order thinking
skills and not just rote memory learning.
 Essays are easier to construct than the other types of objective tests, but the difficulty in scoring
essay examinations teachers from using this particular form of examination in actual practice.

5.3. CONSTRUCTING SELECTED-RESPONSE TYPE

A. TRUE-FALSE TEST
 This objective test requires the learner to select an answer from the given two alternative options
such as true or false, yes or no, agree or disagree, and many other alternative forms and
procedures.
  A student who knows nothing of the content of the examination would have 50% chance of
getting the correct answer by sheer guesswork.
ADVANTAGES:
 True/false items are fairly easy to write
 They are very easy to grade
DISADVANTAGES:
 True/false items can only test for factual information
They allow for a high probability (50%) of guessing the correct answer
They limit assessments to lower levels of learning (knowledge and comprehension)
 Guidelines for Constructing True/False Items
1. Be certain that the statement is entirely true or entirely false.
2. Convey only one thought or idea in a true/false statement.
3. Avoid the use of unfamiliar vocabulary.
4. Avoid the exact wording of the textbook.
5. Avoid the use of specific determiners or give-away qualifiers.
6. Avoid long sentences as these tend to be “true”.
7. Avoid double negatives.
8. Make more false than true 60/40.

B. MULTIPLE CHOICE
 This test consists of item statements accompanied by at least 4 plausible answers.
ADVANTAGES:
 Multiple-choice tests measure a variety of learning levels
 They are easy to grade
DISADVANTAGES:
 Multiple-choice tests evaluate recognition (choosing an answer) rather than recall
(constructing an answer)
 They allow for guessing
 They are fairly difficult to construct
 Guidelines for Constructing Multiple-Choice Items
1. Make the content meaningful. Do not test trivial or unimportant facts.
2. Make all alternatives plausible as correct responses. To make sure your alternatives are plausible,
define the class of things to which all of the answer choices should belong.
3. Reduce the length of the alternatives by moving as many words as possible to the stem.
4. Construct the stem so that it conveys a complete thought.
5. Do not make the correct answer stand out as a result of its phrasing or length.
6. Avoid overusing always and never in the alternatives. Students who are good test takers quickly
learn to avoid those choices.
7. Avoid using all of the above and none of the above.
8. Randomly select the position of the correct answer.
9. Do not repeat words in each option that could be used in the stem.
10. All alternatives should be homogeneous in content and grammatically consistent with the stem.
C. MATCHING TYPE
 This test consists of two sets of columned item statements that require the learners to match each
of the items in one column to each item in the other column. It must have a minimum of five
items in a column. This type of test allows the learner to reduce the number of advantages options
as they progress in answering the items.
 Maximum coverage at knowledge level in a minimum amount of space/prep time
 Valuable in content areas that have a lot of facts
DISADVANTAGES:
 Time consuming for students
 Not good for higher levels of learning
 Guidelines for Constructing Matching Type Items
 Match homogenous, not heterogeneous items.
  The stem (longer in construction than the options) must be in the first column while the options
(usually short) must be in the second column.
 The options must be more in number than the stems to prevent the student from arriving at the
answer by mere process of elimination.
 To help the examinee find the answer easier, arrange the options alphabetically or
chronologically, whichever is applicable.
 Like any other test, the direction of the test must be given. The examinee must know exactly what
to do.
 Need 15 items or less.
 Put all items on a single page.

5.4. CONSTRUCTING SUPPLY TYPE OR CONSTRUCTED RESPONSE

 Another useful device for testing lower-order thinking skills is the supply type of tests.
 Like the multiple-choice test, the items in this kind of test consist of a stem and a blank where the
students would write the correct answer.
A. COMPLETION TYPE OF TEST
 Construct supply type of tests that will test higher-order thinking.
 Guidelines for the Formulation of a Completion Type of Test
 Avoid overmutilated sentences like this test item. Give enough clues to the
student.
 Avoid open-ended items. There should be only one acceptable answer. This item is open-ended,
hence no good test item.
 The blank should be at the end or near the end of the sentence. The question must first be asked
before an answer is expected.
 Ask questions on more significant items not on trivial matters.
 The length of the blanks must not suggest the answer.
B. ESSAY
 Classified as non-objective tests, allow for the assessment of higher-order thinking skills.
 Such a test requires students to organize their thoughts on a subject matter in incoherent
sentences in order to inform an audience
 In essay tests, students are required to write one or more paragraphs on a specific topic.
 Essay questions can be used to measure the attainment of a variety of objectives.
1. Comparing
- Describe the similarities and differences between.
2. Relating cause-and-effect
- What are the major cause of….
- What would be the most likely effects of…
3. Justifying
- Explain why you agree or disagree with the following statement.
4. Summarizing
- Briefly summarize the contents of..
5. Generalizing
- Formulate several valid generalizations from the following data.
6. Inferring
- In the light of the facts presented, what is most likely to happen when..
7. Classifying
- Group the following items according to.
8. Applying
– Describe a situation that illustrates the principle of ____
9. Analyzing
- List and describe the main characteristics of…
10. Evaluating
- Using the criteria developed in class, write an evaluation of…
11. Creating
- Write a well-organized report that shows…
TYPES OF ESSAY
a) RESTRICTED ESSAY- it is also referred to as a short response. Examples are asking students
to “write an example”.

b) NON-RESTRICTED/EXTENDED ESSAY- extended responses can be much longer and

complex than short responses, but students are encouraged to remain focused and organized.

MODULE 6: ITEM ANALYSIS AND VALIDATION

6.1. ITEM ANALYSIS: DIFFICULTY INDEX AND DISCRIMINATION INDEX

The difficulty of an item or item difficulty is defined as the number of students who are able to answer the
item correctly divided by the total number of students.
Thus:
Item difficulty = number of students with correct answer/ total number of students The item
difficulty is usually expressed in percentage.

Difficult items tend to discriminate between those who know and those who do not know the answer.
Conversely, easy items cannot discriminate between these two groups of students. We are therefore
interested in deriving a measure that will tell us whether an item can discriminate between these two
groups of students. Such a measure is called an index of discrimination.
An easy way to derive such a measure is to measure how difficult an item is with respect to those in the
upper 25% of the class and how difficult it is with respect to those in the lower 25% of the class. If the
upper 25% of the class found the item easy yet the lower 25% found it difficult, then the item can
discriminate properly between these two groups.
Thus:
Index of discrimination = DU — DL (U — Upper group; L — Lower group)

Range of Difficulty Index Interpretation Action

0 — 0.25 Difficult Revise or discard

0.26 — 0.75 0.76 — above Right difficulty Easy Retain Revise or discard

The Discrimination index is the difference between the proportion of the top scorers who got an item
correct and the proportion of the lowest scorers who got the item right. The discrimination index range is
between -1 and +1. The closer the discrimination index is to +1, the more effectively the item can
discriminate or distinguish between the two groups of students. A negative discrimination index means
more from the lower group got the item correctly. The last item is not good and so must be discarded.

Index Range Interpretation Action

-1.0 — -.50 Can discriminate Discard

but item is questionable

-.55 - 0.45 Revise
Non-discriminating

0.46 — 1.0 Discriminating item Include