Assessment and Test Construction

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Assessment is an iterative feedback process for continual program improvement, based on the model to the right.

The assessment cycle is an integral part of student-centered education. It provides an ongoing mechanism for challenging tacit assumptions about program effectiveness, identifying conflicting program elements, and assuring that student learning objectives are met. It also allows for evolution of program goals over time. Although it is by no means an easy task to define learning objectives and measurable outcomes for an educational program, faculty engaged in the process inevitably and uniformly are rewarded by identifying with heightened clarity what it is they are trying to accomplish and how they can better go about it.

From the Center for Instructional Innovation, Western Washington University

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Multiple Choice Workshop 2006 (Manual by Marilyn Robinson)

Introduction
What is a Multiple Choice Question?
Bloom's Taxonomy of Educational Objectives
Multiple-choice Question Formats
Assembling the Multiple-choice Examination
Post-examination analysis

General Resources

Internet Resources for Higher Education Outcomes Assessment

Multiple Choice and Short Answer Questions

Assessment: Designing Effective Multiple-choice and Short Answer Questions (Manual)
Constructing Written Test Questions for the Basic and Clinical Sciences, 3rd Edition
Test Blueprint (Template)
Test Blueprint (Example)
Major Categories in the Taxonomy of Educational Objectives (Bloom, 1956)
Writing Effective Multiple Choice Exams by Dr. Mike Atkinson (Reflections Newsletter Excerpt)

PowerPoint Presentations on Assessment (2006)

How Assessment Works (Dr. Debra Dawson)
Creating Valid and Reliable Classroom Tests (Wollack, Siegler, Kang, Wells)
Short Answer and Short Essay (Dr. Debra Dawson) 

Articles

Bannister, S. (2002). Developing Objectives and Relating them to Assessment. University of North Carolina-Charlotte Website. Carneson, J., Delpierre, G., and Masters, K. (1996). Designing and Managing Multiple Choice Questions. University of Cape Town Website.
Jacobs, L. (2004). How to Write Better Tests: A Handbook for Improving Test Construction Skills. Indiana University Website.

 
Books

Banks, S.R. (2005). Classroom Assessment: Issues and practices. Boston : Pearson/A and B.
Gronlund, N.E. (2006). Assessment of Student Achievement. Boston: Pearson.
Haladyna, T.M. (2004). Developing and validating multiple-choice test items , 3 rd Ed. Mahwah, N.J: L. Erlbaum Associates.
Hanna, G.S. and Dettmer, P.A. (2004). Assessment for Effective Teaching Using Context-Adaptive Planning, Pearson, Toronto.
Marzano, R.J., (2001). Designing a New Taxonomy of Educational Objectives, Corwin Press, Inc., California.
Osterlind, S.J. (1998). Constructing Test Items: Multiple-Choice, Constructed-Response, Performance, and Other Formats, Second Edition, Kluwer Academic Publishers, Boston.

 

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