That Test was EASY!
David Carroll
Session Topics
What do you consider when scaling an assessment? Many of the considerations are subjective. What’s needed is an objective evaluation of assessment items. We’ll examine ways to classify the cognitive difficulty of questions that will aid in providing an objective evaluation of the assessment items.
Question Evaluation
Move from SUBJECTIVE to OBJECTIVE evaluation of assessment items.
The evaluation of questions is based on:
- What was taught in the curriculum
- How it was taught in the curriculum
- What was presented/experienced in practice/homework problems
- What is in the learning guide
It is NOT based on:
- How you feel the students will perform
- How the students would evaluate the question
Sample Evaluation
Doppler Effect - A wave phenomenon, characterized by a change in the apparent frequency of a wave as a result of relative motion between the observer and the source.
How was it taught?
- Teacher defines the Doppler Effect.
- Teacher demo
- Illustration of the wave pattern
- NASCAR as a real-world example
- Warm-up question
Removing Obstacles
Assessment Goals
- Yields reliable and valid results
- Is a meaningful measure of learning
- Is well-constructed
Writing Guidelines when writing multiple-choice questions:
- Use familiar vocabulary
- Keep the level of the questions appropriate for the level of the class and students
- Keep the reading comprehension level slightly below the level of the students