Intro to Selective Response Tests

Hello and Welcome to Deb and Kathy’s Blog Spot. Our assignment is to summarize for you Chapter 6 in Popham’s book on “Selected Response Tests.” We have some very exciting information for you.

There are 4 types of Selected Response Tests

1. Binary-Choice items
2. Multiple Binary-Choice items
3. Multiple Choice Items
4. Matching Items

Deb will explain binary-choice and multiple-binary choice, and Kathy will touch on multiple choice and matching items. We will each post a few times so our posts are not so long and cumbersome.

Here are a few cardinal rules for teachers who are using “Selected-Response Tests:

1. No Opaque Directions:
Sometimes a teacher knows the test so well they fail to give clear and concise directions. “Sketchy” directions can lead to unclear directions and can confuse the students. Teachers should make sure they create clear directions early in the game.

2. No Ambiguous Statements:
This simply means that if the students are not sure what you mean and misinterpret what the question is saying they may come up with an incorrect answer even though they know the right answer. You must put yourself in the shoes of your students to make sure your questions are not confusing.

3. No Unintended Clues:
This is a tough one, but make sure that you don’t develop a poor test by giving unintentional clues. An example of this would be to make all of your “true” statements longer than your “false” statements, or using “never” or “always” in a true/false question. Most students know that there are no absolutes and will select false. They can get the answer right even if they don't have the knowledge.

4. No Complex Syntax: Use very simple sentences. Difficult sentences can really mess up a test for students. 5. No Difficult Vocabulary: Use vocabulary suitable for the students who are taking the test. Simple vocabulary is a key to an accurate test.

Read other posts for more information on different types of selected-response items!

Binary-Choice Items

Binary-Choice Items:
This type of tests gives students two options to select from. An example would be true/false, fact/opinion, yes/no, right/wrong. Pros and cons to this type of test:

A positive would be that it is fast and a student can answer many questions in a short amount of time.

A weakness would be that a student has a 50/50 chance to get the correct answer. However, the more questions on a binary choice test, the greater the accuracy. A student can only be “lucky” so often before their luck wears out.

Guidelines for Binary Choice Items:

• Phrase your items to suggest a wrong answer. A question should not be so blatantly true or false. A student who has not studied will guess the wrong answer if they have not obtained the knowledge.
• Rarely use negative statements or double negatives. When inserting “not” in a true statement a student is more than likely to put false even though they know the correct answer
• Focus on a single concept. Never have a statement where ½ of the question is right ant ½ is wrong. The presence of two concepts in a statement regardless if both are true or both are false is very difficult for a student to answer.
• Have approximately equal numbers of true and false statements. It doesn’t have to be exactly half, but should be close.
• Keep item length similar for both true and false statements. Teachers tend to make true statements lengthier.

You want to make sure that you construct your test in a way that is clear and easy for the students to understand. You also want to make sure that it measures their knowledge and that no questions confuse the students and those who are “guessing” will have a tough time.

Multiple-Binary Choice Items

Multiple Binary-Choice Items:
This looks like a traditional multiple choice test but there is a cluster of questions that have a "theme". Instead of picking one correct answer the student must answer all of the questions in a cluster.

Here is an example that was given in the book.
I will explain all parts of this cluster. It is much easier to explain when looking at the example. (p.132)

***Suppose that a dozen of your students completed a 10-item multiple-choice test and earned the following number of correct scores:

5,6,7,7,7,7,8,8,8,8,9,10

1. The median for your students' scores is 7.5 - the answer is true
2. The mode for the set of scores is 8.0 - then answer is false
3. The range of the students' scores is 5.0 - the answer is true
4. The median is different than the mean. - the answer is false.

The *** tells the student that this is a new cluster.

The question is the "stem".

Questions 1,2,3 and 4 must all be related to the stem.

To create a deeper level of thinking the teacher may ask the student to support their answer. Why is the false question false? What is the correct answer?

Positives of Multiple-Binary Test Items:

• Students cannot rely on memorized information like they can in a binary test.
• This type of test is more demanding and requires a deeper level of thinking.
• Students can respond to 2 or more items in a cluster in the same amount of time it takes to answer a single item. More items on a test leads to a more reliable test.