PLANNING A TEST AND
CONTRUCTION OF TABLE
OF SPECIFICATION (TOS)
FRANCHESCA MARIE O. BANTOTO
IMPORTANT
STEPS IN
PLANNING A TEST
1.Identifying test objectives
2.Deciding on the type of test to be
prepared
3.Preparing a Table of Specifications (TOS)
4.Constructing the draft test items
5.Try-out and validation
1. IDENTIFYING
TEST OBJECTIVES
•An objective test, if it is to be
comprehensive, must cover the various
levels of Bloom’s taxonomy. Each
objective consists of a statement of what
is to be achieved preferably by the
students. The following are typical
objectives:
•knowledge/remembering
•comprehension/understanding
•application/applying
•analysis/analyzing
•evaluation/evaluating
•synthesis/synthesizing
KNOWLEDGE
Count
Define
Draw
Identify
Label
List
Locate
Name
Outline
Point
Quote
Recite
Record
Repeat
Select
State
Write
COMPREHENSION
Associate
Classify
Convert
Describe
Differentiate
Discuss,
Distinguish,
Estimate
Explain
Interpret
Match
Paraphrase
Predict
Recognize
Select
Summarize
Translate
APPLICATION
Apply
Build
Calculate
Classify
Compare
Complete
Contrast
Construct
Demonstrate
Illustrate
Modify
Operate
Practice
Relate
Report
Solve
Use
ANALYSIS
Analyze
Categorize
Compose
Debate
Detect
Diagram
Differentiate
Distinguish
Group
Infer
Investigate
Prioritize
Relate
Research
Separate
Sort
Transform
SYNTHESIS
Adapt
Assemble
Combine
Compare
Compose
Create
Design
Formulate
Generalize
Integrate
Invent
Organize
Plan
Prepare
Prescribe
Revise
Specify
EVALUATION
Accept
Appraise
Assess
Compare/Contrast
Critique
Determine
Evaluate
Facilitate
Grade
Justify
Measure
Rank
Recommend
Reject
Select
Test
2. DECIDING ON THE TYPE OF TEST TO
BE PREPARED
•The test objectives guide the kind of test that will be designed and constructed by the teacher.
For instance for the first four (4) levels, we may want to construct a multiple-choice type of test
while for application and judgement, we may opt to give an essay test.
3. PREPARING A TABLE OF
SPECIFICATION (TOS)
•A Table of Specification (TOS) is a test map that
guides the teacher in constructing a test. It
ensures that there is a balance between items
that test lower order thinking skills (LOTS) and
those which test higher order thinking skills
(HOTS).
NOTE: Each institution may have its own TOS
format.
TWO-WAY TABLE OF
SPECIFICATION
TWO-WAY TABLE OF
SPECIFICATION
TWO-WAY TABLE OF
SPECIFICATION
DECIDE ON THE NUMBER OF ITEMS TO GIVE
TO THE TEST.
CONSIDER THE FOLLOWING: NATURE OF
THE SUBJECT, GRADE LEVEL, LEVEL OF
THINKING SKILLS DESIRED AND TIME
ALLOTMENT.
TWO-WAY TABLE OF
SPECIFICATION
REVIEW THE NUMBER OF DAYS SPENT IN TEACHING
THE LESSON.
NO. OF ITEMS =(TOTAL NO. OF ITEMS DIVIDED BY
TOTAL NO. OF DAYS/HOURS) * (NO. OF DAYS OR
HOURS THE CONTENT WAS TAUGHT
TWO-WAY TABLE OF
SPECIFICATION
DECIDE WHAT CATEGORIES OF SKILLS
YOU ARE GOING TO USE.
TWO-WAY TABLE OF
SPECIFICATION
DECIDE WHAT ITEMS NUMBERS YOU WILL
ASSIGN FOR
QUESTIONS OR ITEMS THAT COVER A
PARTICULAR
OBJECTIVE, IN PARTICULAR SKILL
CATEGORY.
TWO-WAY TABLE OF
SPECIFICATION
%= (TOTAL NUMBER OF
ITEMS FOR A PARTICULAR
OBJECTIVE DIVIDED BY
TOTAL NUMBER OF
ITEMS) * 100
ONE WAY TABLE OF
SPECIFICATION
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4. CONSTRUCTING
THE DRAFT OF TEST
ITEMS
•The actual construction of the test items follows the TOS.
As a general rule, it is advised that the actual numbers of
items to be constructed in the draft should be double the
desired number of items. The subsequent try-out and item
analysis will most likely eliminate many of the constructed
items in the draft (either they are too difficult, too easy or
non-discriminatory).
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5. ITEMS ANALYSIS AND TRY-OUT
•The test draft is tried out to a group of pupils. The purpose of this try out
is to determine the
a). Item characteristics through item analysis
b). Characteristics of the test itself –validity, reliability and practicality.
ITEM ANALYSIS
TERMINOLOGY
QUANTITATIVE ITEM ANALYSIS
A numerical method for analyzing test items employing
students response alternatives or options.
QUALITATIVE ITEM ANALYSIS
A non – numerical method for analyzing test items not
employing students responses, but considering test
objectives, content validity, and technical item quality
KEY
Correct option in a multiple – choice item
DISTRACTOR
Incorrect option in a multiple – choice item
DIFFICULTY INDEX
Proportion of students who answered the item
correctly.
DISCRIMINATION INDEX D
Measure of the extent to which a test item
discriminates or differentiates between students who
do well on the overall test and those who do not do
well on the overall test.
POSITIVE DISCRIMINATION INDEX
Those who did well on the overall test chose the
correct answer for a particular item more often than
those who did poorly on the overall test.
NEGATIVE DISCRIMINATION INDEX
Those who did poorly on the overall test chose the
correct answer for a particular item more often than
those who did well on the overall test.
ZERO DISCRIMINATION INDEX
Those who did well and those who did poorly on the
overall test chose the correct answer for a particular
item with equal frequency.
INDEX OF DISCRIMINATION
The item's ability to distinguish between those who
know the answer and those who are merely guessing.
Item Analysis
•A process which examines student
response to individual test items
(questions) in order to assess the quality
of those items and of the test as a whole.
It provides the following:
1.The difficulty of the item
2.The discriminating power of the item
3.The effective of each alternative (for multiple
choice type of test)
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BENEFITS DERIVED FROM ITEM
ANALYSIS
1.Provides useful information for class discussion of the test.
2.Provides data which helps the students improve their learning.
3.Provides insights and skills which leads to the construction of better
test items for future use.
STEP IN ITEM
ANALYSIS (U-L
METHOD)
I.Arrange the scores from highest to lowest.
II.Get the top 27% and the lowest 27% and name them
as Upper Group (UG) and the Lower Group (LG).
III.Compute the index of difficulty for each item.
IV.Compute the index of discrimination for each item.
V.Interpret the results.
VI.Indicate the necessary action.
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DIFFICULTY INDEX
(ID)
•Refers to the ease or difficulty of a test item. It is
defined as the number of students who are able
to answer the item correctly divided by the total
number of students.
INDEX OF
DISCRIMINATION (ID)
•The item’s ability to
distinguish between
those who know the
answer and those
who are merely
guessing.
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EXAMPLE:
Suppose a 40-item test given to 40
students in Math 2. Compute the
difficulty
index
and
index
of
discrimination of the following test
results. Interpret your answers and
determine what actions you should take.
Show your answers in a table.
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THANK YOU