Constructed-response items

What are constructed-response items?

constructed-response items represent one of the two main categories of items used in testing, the other being fixed-response items.

constructed-response items allow learners to write out answers, as opposed to selecting from a predetermined list of answers, thus lessening the occurrence of guessing.

constructed-response items can be broken into two subcategories:

Completion Items
and
Essay items

completion items




requires learners to write words in one or more blanks embedded in the item.

Advantages

• easy to construct
• very effective for assessing recall of information
• reduces the occurrence of guessing.

limitations

• generally limited to measuring recall of information
• more likely to be scored erroneously than objectively scored formats.

Criteria for evaluating completion items

1. does this item measure the specified skill?

2. is the reading skill required by this item below the students' ability?

3. will only a single or very homogeneous set of responses provide a correct response to the item?

4. does the item use grammatical structure and vocabulary that is different from that contained in the source of instruction?

5. if the item requires a numerical response, does the question state the unit of measure to be used in the answer?

6. does the blank represent a key word?

7. are blanks placed at or near the end of the item?

8. is the number of blanks sufficiently limited?

it is important to consider all 8 criteria for evaluating completion items when designing fill in the blank test items.

Examples

Objective

Information:

given a description, name the art term being described.

1. In silkscreen, the tool used to force paint through the screen onto the printing surface is called a (____)

Answer:
1. Squeegee

2. In drawing, the rendering of forms through a balanced contrast between pronounced light and dark areas is called (_____)

Answer:
2. chiaroscuro

3. In ceramics, a plaster or fireclay slab on which pottery is formed and dried is called a (_____)

Answer:
3. bat

Essay items



requires learners to provide a narrative response to a test question

advantages

• measure more directly the behaviors specified by instructional objectives.
• examine the learner's ability to communicate ideas in writing.
• format helps instructors gain insight into the thinking that leads to students' answers.

limitations

• tend to provide a less-adequate sampling of the content being tested.
• the scoring of essay items is less reliable and highly subjectiv
• essay items take longer to score.

criteria for evaluating essay items

1. Does this item measure the specified skill?

2. is the level of reading skill required by this item below the learners' ability?

3. will all or most all students answer this item in less than 10 minutes?

4. will the scoring plan result in different readers assigning similar scores to a given student's response?

5. does the scoring plan describe a correct and complete response?

6. is the item written in such a way that the scoring plan will be obvious to knowledgeable learners?

it is important to consider all 6 criteria for evaluating essay items when designing test items.

Examples

Essay prompt

Untitled Slide

Untitled Slide

Untitled Slide