Types in Testing

Topic 4: Common Item Types in Testing

Read the text. 

Which to Choose: Selected or Constructed Response?

Many teachers choose selected response tests because they are easy to grade, although they can be challenging to create. They can be graded very quickly because there is only one right answer. They are useful when assessing receptive skills. Reading quizzes or listening tasks might include a selected response assessment.

For example, a reading quiz might have the following multiple choice questions:

1. In the story, what did the girl bring to school?

a) a backpack

b) a dog

c) coffee 2. Who did Ms. Gray talk to after class?

a) Mr. Tuttle

b) two misbehaving students

c) Sally and Jenny

 

A listening task might have these true/false questions:

1. The cashier said the price of the sweater was £10.99.

a) True

b) False 2. The two men took a cab ride from the airport to Piccadilly Circus.

a) True

b) False

Other teachers prefer constructed response tests because they make students use and create language. They are useful when assessing how students use productive skills, although they require more effort to grade. Essays and oral interviews are two examples of this type of assessment.

Because there is no one correct answer in constructed response tests, teachers create scoring guides to assess the students' answers. These scoring guides contain criteria for judging a language performance at different levels of achievement. Types of scoring guides include rating scales, checklists, and rubrics—like the one used in the writing lesson at the beginning of this unit. Here are examples of a rating scale and a checklist created for an oral interview:

Rating Scale

During the interview, does the student use the following items appropriately?

present progressive never          always

  1   2   3   4   5 

present simple never          always

  1   2   3   4   5

past simple never          always

  1   2   3   4   5

Checklist

During the interview, the student:

____ spoke clearly

____ used present progressive appropriately

____ used vocabulary from the unit

____ used pausing appropriately

When using a scoring guide, teachers should provide it to students before the assessment. It shows them exactly what they will need to do. This way, you are testing students' knowledge and skills, not their ability to understand the test itself.

Depending on your course goals, it might be a good idea to use a combination of selected and constructed response assessments during your course.