Selection Type of Objective Written Examination

Reynaldo O. Joson, MD 1993 ; 1999 Written examinations can be used to evaluate student learning in the cognitive as well as affective domain but not in the psychomotor domain. Between cognitive and affective domains, however, written examinations are more commonly used in evaluating student learning in the cognitive domain. There are three forms of written examinations. These are, namely: the objective form; the subjective form; and the patient simulation. What will be presented here will be the objective form of written examination. The objective written examination is the most practical examination to give when there is a large group of examinees who have to take the examination within a short period of time and when the examiners want a speedy and a more objective correction of the examination answers. The objective examination item is a structured problem or question requiring a limited examinee response. There are two main types: 1. The supply item, where the student provides the answers to the questions and 2. The selection item, where all the answers are given and the student chooses the correct answer from the given options or alternatives. What will be presented here will be the selection type of objective written examination. This is the fastest and the most objective type of written examination to correct. The more common types of selection objective examination items are the following: I. Alternative Response (True or False) 1. Single True-False 2. Multiple True-False

3. Multiple Correct Response II. Multiple Choice (MCQ) 1. One Best Response 2. Matching Type III. Relations Analysis 1. Assertion and Reason 2. Quantitative Comparison 3. Variation Relationship IV. Rank-in-Order I. Alternative Response 1. Single True-False Directions: Circle T if the given statement is true and F if the statement is false. T T F F 1. Statement. 2. Statement.

2. Multiple True-False Directions: Following each statement are a number of options or alternatives. For each option or alternative, circle T if it is true and F if false. Question 1. Statement or stem. T T T T F F F F a. Option or alternative b. Option c. Option d. Option

3. Multiple Correct Response

Directions: Which of the following statements are valid? Write "A" if 1, 2, and 3 are valid statements. "B" if only 1 and 3 are valid statements. "C" if only 2 and 4 are valid statements. "D" if only 4 is a valid statement. "E" if all are valid statements. II. Multiple Choice 1. One Best Response Directions: Circle the letter corresponding to the best answer. Question: 1. Statement or stem a. Option or alternative b. Option c. Option d. Option e. Option 2. Matching Type Directions: Match the numbered items with the lettered items. Place the appropriate letter on the blanks provided. A letter may be used more than once. (Or only once or not at all.) a. Response b. Response c. Response d. Response e. Response f. Response

_____ 1. Premise _____ 2. Premise _____ 3. Premise _____ 4. Premise

III. Relations Analysis 1. Assertion and Reason Directions: Write

"A" if both statements (assertion and reason) are true and the reason is a correct explanation of the assertion. "B" if both statements (assertion and reason) are true but the reason is not a correct explanation of the assertion. "C" if the first statement (assertion) is true but the second statement (reason) is false. "D" if the first statement (assertion) is false but the second statement (reason) is true. "E" if both statements (assertion and reason) are false. Questions: _____ 1. Assertion and reason _____ 2. Assertion and reason _____ 3. Assertion and reason 2. Quantitative Comparison Directions: Write "A" if the A entity is greater than the B entity "B" if the B entity is greater than the A entity "C" if both are nearly equal Questions: (A) entity (B) entity Answer: _______ 3. Variation Relationship Directions: Write "A" if an increase in A is accompanied by an increase in B "B" if an increase in A is accompanied by a decrease in B "C" if an increase in A is independent of the change in B

Question: (A) entity (B) entity Answer: _______ IV. Rank-in-Order Directions: Arrange the following items according to ______________. Question: Item 1, item 2, item 3, item 4 Answer: _____, _____, _____, _____.

Selection Objective Exam Item Editing Checklist Directions: For every examination item you have constructed, answer the following questions. A YES answer indicates that the specific criterion mentioned for a good item has been satisfied. If the answer is NO, edit the item and conform to the criterion mentioned. 1. Are the DIRECTIONS clear and complete? 2. Is your LANGUAGE clear and devoid of ambiguous wording? 3. For: Alternative Responses, a. Is it a clearly true or clearly false statement without qualifications or exceptions? b. Does it avoid give-away modifiers such as always, never, often, and eventually? c. Does it avoid opinions? 4. For Multiple Choice Items, a. Does the stem contain as much of the problem as possible? b. Are the alternatives similar in form, length, and grammatical construction?

c. Are the alternatives arranged in a logical order? d. Does the item avoid "all of the above" and "none of the above" options? 5. For Matching Type Items, a. Does the item have no more than 15 or no less than 5 responses? b. Are the longer statements or phrases used as premises and the shorter ones as responses? c. Is automatic or perfect matching avoided? d. Is the entire exercises printed in one page? 6. For Assertion-Reason Items, Can both statements be clearly related or not related as cause-effect or assertionreason? 7. For Quantitative Comparisons and Variation Relation Items, Are both entities measurable and comparable? 8. For Rank-in-Order Exercises, Is there only one best sequence of events? Reference: Tan-Alora, A: The Written Examination: Objective Examination Items. NTTCHP, 1986.