A teacher learning how to write test questions (test items) will almost certainly encounter item-writing guidelines—lists of item-writing do's and don'ts. Item-writing guidelines usually are presented as applicable across all assessment settings. Table I shows some guidelines that I believe to be generally applicable and two will be briefly discussed here. The teacher may also encounter some guidelines that are not applicable in all assessment settings, or that can be applied to physics only with care. Two such guidelines, and their limitations, will be discussed as well.
References
1.
Gordon J.
Aubrecht
, II and Judith D.
Aubrecht
, “Constructing objective tests
,” Am. J. Phys.
51
(7
), 613
–620
(July
1983
). 2.
William A.
Rieck
, “Putting assessment to the test: Tips for designing standards-based tests
,” Sci. Teach.
69
, 46
–49
(Feb.
2002
).3.
Melanie
Taylor
and Sean
Smith
, “How do you know if they're getting it? Writing assessment items that reveal student understanding
,” Sci. Scope
32
, 60
–64
(Jan.
2009
).4.
5.
T.
Haladyna
, S.
Downing
, and M.
Rodriguez
, “A review of multiple-choice item-writing guidelines for classroom assessment
,” Appl. Meas. Educ.
15
(3
), 309
–333
(2002
). 6.
Ref. 3.
7.
The use of distractors as a probe of misconceptions is not considered here.
© 2015 American Association of Physics Teachers.
2015
American Association of Physics Teachers
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