Test Development Techniques

Abstract

The chapter present a descriptive analysis of test development techniques as test is known to be used in obtaining information about the placement of individuals to appropriate ability groups and evaluate the teaching and curricula effectiveness. It was pointed out that for tests to serve its importance, it must be carefully prepared and developed through construction procedures. These procedures are: decision on the purpose of the test which entails determining the objectives of the test; decision on resources which involve considering the resources needed in test development and administration; content analysis and test blue-print which provides a summary of the intentions of the curriculum expressed in term of the contents, while test blue-print is a tabulation table of what the test is expected to cover rather than a description of what the curriculum covers; item writing procedure which is the preparation of assessment task which can reveal the knowledge and skill of individuals when their responses to these tasks are inspected; item reviewing which is done by the experts in the field to spot any ambiguities; planning item scoring; trial testing; item analysis; amending the test; and assembling the final test items. The paper further analysed the procedures that were involved in constructing different types of test as well as describing the strengths and weaknesses of the test. Item analysis procedures were described and relevant examples were presented and computed.