Caribbean Examinations Council

Caribbean Primary Exit Assessment

Item Writing Workshop

Facilitator: Ms Benita Byer

Assistant Registrar
Examinations Development and Production Division

Benita Byer, CXC 1

 Testing a Range of
Cognitive Skills
Can MC items Evaluation

really test a Synthesis

range of Analysis

cognitive skills? Application

Comprehension

Knowledge

Benita Byer, CXC 2

Level 1 (Knowledge & Comprehension)

A square is BEST described as a quadrilateral

with

(A) all sides equal

(B) two pairs of equal and parallel sides
(C) four equal sides and four right angles

Benita Byer, CXC 3

Level 1 (Knowledge & Comprehension)

The thermometer is used to measure

(A) length
(B) climate
(C) temperature

Benita Byer, CXC 4

 Level 2 (Application)

The area of a square is 25cm2. What is its

perimeter?

(A) 5 cm
(B) 20 cm
(C) 100 cm

Benita Byer, CXC 5

 Level 2 (Application)

The function of the part of the flower labeled

3 is to

(A) attract insects

(B) produce pollen
(C) develop into seeds

Benita Byer, CXC 6

Level 3 (Analysis & Synthesis)

Diagram A shows square floor of length 8 m. Diagram B shows a tile in the

shape of a right angled triangle with a base and height of 50 cm. How
many of these tiles are needed to completely cover the floor?

(A) 256
A (B) 400
B (C) 512

Benita Byer, CXC 7

 Level 3 (Analysis & Synthesis)

The table below gives the stopping distance for a car in

different conditions. How much further is the stopping
distance at 70 mph in wet conditions than in dry conditions?

(A) 76 m
Speed Stopping distance (m)
(mph) Dry Roads Wet Roads (B) 96 m
30 23 36 (C) 172 m
50 53 92
70 96 172

Benita Byer, CXC 8

 Structure of a
Multiple-choice Item

A multiple - choice item consists of the

• STEM (statement/question/stimulus)
• OPTIONS (possible responses)
• KEY (correct response)
• DISTRACTORS/FOILS (incorrect responses)

Benita Byer, CXC 9

 Types of MC Items
There are three main types of MC Items.

[Link] questions-
(a) Correct answer (b) Best answer

2. Incomplete statements

3. Stimulus material followed by a series of

questions

Benita Byer, CXC 10

 1(a) Correct answer variety
What is the highest common factor of 24 and 36?

A. 4
B.* 12
C. 24
D. 72

Benita Byer, CXC 11

 1 (b) Best answer variety

An equilateral triangle is BEST described as a triangle

with

A. three sides
B. * three equal sides
C. equal angles and sides
D. a pair of equal sides and angles

Benita Byer, CXC 12

 1 (b) Best answer variety

Which material is the best heat

conductor?

(A) Plastic
(B) Wood
(C) * Metal

Benita Byer, CXC 13

 2. Incomplete statement

The number 762 is divisible by

A. * 3
B. 4
C. 7
D. 12

Benita Byer, CXC 14

Incomplete statement
In science we say that work is done
when a force
(A) moves something through a
distance
(B) pushes against a stationary
object as a wall
(C) is used to hold a weight at a
fixed height above the ground

Benita Byer, CXC 15

 3. Multiple response
Which of the following describe a cube?

I It has six faces.

II It has ten edges.
III It has eight vertices.
IV It is three dimensional.

A I and II only
B I and IV only
C II and III only
D* I, III and IV only

Benita Byer, CXC 16

 Advantages of Multiple-Choice Items
• Enable sampling of a wide content area within a
relatively short testing time

• Flexible – several questions may be based on

the same stimulus

• Versatile – objectives can be measured across

taxonomic range

Benita Byer, CXC 17

 Advantages of Multiple-Choice Items

• Pre - testing of items allows for prediction and control

of test difficulty and reliability

• Writing time is eliminated and time used for thinking

instead

Benita Byer, CXC 18

 Advantages of Multiple-Choice Items

• Scoring is easy and reliable as keys are determined

prior to scoring

• Item analysis provides the opportunity to examine

candidates’ responses to each item and so identify
areas of weakness

Benita Byer, CXC 19

 Guidelines for Writing the STEM

• Present a single, clearly formulated question,

statement or scenario.

• Use a simple and direct sentence structure.

• Avoid ambiguous words or phrases.

Benita Byer, CXC 20

 … Writing the STEM
• Avoid excessive verbiage.

• State the stem in a positive form wherever possible

• Never use double negatives.

• If negative words (not, least, etc) are used they should be

capitalized.

Benita Byer, CXC 21

 Example
Poor: All of the following are NOT prime numbers EXCEPT
A. 9
B. 15
C. 21
D. * 29

Better: Which one of the following is a prime number?

A. 9
B. 15
C. 21
D. * 29

Benita Byer, CXC 22

 … Writing the STEM

• Avoid use of personal pronouns (you, we) and

especially gender-specific pronouns (he, she)

• Include any words in the stem that would have to be

repeated in each option

Benita Byer, CXC 23

 Example
 POOR:
A prime number is

A. a number with no factors

B. a number with at least two factors
C.* a number with exactly two factors
D. a number with fewer than two factors

Benita Byer, CXC 24

 Example
• BETTER:

A prime number is a number with

A. no unique factors
B. at least two unique factors
C.* exactly two unique factors
D. fewer than two unique factors

Benita Byer, CXC 25

 … Writing the STEM
• Avoid phrases like ‘what would you do?’ or ‘what do
you think?’

• Avoid situations/content that might be outdated at

the time of the exam

• Ensure that the stem does not contain any clues to

the correct answer

Benita Byer, CXC 26

 … Writing the STEM

• Information in the stem of item X should not

contain information needed to respond to item
Z.

• Provide as much of the information as possible

in the stem

Benita Byer, CXC 27

 Example
POOR
Which of the following statements is
NOT true?

A. A square has four equal sides.

B. A square has four right angles.
C. The diagonals of a square are equal.
D. * A square has two lines of symmetry.

Benita Byer, CXC 28

 Example
BETTER:
Which of the following statements about a square is
NOT true?

A. It has four equal sides.

B. It has four right angles.
C. The diagonals are equal.
D. * It has two lines of symmetry.

Benita Byer, CXC 29

 Guidelines for Writing the OPTIONS

• Should follow logically and grammatically

from the stem

• Should be arranged in a logical,

chronological or systematic order

Benita Byer, CXC 30

 Example
POOR

The circumference of a circle is the

A. an amount that is half the diameter

B. if you measure the distance from the centre to
a point on the circle
C.* actual distance around the circle
D. when a line cuts a circle in half

Benita Byer, CXC 31

 Example
BETTER

The circumference of a circle is

A. half the diameter

B. the distance from the centre to a point
on the circle
C.* the actual distance around the circle
D. a line that cuts a circle in half

Benita Byer, CXC 32

 Example
POOR

If 20% of a number is 80, what is the number?

A. 1600
B. 4
C. * 400
D. 16

Benita Byer, CXC 33

 Example
BETTER

If 20% of a number is 80, what is the number?

A. 4
B. 16
C. * 400
D. 1600

Benita Byer, CXC 34

 … Writing the OPTIONS

• They should be parallel in

– length
– grammatical structure
– content & terminology

Benita Byer, CXC 35

 Example
A trapezium

A. has no obtuse angles

B.* is a quadrilateral with one pair of parallel sides
C. is symmetrical
D. has four lines

Benita Byer, CXC 36

 … Writing the OPTIONS
• Use professionally acceptable or well-known technical terms in
options
(distractors as well as the key)

• Avoid use of “ALL OF THE ABOVE” & “NONE OF THE ABOVE” ,

especially with the Best answer variety

• Include ONLY ONE correct (or best) option (i.e., the key)

Benita Byer, CXC 37

 … Writing the OPTIONS
• Key should be either the ONLY correct answer or clearly
the BEST or MOST APPROPRIATE answer to the informed,
well-prepared candidate.

• Key should be correct and defensible on professional and

(if necessary) legal grounds.

Benita Byer, CXC 38

 Guidelines for Writing
the DISTRACTORS

• Should be plausible

• Should be parallel with the correct answer in length,

structure, vocabulary

• Should provide no unintended clues to the correct answer

Benita Byer, CXC 39

 … Writing the DISTRACTORS

• Should not be too similar in meaning to the correct

answer

• Should not contain unnecessarily technical language

Benita Byer, CXC 40

 … Writing the DISTRACTORS
• Should not overlap with each other

• Should be free of humorous and ridiculous

statements

• Use common misconceptions and common

errors

Benita Byer, CXC 41

 … Writing the DISTRACTORS
• Use statements that are

– true but do not satisfy the requirements of the problem

– too broad or too narrow for the requirements of the
problem
– carefully worded but incorrect, and may seem plausible to
the uninformed

Benita Byer, CXC 42

 … Writing the DISTRACTORS
DO NOT
• Make the distractors vague and ambiguous while the
key is clear and concise.

DO NOT
• Use absolutes (no, all, never, always) in distractors but
not in the key.

Benita Byer, CXC 43

The End

Benita Byer, CXC 44