Suggestions For Writing True-False Test Items

Remember… 1. Base true-false items upon statements that are

! Keep language as simple and
absolutely true or false, without qualifications or
clear as possible. exceptions.
Undesirable: Desirable:
! Use a relatively large number of Nearsightedness is Geneticists and eye special-
items (75 or more when the en- hereditary in origin. ists believe that the predispo-
tire test is T/F). sition to nearsightedness is
hereditary.
! Be aware that extremely long or
complicated statements will test
reading skill rather than content 2. Express the item statement as simply and as
knowledge. clearly as possible.
Undesirable: Desirable:
! Require students to circle or un-
When you see a highway with The construction and mainte-
derline a typed “T” or “F” rather
a marker that reads, “Interstate nance of interstate highways
than to fill in a “T” or “F” next to
80” you know that the con- are provided by both state and
the statement, thus avoiding hav-
struction and upkeep of that federal governments.
ing to interpret confusing hand-
road is maintained by the state
writing.
and federal government.
! If a proposition expresses a rela-
tionship, such as cause and effect 3. Express a single idea in each test item.
or premise and conclusion,
present the correct part of the Undesirable: Desirable:
statement first and vary the truth Water will boil at a higher Water will boil at a higher tem-
or falsity of the second part. temperature if the atmo- perature if the atmospheric
spheric pressure on its surface pressure on its surface is
! Make true and false items of ap- is increased and more heat is increased.
proximately equal average length applied to the container.
throughout the test.
4. Include enough background information and quali-
! Randomize the sequence of true
and false statements. fications so that the ability to respond correctly to the
item does not depend on some special, uncommon
! Make use of popular misconcep- knowledge.
tions/beliefs as false statements.
Undesirable: Desirable:

! Write items so that the incorrect The second principle of edu- According to John Dewey, the
response is more plausible or at- cation is that the individual second principle of education
tractive to those without the spe- gathers knowledge. is that the individual gathers
cialized knowledge being tested. knowledge.

22
 Extreme Modifiers:
5. Avoid the use of extreme modifiers or qualifiers.
all none
Undesirable: Desirable: always never
—All sessions of Congress are —The sum of the angles of a only nobody
called by the President. (F) triangle is always 180o. (T) invariably no one
—The Supreme Court —The galvanometer is the in- best absolutely
frequently rules on the con- strument usually used for the worst absolutely not
stitutionality of law. (T) metering of electrical energy everybody certainly
—An objective test is used in a home. (F) everyone certainly not
generally easier to score than
an essay test. (T) Qualifiers:
usually frequently
6. Avoid lifting statements from the text, lecture or often sometimes
some seldom
other materials so that memory alone will not permit a many much
correct answer. probably a majority
Undesirable: Desirable:
apt to most
For every action there is an If you were to stand in a might a few
opposite and equal reaction. canoe and throw a life jacket may unlikely
forward to another canoe,
chances are your canoe
would jerk backward.
Remember…
! Determine that the questions are
7. Avoid using negatively stated item statements. appropriately answered by
Undesirable: Desirable:
“True” or “False” rather than by
The Supreme Court is not The Supreme is composed of some other type of response,
composed of nine justices. nine justices. such as “Yes” or “No.”

! Arrange the statements so that

there is no discernible pattern of
8. Avoid the use of unfamiliar vocabulary. answers (such as T , F, T, F, T, F
Undesirable: Desirable:
and T, T, F, F, T, T, F, F) for True
According to some politicians, According to some politicians, and False statements.
the raison d’etre for capital justification for capital punish-
punishment is retribution. ment is retribution. ! Avoid the tendency to add de-
tails in true statements to make
them more precise. The answers
should not be obvious to stu-
Writing Hint…
dents who do not know the ma-
One method for developing true-false items is to write a set of
terial.
true statements that cover the content, then convert approximately
half of them to false statements. Remember: When changing
! Be sure to include directions that
items to false (as well as in writing the true statements initially),
tell students how and where to
state the items positively, avoiding negatives or double negatives.
mark their responses.

23
 True-False Test Items: Conclusion

Ask yourself:
Aim for Higher Levels of Learning
Why are these
While true-false and other forced choice questions are generally
true-false questions used to measure knowledge and understanding, they could also
crummy? be used at higher levels. Students could be provided with a set of
information new to them, perhaps a portfolio, set of data, or a writ-
ten work of some type, then asked various forced choice questions
1. There is no advantage for not
related to the content or the presence/absence of certain character-
using specific determiners in
istics in the work.
true-false items. T F

2. Test validity is a function of Anticipate Scoring Ranges

test reliability, which can be
improved by using fewer
Scores on true-false items tend to be high because of the ease of
items. T F
guessing correct answers when the answer is not known. With
only two choices (true or false) the student could expect to guess
3. A nickel is larger than a
correctly on half of the items for which correct answers are not
dime. T F
known.
4. An eagle's range of sight is
If a student knows the correct answers to 10 questions out of 20
precisely 1,000 ft. T F
and guesses on the other 10, the student could expect a score of
15. The teacher can anticipate scores ranging from approximately
5. The telephone was invented
50% for a student who did nothing but guess on all items to 100%
a long time ago. T F
for a student who knew the material.

"A major distinction between

the true-false test item and items
In the final analysis…
in a multiple choice format, is The true-false test is probably the best known of the various types
that the true-false statement of objective test items. It is the easiest to construct and at the same
contains no criterion for time the most abused. The students learn the weaknesses that are
answering the question. Each inherent in many such items and are able to obtain high scores by
examinee must ask the question: noting the grammatical construction, the choice of words or other
True or false with respect to clues.
what? Each true-false item must
be unequivocally true or The true-false test can be used effectively as an instructional test to
unequivocally false. It is promote interest and introduce points for discussion. This perhaps
imperative that proper wording is the most important use for the plain true-false item. It is a valu-
and the elimination of able type of test to use in giving short, daily quizzes that may be
extraneous clues are more used to motivate the students for a new assignment, to review a
crucial with the true-false item previous lesson, to locate points to be retaught or to introduce con-
than with any other test format." troversial points for class discussion.
Writing Test Items, na, Michigan State University
Dept. of Education, Dec. 1999

26
 Suggestions For Writing Matching Test Items

1. Include directions which clearly state the basis for

Remember… matching the stimuli with the responses.

! Review your teaching objectives Explain whether or not a response can be used more than
to make sure that a matching once and indicate where to write the answer.
component is appropriate. Undesirable:
Directions: Match the following.
Desirable:
! Keep matching items brief, limit-
Directions: On the line to the left of each identifying location
ing the list of stimuli to 10 - 15.
and characteristics in Column I, write the letter of the country
in Column II that is best defined. Each country in Column II
may be used more than once.
! When possible, reduce the
amount of reading time by in-
cluding only short phrases or 2. Use only items that share the same foundation of
single words in the response list. information.

Unrelated topics included in the same matching item may

! Use the more involved expres- allow for obvious matches and mismatches.
sions in the stem and keep the
Undesirable:
responses short and simple.
Directions: Match the following.
1. Water A. NaCl
! Arrange the list of responses in 2. Discovered Radium B. Fermi
some systematic order if possible 3. Salt C. NH3
(chronological, alphabetical). 4. Ammonia D. 1942
5. Year of the first E. H20
Nuclear Fission F. Curie
! Make sure that there are never G. 1957
multiple correct responses for Desirable:
one stem (although a response Directions: On the line to the left of each compound in Col-
may be used as the correct an- umn I, write the letter of the compound’s formula presented in
swer for more than one stem). Column II. Use each formula only once.

Column I Column II
! Avoid breaking a set of items ____1. Water A. H2S04
(stems and responses) over two ____2. Salt B. HCl
pages. (Students go nuts flipping ____3. Ammonia C. NaCl
pages.) ____4. Sulfuric Acid D. H20
E. H2HCl

30
3. Avoid grammatical or other clues to the correct response.

Undesirable:
Directions: Match the following in order to complete the sentences on the left.
____1.Plato insisted that government was A. The Prince.
____2.Machiavelli wrote about achieving political B. desirable and inevitable
unity in C. a science requiring experts.
____3.Hobbes argued that human nature made D. organized along industrial lines.
absolute monarchy E. Communism.
____4.Marx was a German philosopher and
economist who founded

Desirable:
Directions: On the line to the left of each statement write the letter of the philosopher
from the right hand column that the statement describes. Use each philosopher once.

____1.Thought government was a science requiring experts. A. Hobbes

____2.Described methods of achieving political unity. B. Marx
____3.Founded Communism. C. Machiavelli
____4.Believed that human nature made absolute D. Durkheim
monarchy desirable and inevitable E. Plato

4. The column of stimuli on the left should set the question clearly.

Undesirable:
Directions: Match the following.
____1. City dwellers A. Wild animals
____2. Hunter-gatherers B. Farm
____3. Pastoral nomads C. Apartment buildings
D. Graze animals

Desirable:
Directions: On the line to the left of each definition, write the letter of the term in the
right hand column that is defined. Use each term only once.

____1. Live in areas of high population density. A. Pastoral nomads

____2. Move from one place to another in search of wild animals. B. Ranchers
____3. Move from one place to another with grazing animals. C. Hunter-gatherers
____4. Till land for cash crops. D. City dwellers
E. Farmers

31
 Variations for Creating Matching Tests

Aiming for Higher

Keylists or Masterlists Example Order Thinking Skills
A (Na11) B (CI17) C (H1) Usually matching items measure
22.9898 35.453 1.00797 recognition of factual knowledge
l + 1, 3, 5, 7 l rather than higher order thinking
(Ne)35 (Ne) 3s23p5 ls’ skills such as analysis and synthe-
892 -34.7 -252.7 sis. This does not mean, however,
97.5 -102 -259.2 that variations cannot be con-
0.97 1.56 0.071 structed to aim for higher levels of
thinking.
Refer to the chemical symbols above to answer the following:
___1. Which of the above elements has the largest atomic weight? One variation, presented below,
___2. Which of the above elements has the largest atomic number? combines elements of a multiple
___3. Which of the above elements has the lowest boiling point? choice test item with a matching
___4. Which of the above elements has the lowest melting point?
component.
___5. Which of the above elements has the highest density?
___6. Which of the above elements has the least number of electrons?
___7. Which of the above elements has the least number of protons ? Item Components
___8. Which of the above elements represents chlorine? A. Correct answer(s)
___9. Which of the above elements represents sodium? B. foil(s)
C. option(s)
Ranking Example D. stem(s)
___1. The components of a
TOPIC: Social Studies, Western Civilization multiple choice item are a

Directions: Number (1-8) the following events in the history of ___2. a. stem and several foils.
ancient Egypt in the order in which they occurred, using 1 for the ___3. b. correct answer and
earliest event. several foils.
___4. c. stem, a correct answer,
_____Egypt divided; ruled by Libyan kings, Nubian pharaohs, and some foils.
Assyrians, and Persians ___5. d. stem and a correct answer
_____Seizure of power by Hyksos kings ___6.
_____Upper and Lower Egypt are united by Menes
_____Alexander the Great conquers Egypt In the above example it is neces-
_____Reunification of Egypt under pharaoh Mentuhotop II sary to answer the multiple choice
_____Rise of feudal lords leads to anarchy item in order to answer the match-
_____Thutmose III expands empire to the Euphrates ing item. Note also that the re-
_____Many kings with short reigns; social and political chaos sponses (item components) in the
list at the top have an (s) added to
Note in the above example the implied column of responses is each response to eliminate singu-
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. lar-plural clues.
Answers: 1-D, 2-B, 3-B, 4-A, 5-B, 6-C

33
Suggestions For Writing Multiple Choice Test Items

1. When possible, state the stem as a direct question Remember…

rather than as an incomplete statement.
! Use at least four alternatives for
Undesirable: Desirable: each item to lower the probabil-
Alloys are ordinarily How are alloys ordinarily ity of getting the item correct by
produced by… produced? guessing.

2. Present a definite, explicit and singular question ! Use capital letters (A, B, C, D) as
response signs rather than lower
or problem in the stem. case letters (“a” gets confused
Undesirable: Desirable: with “d” and “c” with “a” if the
Psychology… The science of mind and be- type or duplication is poor).
havior is called…

! Randomly distribute the correct

3. Eliminate excessive verbiage or irrelevant response among the alternative
positions throughout the test, hav-
information from the stem. ing approximately the same pro-
Undesirable: Desirable: portion of alternatives A, B, C,
While ironing her formal, Jane Which of the following ways and D as the correct response.
burned her hand accidently of heat transfer explains why
on the hot iron. This was due Jane’s hand was burned after
to a transfer of heat between... she touched a hot iron? ! Avoid irrelevant clues such as
grammatical structure, well
known verbal associations or sim-
plistic connections between stem
4. Include in the stem any word(s) that might other- and answer.
wise be repeated in each alternative.
Undesirable: Desirable: ! When possible, present alterna-
In national elections in the In national elections in the tives in some logical order (e.g.,
United States the President is United States the President is chronological, most to least,
officially: officially chosen by alphabetical).
A. chosen by the people. A. the people.
B. chosen by members of B. members of Congress.
Congress. C. the House of Reps. ! Use the alternatives none of the
C. chosen by the House of D. the Electoral college. " above and all of the above spar-
Representatives. ingly. When used, such alterna-
D. chosen by the Electoral tives should occasionally be used
College." as the correct response.

15
 Remember… 5. Use negatively stated stems sparingly. When used,
underline and/or capitalize the negative word.
! In testing for definitions, use the
Undesirable: Desirable:
term in the stem rather than as
Which of the following is not Which of the following is NOT
an option.
cited as an accomplishment of cited as an accomplishment of
the Kennedy administration? the Kennedy administration?
! List alternatives on separate
lines (rather than including the
options as part of the stem) so
that all options can be clearly 6. Make all alternatives plausible and attractive to the
distinguished. less knowledgeable or skillful student.
Undesirable: Desirable:
What process is most What process is most
! Keep all alternatives in a simi- nearly the opposite of nearly the opposite of
lar format (i.e., all phrases, all photosynthesis? photosynthesis?
sentences, etc.). A. Digestion A. Digestion
B. Assimilation B. Relaxation
C. Respiration " C. Respiration "
! Try to make alternatives for an D. Catabolism D. Exertion
item approximately the same
length. (Making the correct re-
sponse consistently longer is a 7. Make the alternatives mutually exclusive.
common error.)
Undesirable: Desirable:
The daily minimum required What is the daily minimum
! Use misconceptions students amount of milk that a 10 year required amount of milk a 10
have indicated in class or errors old child should drink is year old child should drink?
commonly made by students in A. 1-2 glasses. A. 1 glass.
the class as the basis for incor- B. 2-3 glasses. " B. 2 glasses.
rect alternatives. C. 3-4 glasses. " C. 3 glasses. "
D. at least 4 glasses. D. 4 glasses.

! Way to judge a good stem: stu-

dents who know the content
8. Make alternatives approximately equal in length.
should be able to answer before
reading the alternatives. Undesirable: Desirable:
The most general cause of low What is the most general cause
individual incomes in the of low individual incomes in
Multiple choice exams pro- United States is: the United States?
vide easier conditions for A. lack of valuable productive A. A lack of valuable produc-
cheating than essay tests since services to sell. " tive services to sell. "
single letters or numbers are B. unwillingness to work. B. The population’s overall
easier to see than extensive C. automation. unwillingness to work.
text. Cheating can be mini- D. inflation. C. The nation’s increased
mized by using alternative test reliance on automation.
forms and controlling seating. D. An increasing national
level of inflation.

16
 Multiple Choice Test Items: Conclusion

Ask yourself: Aim for Higher Levels of Learning

Why are these Most teachers find it easier to construct multiple choice items to
multiple choice test recall and comprehension and to use essay items to test higher-
level learning objectives. But other possibilities exist. Multiple
questions crummy? choice items that require students to do such things as classify state-
ments as fact or opinion go beyond simple recall of facts.
1. How frequently do you take a
sick day from work?
A. never Here are two examples of multiple choice test
B. once or twice a year items designed for higher order thinking skills.
C. 3 to 5 times a year
D. 6 to 12 times a year A common goal of the Salt March in India, the
E. at least once a month Boxer Rebellion in China, and the Zulu resistance
in southern Africa was to:
2. Identify the issue that you be- A. overthrow totalitarian leaders
lieve is most critical to this B. force upper classes to carry out land reform
country's future. programs
A. the economy C. remove foreign powers
B. education D. establish Communist parties to lead the
C. integrity in government governments
D. national defense
E. some other issue In western Europe, which development caused the
other three?
A. decline of trade
"Understand that there is B. fall of Rome
always one clearly best C. breakdown of central government
answer. My goal is not to D. rise in the power of the Roman Catholic Church
trick students or require
them to make difficult
judgments about two options One way to write multiple choice questions that require more than
recall is to develop questions that resemble miniature "cases" or
that are nearly equally
situations. Provide a small collection of data, such as a description
correct. My goal is to design of a situation, a series of graphs, quotes, a paragraph, or any cluster
questions that students who of the kinds of raw information that might be appropriate material
understand will answer for the activities of your discipline.
correctly and students who
do not understand will Then develop a series of questions based on that material. These
answer incorrectly." questions might require students to apply learned concepts to the
case, to combine data, to make a prediction on the outcome of a
John A. Johnson
Dept. of Psychology, process, to analyze a relationship between pieces of the informa-
Penn State University tion, or to synthesize pieces of information into a new concept.

19