Group Wiki 3 -True/false Questions

Front 1

In order to have a great test one must design each test to?

Back 1

-Focus entirely on an important learning target (or affective construct).
-Elicit only knowledge and performance relevant to the learning target (or affective construct).
-Neither prevent nor inhibit a student’s ability to demonstrate attainment of the learning target (or affective construct).

Front 2

What is important to remember about true/false question writing?

Back 2

-Test an important proposition/idea.
-Require understanding, not just memory.
-The truth and falsity of statements should be obvious to an expert.
Students who have knowledge are considered to be experts.
-Avoid unintended clues.
-Make wrong answers attractive to those with no knowledge.
-Test only one idea at a time.

Front 3

What are some more things that are important to remember when writing true/false questions?

Back 3

-Use common words and simple sentences – be concise!
-Don’t reproduce original sentences from a text – you are not testing recall.
-Don’t add “not” to make an item false. Rewrite the content.
-To enhance item discrimination, create more false statements than true ones. Rule of thumb: 67% false statements.

Front 4

Card 3! Important things about True/False Item Writing?

Back 4

-Use popular misconceptions, phrases that sound sincere, or elaborate statements to make false statements seem true.
-Avoid specific determiners, or use them in unpredictable ways.
-Statements that are false generally use always, never, every, etc.
-Statements that are true generally use some, many, most, etc.
-Do not order your questions in such a way that there is a pattern to the answers.

Front 5

What are some advantages to True/False Items?

Back 5

-It is possible to sample a variety of the content domain thoroughly.
-Much information can be gained in a small amount of time.
-Items are easy to construct.
-Your lesson objectives are already written.
-Responses can be scored quickly and accurately.
-The amount of reading required is minimal.
-Scores can be quite reliable.

Front 6

What are some criticisms of True/False Items?

Back 6

-Guessing can have a significant impact on scores.
-Items tend to be ambiguous.
-They yield a smaller expected range of scores than other item formats.
-T/F items cannot account for degrees of truth in ideas.
-Average item discrimination is lower for T/F items than for some other items.
Compared to MC items

Front 7

What are some more criticisms of T/F Items?

Back 7

-They often measure trivial, unimportant information.
-Their use encourages the lifting of verbatim statements from textbooks.
-Their use permits a correct response for knowing “what is wrong” without showing knowledge of “what is right.”
This problem can be corrected if you ask students to “fix” false statements.

Front 8

What are some things you can do to make incorrect statements seem plausible?

Back 8

-Use superficial logic
-Popular misconception
-Irrelevant popular belief
-Phrases that sound right/sincere
-Elaborate statements
-Careful qualifications