Page 100 - DEDU504_EDUCATIONAL_MEASUREMENT_AND_EVALUATION_ENGLISH

Educational Measurement and Evaluation

Notes Table 4 : Weightage to different forms of question

Forms of questions

Forms of Essay type or Short answer Very short Objective
questions long answer (Free response) answer type
⎯⎯→ (Fixed response) Total

Marks allotted 30 40 10 20 100

This table indicates that :
(i) four types of questions are to be used in the question paper;
(ii) different types of questions would receive the stipulated weightage in setting; and
(iii) total marks for each type of question will be the basis for deciding the number of questions.

8.1.6 Difficulty Level of Questions
Provision must be made in the design to include questions that cater to all the ability levels of
students in heterogeneous groups of students, as we normally have in public examinations.
Difficulty level can be estimated for each question by paper setters on the basis of their previous
experience and expert judgement. It becomes still easier if the constructor has an access to some
item bank in a subject and has the choice to select items of required difficulty level. Anyhow,
assuming a big mixed-ability group of examinees comprising bright, average and poor students
we may fix the difficulty level that approximates the normal distribution, as shown in Table 1.

Table 5 : Estimated difficulty level

Estimated Difficult questions Average questions Easy questions Total
difficulty level

Marks (%) 20 60 20 100

There could be some variations like 15, 70, 15% for difficult, average and easy questions or 25, 50,
25% depending upon previous standard and experience. In school examinations judgment can
better be made by teachers to fix difficulty level of the paper in accordance with the concurrent
performance standard, objectives to be tested and the homogeneity or heterogeneity of the group.
In board examinations, however, differential level of difficulty of questions has to be maintained
to reflect and assume normal distribution curve of expected achievement.

8.1.7 Section-wise Distribution of Time and Marks
Whenever paper setters are not well trained in the technology of paper setting, it is all the more
important to stipulate some restrictions on the number of questions and give them a framework
of distribution of time. This is still more essential when there are two different sections, out of
which one is of objective questions to be administered separately. What type of questions can be
included in each sections and what sort of distribution of marks of different forms of questions
could be is indicated in the design as shown in Table 1

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