Page 297 - DEDU504_EDUCATIONAL_MEASUREMENT_AND_EVALUATION_ENGLISH

Unit 26: Achievement Test: Concept, Types and Construction

An achievement test is one designed to measure a student’s grasp or knowledge of his proficiency Notes
in certain skills. —Ebel
At present, the teaching objectives are determined as changes in the cognitive, conative and
affective domains of the students. So, the achievement tests should be defined in the following
way :
The tests which are constructed to measure cognitive, conative and affective changes occurring as
a result of teaching school subjects, are called achievement tests.

26.2 Aims of Achievement Test

The achievement tests are used in schools for the following functions :
(1) To select the students for admission.
(2) To classify the students.
(3) To encourage the students.
(4) To promote the students.
(5) To issue certificates on the basis of public examinations and results.
(6) To evaluate educational problems.
(7) To evaluate teaching work of the teachers.
26.3 Types of Achievement Test

The common meaning of a test is to examine the traits of an object, person or activity. But in the
field of education, tests are meant by those tools and methods by which the measurement of
mental abilities and educational achievement of the students is carried out. These tests have their
own definite form. In these tests questions, related to the mental ability or educational achievement
to be measured, are asked which the students reply or related problems are presented to which
the students respond. The mental abilities and educational achievement of the students are
measured on the basis of these answers and responses. The main mental ability tests are—
intelligence tests, aptitude tests and personality tests; and the main educational ability tests are
— achievement tests and diagnostic tests. We can define educational tests briefly in the following
words :
Educational tests are those tools and methods of measurement of various abilities of the students
in which related questions about measurable ability are asked and of which the students have to
answer and related problems are presented to which the students have to respond.

Classification of Educational Tests
The tests being used in the field of education are classified in different forms :

(I) Classification on the Basis of the Field of the Tests
On the basis of measurement field, the tests can be divided into two classes as follows :
1. Educational Tests : Educational tests are those tests by which educational achievements
and educational problems of the students are measured; such as—achievement tests and
diagnostic tests. They have been discussed in the related chapter in detail.
2. Psychological Tests : Psychological tests are those tests by which mental abilities of the
students are measured; for example—intelligence tests, aptitude tests and personality
tests. They have been discussed in the related chapters in detail.
(II) Classification on the Basic of Nature of the Tests
On the basis of the nature of the tests, they have been divided into three classes—oral, written
and practical.

LOVELY PROFESSIONAL UNIVERSITY 291