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Educational Measurement and Evaluation

Notes (b) based on certain assumptions about learners, learning and requirement of the subject area;
(c) reflecting the intended content elements and the assessment objectives;
(d) worded properly with in-built direction, indicating the nature and scope of expected response;
(e) ensuring maximum scoring objectivity to form appropriate judgments about pupils’ learning;
and
(f) aiming at getting needed feedback for taking right decisions about examiner and instruction.

4.3 Characteristics of a Good Question

Basic source of all questions is the syllabus prescribed (curriculum, content). However, a question
can also be set independent of a syllabus. But every question as its roots in some content area of
achievement. One has to think whether that question has to be used for instructional purpose or for
evaluation purpose. Thus a question can be developmental when used as a teaching device, or it can
be judgmental when used as a testing device. Focus of both is on measurement of instructional
objective. Not going into further details about the sources, we turn now to the qualities of a good
question that a teacher uses as a measuring device in achievement testing.
(i) Question Should be Objective Centred
Instructional objectives are prescribed in the curriculum of every subject. It is these objectives
that become the focus of instruction. It is assumed that these objectives are formulated, specified
and stated properly in terms of learning competencies. Therefore every question must be
objective based or competency based.
(a) A question can cover one (K) or two (K + U or U + A) objectives at a time depending on the
purpose.
Example
(i) State Archimedes principle. (K)
(ii) State Archimedes principle and illustrate with the help of examples. (K + U)
(b) A question may be based on a single or more than one competencies.
Example
(i) List the conditions necessary for germination of a seed. (Recall)
(ii) Observe the given population graph. What does this graph indicate about population ?
(Observe + interpret)
Whether one or more than one objectives are to be covered (Observe + interpret); whether
one or more competencies within the same objective or different objectives are to be used in
a question depends on the purpose of the test and the use to which the evidence is to be put.
However, care may be taken to ensure adequate coverage of competencies in a test (not
possible in the same question)
(ii) It Must be Context and Purpose Specific
Each question is framed in a particular context and setting. It may be for use in a unit test, an
annual test, a review exercise of a text-book chapter, a selection test, or for developing
institutional question bank, as home assignment, a diagnostic test etc. Each situation has different
purpose to serve; it may be to assess the pupils’ learning, identifying their weaknesses,
reinforcement of what is learnt, ranking of students, standard setting, comparing students’
performance etc. Accordingly, the question is to be framed as individual question or a part of
a set of questions used for a test. Cognizance of context and purpose is therefore the first
requisite for framing a question.
(iii) It Must Ensure Adequate Coverage of Specified Content
When a question is framed in terms of objectives, content elements form the basis or medium.

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