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Educational Measurement and Evaluation

Notes questions that demand free or open-ended responses, as in essay-type or short-answer questions,
the product responses are their answers— rather expected answers or acceptable answers.
However, to arrive at a correct, good, desired or acceptable answer it is essential for the examinee
to use the same mental processes or exercises. The same abilities are required to write the
correct response, i.e. the product response. If the product response (as intended) is produced
correctly without the use of this relevant mental process, it is not a good question. Look at the
following two questions tried by the writer himself, used for testing students’ ability to apply.
(AP objective)
(a) Why does an iron needle sink in water and a ship float ?
(b) An empty football bladder sinks in water but when filled with air (which has weight) it
floats, why ?
(i) Both these questions when administered to the same group of pupils, it was found
that the first question was attempted by more than 80% students correctly but the
second hardly by about 20%. Why ? The first question, though of application, was
given in the prescribed text-book exercise taught in the class, but the students could
attempt correctly (product response) by just recalling or relating, without exercising
the relevant mental process involved (analysing, reasoning etc.). In the second
question, which involved unfamiliar situation, only the students who used the related
mental process could elicit the intended product response. Therefore a good question
must ensure this congruence of product and process response.

When a teacher or an evaluator constructs a question, he puts it on the paper in
different forms : (a) an interrogative sentence; (b) a statement followed by a directional
word like why justify etc.; (c) only selection of correct response out of 3 or 4 given
alternatives as in objective tests; and (d) just to draw a diagram, read a thermometer
or solve a sum.

4.4 Genotypic Varieties of a Question

The hidden or constitutional make-up of every question has three major dimensions, viz (a) the
assessment objectives, (b) the content elements, and (c) the form of questions that forms the basis of
written questions. For illustration of common usable type the nature and scope of each of these
dimensions, is specified first.
1. Commonly used assessment objectives are : (i) Knowledge (K), (ii) Understanding or
comprehension (U) and (iii) Application (A).
2. Commonly used content elements are (i) Facts (F), (ii) Concepts (C) and Principle
3. Commonly used forms of questions are : (i) Objective type (O), Short-answer type (S) and
Essay type (E).
From this we can develop configuration of (3 × 3 × 3), i.e. 27 types of questions with different bases
or genotypes. This would lead to 9 varieties of knowledge questions, 9 of understanding and 9 of
application objective. Each variety reflects different (1 out of 3) content elements and different (1 out
of 3) forms of questions, as depicted in tabular form :
Knowledge Understanding Application
based based based
1. K F O 4. U F O 7. A F O
K F S U F S A F S
K F E U F E A F E

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