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Unit 5 : Planning for Different Types of Test

(i) Intelligence test Notes
• Intelligence tests are standardized tests that aim to determine how a person can handle
problem solving using higher level cognitive thinking. Often just called an IQ test for common
use, a typical IQ test asks problems involving pattern recognition and logical reasoning. It
then takes into account the time needed and how many questions the person completes
correctly, with penalties for guessing. Specific tests and how the results are used change
from district to district but intelligence testing is common during the early years of schooling.
(ii) Academic Progress
• Standardized testing in schools for academic progress and intelligence are not the same,
although they use similar questions and methodologies. Academic progress tests such as the
Iowa Basic Skills Test give schools an idea of how their students perform on a national level
in core areas and how well the school has taught certain subjects. While intelligence tests are
often used for gifted and talented programs, academic progress tests usually identify poor
performance among students and the effectiveness of teaching.
(iii) College Entrace Exams
• Colleges often require results from a standardized test, such as the SAT or ACT, to measure
college readiness. College entrance exams are similar to other academic progress exams but
require a higher level of reading and mathematics. The SAT and ACT allow colleges to
measure the aptitude of different applicants, instead of having to compare the scores of
many tests, classes and grades from different schools.

5.2 Planning Procedure of a Test

Once the teacher or the test constructor is aware of the characteristics that a good test must possess,
s/he can proceed to construct a test, which may be either a unit test or a full-fledged question paper
covering all the aspects of the syllabus. Planning for every type of test is almost same, Whether the
test is a unit test for use in classroom testing or a question paper for use in final examinations, the
steps of test construction are the same, which are as follows :
5.2.1 Prepare a Design
The first step in preparing a test is to construct a design. A test is not merely a collection of assorted
questions. To he of any effective use, it has to be planned in advance keeping in view objectives and
the content of the course and the forms of questions to be used for testing these. For this weightage
to different objectives, different areas or content, and different forms of questions are to be decided,
along with the scheme of options and sections, and these are the dimensions which are known as
a design of a test.
5.2.2 Weightage to Objectives
To make a test valid, it is necessary to analyze the objectives of the course and decide which objectives
are to be tested and in what properties. For this marks are allotted to each objective to be tested
according to its importance. In English language testing the three major objectives are knowledge of
the elements of language, comprehension and expression. The weightages to all these three objectives
may be decided in percentages, For example for a test of 50 marks the following weightages may be
decided.

Objective Percentage of Marks Marks allotted
Knowledge;. 10% 5
Comprehension 40% 20
Expression 50% 25
Total 100% 50

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