You are on page 1of 1

Types of test

1. Achievement
A test which is based on the objectives of a course, and is used to determine how much of the
course content students have learned. Tests should measure clearly defined learning outcomes.
The first step in test development is the clarification of what is to be measured.
What are the intended learning outcomes to be measured? These are determined by the
instructional objectives of the unit or course (e.g. knowledge of terms, knowledge of facts,
understanding of concepts, application of principles)
What specific student response will provide evidence that learning outcomes have been
achieved? (e.g. Students know terms when they can (a) define the terms in their own
words, (b) use the term in an original sentence, and (c) distinguish between terms that are
similar in meaning.
When the intended outcomes are clearly stated in terms of student performance it helps in
selecting the types of items to write. E.g. if students are expected to define terms in their own
words, then we need to give them the terms and ask them to write definitions. A true-false or
multiple-choice item will not be an appropriate measure of this type of student performance.
2. Progress
A progress test is part of an ongoing assessment during the course of instruction. Progress tests
are very closely tied to the course content. During the course of teaching our main concern is
the progress made by our students. Tests which are used to monitor students progress during
instruction are called formative test. Formative tests are typically designed to measure the
extent to which students have mastered the learning outcomes of a rather limited segment of
instruction, such as a unit or a chapter of a book. They place a great emphasis on measuring
the intended outcomes of the unit of instruction and the results are used to improve learning
rather than to assign grades. When majority of the students fail the test, or a set of test items,
the material is retaught or other remedial measures are taken.
3. Placement
A placement test used to determine a students language skills relative to the levels of a particular
programme he or she is about to enter. Information regarding the skills and abilities that are
needed to begin the programme can be obtained from readiness pretests. These tests that cover
those skills required are given at the beginning of a course. Students lacking in the prerequisite
skills are given remedial work, or they are placed in a special section that has lower perquisites.
If the student has already mastered the required skills he is placed at a more advanced level of
instruction.
4. Diagnostic
A diagnostic test attempts to identify a learners strengths and weaknesses, so that an efficient
course of instruction can be presented. The diagnostic test typically include a relatively large
number of items in each specific area so that the cause of specific learning errors can be
identified e.g. are the students difficulties in reading due to their inadequate knowledge of
vocabulary or to their poor grasp of certain elements of grammar? It is designed to probe deeper
into the causes of learning deficiencies that are unresolved by formative tests.

You might also like