TESTS & EXAMINATIONS: PERFECT WAY OF MEASUREMENT?

Dr. GEORGE KOLANCHERY

Asst. Prof. English & HoD Academic Advising
Dept. of English Language & Literature
Bayan College (Aff. to Purdue University, USA)
Muscat, Sultanate of Oman.

Abstract
Every teacher wishes that he should measure the educational achievement of the pupils who he
has taught. This is the reason why examinations are prevalent in each and every system of
education. But today, the old system of examinations is considered defective and in its place a
new system is planned which is considered as fully objective. Tests help to diagnose the pupils
strengths and weaknesses. They provide feedback on the pupils progress to both teacher and
pupil, to show how effectively the teacher has taught and to diagnose those areas which have not
been well learnt. An Achievement Test measures the learning objectives in a subject-matter
field. It is useful to the teacher and the student in a number of ways. Alternative Assessments
vital role in measuring a students potential is worth-mentioning. This paper will also shed light
on the importance of teaching exam-taking strategies to students to reduce the exam-fear and to
enhance their performance at tests/exams.
Key Words: Achievement Tests, Examinations, Exam-taking strategies, Tests.
Introduction
In fact, tests are a good teaching device. Let the teacher put questions to the pupils in the
beginning of every lesson in English to ensure that they have mastered what they were taught the
previous day. Tests also enable pupils to judge their progress from time to time. If their
performance is good, they serve as an incentive, but if it is poor then they realize the need for
work on their part. Tests help to diagnose the pupils strengths and weaknesses. They provide
feedback on the pupils progress to both teacher and pupil, to show how effectively the teacher
has taught and to diagnose those areas which have not been well learnt. An Achievement Test
measures the learning objectives in a subject-matter field. It is useful to the teacher and the
student in a number of ways.
Thorndike says, Anything that exists at all exists in some quantity and anything that exists in
quantity is capable of being measured. Hence, we can measure every type of ability. The
construction of tools of accurate measurement depends on two factors: 1. Knowing precisely as
to what is to be measure and 2. Constructing or obtaining such measuring tool that the thing can
be measured as best as possible. The tools of measurement depend on how and what. What is
to be measured and how it can be measured, determine as to what types of tools are to be
constructed.

Educational Measurement
Bloom and Hasting say that measurement is to be used to facilitate formative, summative, and
diagnostic evaluations. Formative evaluation takes place during instruction. It is done to find
out if the students have achieved sufficient mastery of specific skills and whether further
instructions over these skills is appropriate. Summative Evaluation occurs at the conclusion of
instruction. It provides a basis for assigning divisions or grades after the end of the session.
Diagnostic Evaluation is done before teaching a new skill to find out if the student has
sufficiently mastered the prerequisite skills for learning this skill. We can measure achievement,
intelligence, personality etc using different measuring tools/testing systems. It is inevitable to
know what makes a good test.
Characteristics of a Good Test
It is important to design the tests and examinations in the best way possible. They are important
for the reason that they exercise a deep influence on the methods and contents of teaching. There
are three main reasons why we test: 1) to infer abilities; 2) to predict performance and 3) to
generalize from context to context (Davies, 1990:2). A test is authenticated for its validity,
reliability and practicability. Validity is the most important attribute of a good test. A test is
useful if it is appropriate in terms of the objectives for which the test is utilized. Validity of a
test is defined as the interpretation of the correct responses given to its items. Some of the
characteristics of a good test are given below.
1. Synchronizing evaluation with the objectives of teaching English. Examinations must
take into account the aims of teaching a subject and to find out whether the aims have
been attained. English is taught to enable the pupil to understand English when spoken
and to enable him to speak, read and write English.
2. A good test lists only what has been taught.
3. Tests and examinations should carefully be designed and the examiner should be clear in
his mind what skill o particular item a question aims at testing.
4. The test should neither be too difficult nor too easy. A good test should cater for weak,
average and bright students. A fair combination of examination should comprise of : 1.
Questions that are easy and can be attempted by all the students, 2. Questions that are of
an average difficulty and can be attempted by average students and , 3. Questions that are
difficult and can be attempted by bright students only.
5. The question paper should neither be so long that it cannot be completed by the pupil in
the prescribed time limit not should it be so short that the examinees are able to do it
much earlier than the scheduled time limit.
6. The instructions to the students should be very clear. The language of the questions
should leave no room for ambiguity.
7. The questions should aim at testing the candidates real mastery of the structures and
vocabulary items rather than testing his knowledge of certain memorized answers.
8. For a fair examination, the test should cover as many areas of the subject matter as
possible.
9. It must be easy to be administered. Besides this, the test should be such that it can be
evaluated without any difficulty.

According to Jim Scrivener, the three criteria of a good test are the following:
1. A good test will seem fair and appropriate to the students.
2. It will not be too troublesome to mark.
3. It will provide clear results that serve the purpose for which it was set.
We can measure the abilities of the students using Achievement Tests, Intelligence Tests,
Aptitude Tests, Interest Inventory and Personality Tests. Here Achievement Testing is more
relevant with reference to the students at School/College/University levels.
Achievement Testing & its Uses
An Achievement Test measures the learning objectives in a subject-matter field. Achievement
testing is useful to the teacher and the student in a number of ways. It measures the status of the
pupil as explained above in a subject-matter field: an achievement test battery measures the level
of performance in different areas.
An Achievement Test is used as an instructional tool in day-to-day teaching to facilitate learning.
Therefore, it is closely related to learning activity. It serves prognostic purpose also. Prognosis
means prediction or forecast. The scores gained in this type of test indicate not only pupils
present level of achievement, but they also tell us something about the future. Practically
speaking, it has two general uses i.e to help him in determining the pupils marks in a subject,
and to find out what parts of a topic need to be re-taught. Achievement tests can be given in
four ways: Oral tests, Essay Type of Tests, Objective Tests and Performance Tests. Here Essaytype and Objective Type will be discussed in detail. Tests and Examinations usually mean good
teaching and learning.
A. Essay-type Test
An essay-type test item is a free response test item. The student is free to give the answer of a
question as he likes. An essay question is a test item which requires composition by the
examinee usually in the form of one or more sentences, of a nature that no single response or
pattern of response can be judged subjectively only by one skilled or informed in the subject,
according to Stalnarker. An essay question, which requires a student to think, to organize and to
apply his knowledge, can be defended on the ground that it serves educational purpose, but an
essay question which is so general that the student is unable to answer it satisfactorily or the
teacher finds it difficult to score it with confidence is not a good tool of measurement.
Demerits / Limitations
The academicians are different in their opinions about the validity of essay-type questions. The
following are some of the arguments as defects of this type of questions.
1. The essay-type examinations possess no reliability and they are incomprehensive.
2. They are subjective in nature. The same examiner may award different marks on the
same answers of the same individual at different times.
3. Many irrelevant facts are added to the answers of essay-type questions.
4. Proper evaluation of the abilities of the individual cannot be made through these type of
questions.

Merits / Positives
Though there are some limitations mentioned, essay-type questions have positive side also.
1. The construction of the questions is quite easy. From every topic, the questions can be
constructed with great ease.
2. The method of administering these types of tests is simple.
3. They promote originality and creative thinking.
4. They encourage language grasp and ask for good expression from the students.
B. Objective-type Tests
Objective tests are those in which the scoring is objective. No matter who the examiner is or
whatever his emotional state of mind at the time of marking, the score is the same. Objective
tests are difficult to construct unlike essay-type tests. It should be noted that objective tests do
not attempt to test the students self-expression.
Merits
Objective tests have got many good points over other type of tests. They are given below:
1. They are more objective. They are not dependent on the teachers whims and fancies.
2. They are more reliable. The drawback in essay-type tests is that there is no consistency
in the answers given to the same questions by the same students.
3. They are more comprehensive. The objective tests are not limited to the testing of only
one portion or one part of the subject-matter.
4. They can easily be administered and are marked with economy of time and effort.
5. Objective test is a very good tool for testing factual material.
Demerits / Limitations
Objective type tests are not the perfect instruments of evaluation though their superiority is
established. They also possess some limitations.
1.
2.
3.
4.

These tests fail to test the language grasp of the students.

They also fail in giving encouragement for better expression.
They are unfit for inculcating creative thinking.
Objective tests suffer from lack of originality as the students are unable to comment or
give their opinions.

Alternative Assessment
Contrary to traditional testing that is not interested in the consequences of test and their effects
on those who failed or succeeded in them, alternative assessment strategies take into account
students different learning styles and abilities when assessing and interpreting their
performances, ensuring fairness and equity when making high-stakes decisions based on
assessment results (Shohamy, 2001: 4). Different types of alternative assessment help language
teachers achieve the purposes of assessment: 1) setting standards for the students and
themselves; 2) encouraging the students to perform at those standards; 3) providing feedback;

and 4) evaluating progress and communicating it as evidence of learning to parents and students
and other stake-holders (Dhaouadi, H., 2006).
Educationists have come up with different definitions of alternative assessment. They term it as
continuous, informal, authentic, performance-based and self-assessment. One of the definitions
states that it is the utilization of non-traditional approaches in judging students performance
(Winking, 1997). Alternative assessments require students to accomplish complex and
significant tasks, while bringing to bear prior knowledge, recent learning, and relevant skills to
solve realistic problems (OMalley & Pierce, 1996). The teachers adopt different methods and
strategies to enhance alternative assessment such as projects, assignments, portfolios,
team/individual presentation etc. A deep study underlines the fact that it has many advantages as
well as disadvantages. They are limitations rather than disadvantages.
Importance of Teaching Test-taking Strategies
Research shows that a small amount of test anxiety is expected and sometimes works in a
students favor but large amounts interfere or impair their capacity to think, plan and perform on
tests (Coman & Heavers, 1991). Test performance is affected not only by the test characteristics
of test method, but also by test takers language ability and test-taking strategies.
According to Christine Coombe and Mashael Al Hamly, the best way for students to overcome
this feeling of fear or nervousness is to prepare themselves with testy-taking strategies. The
primary reason for teaching these skills is that test scores can be raised by systematic instruction
in test taking and by the use of anxiety reduction techniques in the classroom. The teaching of
test-taking strategies to students who traditionally have low scores on standardized test is
especially important for several reasons. First, when we test students we are not necessarily
testing their subject matter knowledge or understanding. Much of the time we are really
measuring their test-taking skills. Secondly, test taking is an integral part of our culture and
students who do not possess appropriate test-taking strategies and skills are continually at a
disadvantage throughout life (Fredrickson, 1984).
Conclusion
In tests we are concerned with three major components: the individual, the criteria that tests are
based on and norms (Gamaroff, R. 2006). The teacher comes to know the pupils who are weak in
certain areas and provides remedial work for them. An Achievement Test is used as an
instructional tool in day-to-day teaching to facilitate learning. Continuous Assessment as an
alternative tool to assess the abilities of the students is equally important in the current scenario
of teaching and learning process.
References
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Burt, C., (1921). Mental and Scholastic Tests. King & sons.
Coombe, C. , Davidson, P. & Lloyd, D. (Eds) (2006). Proceedings of the 7th & 8th Current
Trends in English Language Testing Conferences, Vol. 4. UAE:TESOL Arabia.

Ghahraki, S., (2009). The 18th MELTA International Conference 2009 Proceedings.
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Mathur, S. S. (1994). Educational Psychology, Vinod Pustak Mandir, Agra.
Syed, Z., Coombe, C., & Troudi, S. (Eds) (2003). TESOL Arabia 2002 Conference Proceedings,
Critical Reflection and Practice. UAE:TESOL Arabia.
Bio-Note: Dr. George Kolanchery, Asst. Professor of English, currently works at Bayan College (Aff. to
Purdue University, USA), Oman. He is the Chairperson of College Research Committee and Coordinator
of Curriculum Development. He also works as Editor & Reviewer for International ELT Journals.