Question Arrangement on a Test

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Arrange items appropriately on tests

Objective is to have students change frame of reference set as seldom as possible


• real problems in real world always have a context
  
  
• asking students question out of context is tricky
  
  E.g., "is correct: 2 + 2 are 5, or 2 + 2 is 5&#34
• Everything on test has to relate to learning objectives generally only one subject per test -- no mixing math and social
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  • so unless social objectives include graph reading...can't use
    
    
  • no extraneous material:
    
    
    
    • cartoons to break tension sounds great; or pictures to break up text, look nice, add visual appeal sounds good, but for kid who panics trying to figure out which question it goes with...
      
      
    • or kid who misses a question because thought that cartoon for #43 was just for laughs
      
      
    • if you must include a cartoon, put it on cover page....


1. Patterns on test must be logical (to kids)
   
   E.g., in social studies, arrange questions chronologically
   
   
   • not one question on WWII then one on WWI
     --> especially if you are asking about alliances, kid gets confused which war you're talking about
     
     
   • similarly, don'mix questions about different plays by the same author, different paintings by same painter; Renaissance music with medieval etc.
     
     
   • all questions on quadratic equations in one place
   
   
2. Group by type of question
   
   • usually all true/false together, all multiple-choice, etc.
     
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   • need to do it this way to group instructions for section
     
     
   • need to tell them how much each type of question is worth
     
     
   • keep one mind set in responding to true/false, multiple-choice, etc.
     
     
   • my boss used to argue all knowledge questions one place, process skills another,
     
     
     • so had all map questions in one spot, all date questions together, but I always thought it was weird
       
       --> I wanted content as priority so WW I map goes with WW I questions on grounds that map skills irrelevant out of context of their subject matter
       
       --> I won that one when my boss transferred...but he complains I'm imposing my learning style on everyone else
     
     
     
   • Other extreme: Nola Aitken's Grade 3 Math -- put math in real world context
     OVERHEADS: NOLA'S EXAM (mixes short answer with mc)
   
   
   
3. By difficulty, from easy to hard
   
   • get them warmed up;
     
     
   • don'get them too defeated before they get to easy ones
     
     
   • don'have them run out of time before get to the easy ones
     

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