In addition, fill- in item measures the student’s ability to
produce a language, even if a small amount of language. However, to make the measurement by fill-in item result the valid data, it is
prominent to tell clearly to students that only one word can be put in each blank or gap.
For more advanced, in order to use fill-in item in an efficient way for measuring students’ performance, there are five
considerations issued by James Dean Brown that teachers should remember:
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a. Teachers should check to make sure that each item has one
very concise correct answer b.
Teacher should make sure that enough context has been provided that the purpose, or intent, of the item is clear to
those students who know the answer c.
All the blanks in a fill-in test should be the same length d.
Teachers should also consider putting the main body of the item before the blank in most of the items so that the
students have the information necessary to answer the item once the encounter the blank
e. In situations, where the blanks may be very difficult and
frustrating for the students, teachers might consider supplying a list of responses from which the students can
choose in filling in the blanks
Furthermore, as one of types of test item, fill-in item has some advantages and limitations:
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Advantages: a.
It is relatively easy to construct b.
It is flexible to use from a test writer’s point of view c.
It requires a short amount of time to administer Limitations:
a. It is generally very narrowly focused on testing a single word
or short phrase at most b.
It may have a number of possible answers
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James Dean Brown, Testing in Language ..., p. 58-59.
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James Dean Brown and Thom Hudson, Criterion-Referenced ..., p. 73.
2. Essay Test
According to J. Stanley Ahmann and Marvin D. Glock on the book, Educating Pupil Growth Principles of Test and Measurements
, “an essay test item demands a response composed by the pupil, usually in
one or more sentences, of a nature that no single response or pattern of responses can be listed as correct, and the accuracy and quality of
which can be judged subjectively only by one skilled and informed in
the subject, customarily the classroom teacher.”
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In addition, the major characteristic of essay test is the freedom of response it provides. It means that students have to produce their own
answer.
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To support the opinion above, Wilmar Tinambunan states that, “the essay-type question requires the examinee to read the question,
formulate his response and express the response in his own words.”
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Essay question can be classified into two types, which are: a.
Restricted Response Type The student is not given a complete freedom to make his response.
“it usually limits both the content and the response. The content is usually restricted by the scope of topic to be discussed. Limitations of
response are comm only indicated in the question.”
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For example: 1.
State the main differences between the objective test and the subjective test according to Norman E. Gronlund
2. Explain two advantages and two disadvantages of using the
multiple choice item in testing English as a foreign language b.
Extended Response Type In this type, student is given the freedom completely in composing
his response. “it allows pupil to select any factual information that they think is pertinent, to organize the answer accordance with their best
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J. Stanley Ahmann and Marvin D. Glock, Educating Pupil ..., p. 157.
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Norman E. Gronlund, Constructing Achievement ..., p. 71.
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Wilmar Tinambunan, Evaluation of Students ..., p. 56.
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Norman E. Gronlund and Robert L. Linn, Measurement and Evaluation ..., p. 212.
judgment, and to integrate and evaluate ideas as they deem appropriate.”
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For example: 1.
Why is English so important nowadays? 2.
Describe the roles of the teacher in language testing Moreover, building the essay item as a measurement of complex
learning outcomes should be done in a proper and careful way. Here are some suggestions to construct a good essay item:
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1. Make definite provisions for preparing students for taking essay
examinations 2.
Make sure that questions are carefully focused 3.
Structure the content and length of questions 4.
Have a colleague review and critique the essay questions 5.
Avoid the use of optional questions, except when one is assessing writing ability where a choice of questions is desirable
6. Restrict the use of the essay as an achievement test to those
objectives for which it is best As a method to measure the complex learning outcomes, essay item
has several advantages and weaknesses. Advantages:
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1. It measures complex learning outcomes that cannot be measured by
other means 2.
It emphasize on the integration and application of thinking and problem-solving skills
3. It is regarded as a device for improving writing skills
4. It has ease of construction. Most teachers can formulate several
essay questions in a matter of minutes Weaknesses:
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1. There are not many samplings of achievement because only a small
number of questions can be included in essay test
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Norman E. Gronlund and Robert L. Linn, Measurement and Evaluation ..., p. 213.
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Kenneth D. Hopkins, et. al., Educational and Psychlogical Measurement and Evaluation, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice Hall Inc., 1990, 7
th
Ed., p. 216.
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Norman E. Gronlund and Robert L. Linn, Measurement and Evaluation ..., p. 216.
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Norman E. Gronlund, Constructing Achievement ..., p. 72.
2. Scoring the essay test is influenced by student’s writing ability. Poor
expression and errors in punctuation, spelling, grammar usually lower their score
3. While scoring essay test, the standards can be shifted because of
variations in the content of the answers from paper to paper 4.
It requires much time to score the answers
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Thus, in essay item, students are asked to demonstrate their ability to select, organize, integrate and review ideas to response the question in the
freedom. In addition, this item type is scored subjectively since it will presents the different results when it is scored by the different person. The
people who are assigned to score the answers are typically influenced by their own judgment or opinion.
To sum up, based on the previous explanation, an essay test is used to measure student’s comprehension of a certain knowledge and student is
asked to answer by expressing his own words effectively and organizing their own ideas, using information from his own background and
knowledge.
D. Item Analysis
1. Definition of Item Analysis
Obtaining the valid data as information is very valuable to give the clear judgment about student’s performance in evaluation activity. In case
of that, the test should have a good quality and every item functions properly. Teacher or test maker should know whether the test can be
included as a good test or not by evaluating every item in that test. This activity is called as item analysis.
According to Anthony J. Nitko, “item analysis refers to the process of collecting, summarizing, and using information about individual test
items, especially information about pupil’s response to item.”
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Norman E. Gronlund and Robert L. Linn, Measurement and Evaluation ..., p. 217.
In addition, “item analysis as a whole will be defined here as the systematic statistical evaluation of the effectiveness of individual test
items. Item analysis is usually done for purposes of selecting which items will remain on future revised and improved versions of the test.
Sometimes, however, item analysis is performed simply to investigate how well the items on a test are working with a particular group of
students, or to study which items match the language domain of
interest.”
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Moreover, Arthur Hughes proposes the purpose of item analysis which is “to examine the contribution that each item is making to the test.
Items that are identified as faulty or inefficient can be modified or rejected.”
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Although item analysis is done primarily for response-choice item, it is available for teacher to use several of the techniques described with any
items that are scored dichotomously simply as correct or incorrect.
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In the writer’s opinion, item analysis is statistical evaluation to know the quality of a test by identifying whether every item on a test works
appropriately or not. It is done by collecting students’ responses to each
item so that it can also be known which items are included as a good one and which items that weaken the test. It is very useful for teacher to
performs item analysis since it can be a device for test improvement.
2. Kinds of Item Analysis
Item analysis usually concentrates three vital features: level of difficulty, discriminating power, and the effectiveness of each alternative.
“Thus, item analysis can tell us if an item was too difficult or too easy, how well it discriminated between high and law scores on the test, and
whether all the alternatives functioned as intended.”
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Anthony J. Nitko, Educational Test ..., p. 284.
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James Dean Brown and Thom Hudson, Criterion-Referenced ..., p. 113.
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Arthur Hughes, Testing for Language ..., p. 225.
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Anthony J. Nitko, Educational Test ..., p. 286.
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Wilmar Tinambunan, Evaluation of Students ..., p. 137.
