Page 192 - EL108 Learrning Module

DISADVANTAGES ✓ Scoring requires careful reading for unanticipated but
correct answers.
✓ Students must supply the missing information from the
memory.

PRINCIPLES IN CONSTRUCTING FILL-IN-THE-BLANK TEST.

1. Give the students a reasonable basis for the responses desired. Avoid
indefinite statements.
e.g.
UNDESIRABLE William Shakespeare was born in __________.

DESIRABLE William Shakespeare was born in the year 1564 .
(The required completion should be specific)

2. Avoid over stimulated statements.
e.g.
UNDESIRABLE _________ was an ______ poet, playwright, and
_________.
DESIRABLE William Shakespeare was an English poet, playwright,
and actor.
(Use one blank, or certainty not more than two,
in any item, since more than two blanks lead to confusion and ambiguity.)

3. Include only significant word from the statement.
e.g.
UNDESIRABLE Every atom has a central _(core) called nucleus.
DESIRABLE Every atom has a central core called nucleus_.

4. Avoid obvious clues to the correct response.
e.g.
UNDESIRABLE Most of the United states libraries are organized
according to the __________ decimal system.
DESIRABLE Which organizational system is used by most of the
United States libraries? ________

5. Avoid grammatical or other clues.
e.g.
UNDESIRABLE In Harry Potter a person with a witch and human parents
is called a _________.
(Because of the article “a”, it suggests that the correct answer begins with a
consonant sound).

Grammar clues can be avoided by rephrasing items as direct questions, or
by providing options that eliminate grammatical clues

Teaching and Assessment of Grammar 178