Analysis of Test Items used in an Achievement Test in Physics at Secondary Level

Shahzad Ahmad

doi:10.7176/jep/10-10-10

Abstract

Aim of present study was the analysis of test items constructed in an achievement test in the subject of physics for class IX. It was used to study the difficulty level, discrimination power and distracter analysis of each test item. The achievement test was comprised of 40 multiple choice questions. Test was administered by researcher on a sample of 250 students from Islamabad Model Schools in Sector G-9. Findings of the study showed that most of the test items fall in acceptable range of difficulty index and discrimination power. In keeping view, the findings of the study, researcher comes to know that most of the test items prove to be satisfactory regarding difficulty index and discriminating power. However, ten out of forty test items were discarded due to high or very low level of difficulty and poor discrimination power. This work is equally significant for the researchers and for the subject teachers in preparing achievement tests in order to assess performance of students with optimum level of difficulty index and discriminating power. Keywords: Item Difficulty; Discrimination Index; Distracter Analysis and Reliability. DOI : 10.7176/JEP/10-10-10 Publication date : April 30 th 2019

Highlights

The achievement test is considered as a process to monitor and evaluate teaching learning activities
Item analysis is a statistical technique which is used to ascertain the usefulness of test items in preparing achievement tests
1.12 Conclusions and Recommendations Results of this study signify the importance of item analysis for constructing a useful, reliable and valid test

Summary

Introduction

The achievement test is considered as a process to monitor and evaluate teaching learning activities. It is helpful for the improvement of instructional process by providing feedback to both the students as well as the teachers. Achievement test is an instrument for teachers in order to determine their students’ performance in particular situation. It is mainly focused in evaluating someone’s performance in a specific subject at the end of instructional period. In order to develop quality assessment test and precisely useful multiple-choice items, item analysis plays an important role both in contributing to the objectivity of the test and to highlight the areas where students are conceptually weak

Objectives

Results

Conclusion