A Review

 Introduced by Benjamin Bloom (1956).

Why?

 He found out that over 95 % of the test

questions students encounter require them
to think only at the lowest possible
level...the recall of information.
Knowledge
Comprehension
Application
Analysis
Synthesis
Evaluation
 The hierachy
 Count, Define, Describe, Draw, Find, Identify,
Knowledge Label, List, Match, Name, Quote, Recall, Recite,
Sequence, Tell, Write
Conclude, Demonstrate, Discuss, Explain, Generalize,
Comprehension Identify, Illustrate, Interpret, Paraphrase, Predict,
Report, Restate, Review, Summarize, Tell
Apply, Change, Choose, Compute, Dramatize,
Application Interview, Prepare, Produce, Role-play, Select, Show,
Transfer, Use
Analyze, Characterize, Classify, Compare, Contrast,
Debate, Deduce, Diagram, Differentiate, Discriminate,
Analysis
Distinguish, Examine, Outline, Relate, Research,
Separate,

Compose, Construct, Create, Design, Develop,

Synthesis Integrate, Invent, Make, Organize, Perform, Plan,
Produce, Propose, Rewrite
 KNOWLEDGE
 remembering;
 memorizing;
 recognizing;
 recalling identification and
 recall of information
 Who, what, when, where, how ...?

 Describe

 COMPREHENSION

 interpreting;
 translating from one medium to another;
 describing in one's own words;
 organization and selection of facts and ideas
 Retell...
 APPLICATION
 problem solving;
 applying information to produce some result;
 use of facts, rules and principles
 How is...an example of...?
 How is...related to...?
 Why is...significant?

 ANALYSIS
 subdividing something to show how it is put together;
 finding the underlying structure of a communication;
 identifying motives;
 separation of a whole into component parts
 What are the parts or features of...?
 Classify...according to...
 Outline/diagram...
 How does...compare/contrast with...?
 What evidence can you list for...?
 SYNTHESIS
 creating a unique, original product that may be in verbal form or may
be a physical object;
 combination of ideas to form a new whole
 What would you predict/infer from...?
 What ideas can you add to...?
 How would you create/design a new...?
 What might happen if you combined...?
 What solutions would you suggest for...?
 EVALUATION
 making value decisions about issues;
 resolving controversies or differences of opinion;
 development of opinions, judgements or decisions
 Do you agree...?
 What do you think about...?
 What is the most important...?
 Place the following in order of priority...
 How would you decide about...?
 What criteria would you use to assess...?
 The content of a course or curriculum may be
broadly defined both subject matter content and
instructional objectives. The former is concerned
with the topics to be learned and the latter with
the types of performance pupils are expected to
demonstrate . Both these aspects are of concern
in determining content validity. Table of
specification is a chart that aids in obtaining a
sample of test tasks that represent both
dimensions. A table of specification would have
every learning objective listed for every lesson
for the whole year
 You have to determine what content you
want to cover, and what percent of the test
items should there be for each content.
 You need to decide what depth of
understanding you want for your test items,
like what percent of the questions should be
synthesis, etc.
 With those two factors, you can see how
many items of each level you need for each
content area.
Topic Bloom’s Taxonomy Total
/Skills
Knowledge Comprehension Application Analysis Synthesis Evaluation

E M D E M D E M D E M D E M D E M D
T1
T2
T3
T4
T5
Subtotal
Topic Bloom’s Taxonomy Total
/Skills
Knowledge Comprehension Application Analysis Synthesis Evaluation

E M D E M D E M D E M D E M D E M D
T1 3 2 4 3 2 1 15
T2 1 2 2 2 2 2 11
T3 1 1 1 1 2 3 1 10
T4 1 1 1 2 1 1 7
T5 1 2 1 1 1 1 7
Subtotal 4 2 1 3 5 1 3 5 1 3 5 2 2 3 3 1 4 1
TOTAL OF QUESTIONS 50
 Objectives of Item Analysis
 To identify the suitability of item to measure
students’ mastery level of certain topics/skills;
 To determine the quality of item accordance
with the validity and reliability;
 To identify the difficulty level of item;
 To identify item which can discriminate the high
and low achievers
 To add to the collection of quality items which
can be re-used (Item Bank)
 Difficulty Index of Objective Items
 For Objective Items where the score is
dichotomous (i.e.:a separation into two divisions
that differ widely from or contradict each
other), the level of Difficulty is identified as in
percentage or number of students who gives the
correct response ( answer)
 Example:
80 of 100 students answered correctly of Item A,
so the D.I. is 80% or 0.8
30 of 100 students answered correctly of Item B,
so the D.I. is 30% or 0.3
 Conclusion:
Item A is easier than Item B. The D.I. of Item
B is higher than Item A
 Difficulty Index of Subjective Items
 not dichotomous, i.e. (the score varies from 0, 1,
2, 3, .....)
 Index (k) = Average Score
Maximum Score
Example: Maximum score of an item is 5,
responded differently by 10 students as follow:
2,2,0,1,3,4,0,2,1 and 5, so:
2+2+0+1+3+4+0+2+1+5/10 = 2, so
k = 2/5 or 2/5 x 100% = 0.4 or 40%
Difficulty Index Level of Difficulty

0.3 and below High

0.31 to 0.69 Moderate

0.7 and above Low

 Name Item 1 Item 2 Item 3
1. Ali 1 1 0
2. Baba 1 1 0
3. Chin 1 0 1
4. Daud 1 0 0
5. Elbert 0 1 0
6. Fara 1 1 1
7. Gan 1 0 0
8. Hazim 0 1 0
9. Izam 1 0 0
10. Jaya 1 1 0
Total
D.I
 Name Item 1 Item 2 Item 3
1. Ali 1 1 0
2. Baba 1 1 0
3. Chin 1 0 1
4. Daud 1 0 0
5. Elbert 0 1 0
6. Fara 1 1 1
7. Gan 1 0 0
8. Hazim 0 1 0
9. Izam 1 0 0
10. Jaya 1 1 0
Total 8 6 2
D.I 0.8 0.6 0.2
 Name Score
Item 1 (max=5) Item 2(max=5) Item 3(max=20)
1. Ali 5 2 9
2. Baba 4 0 14
3. Chin 4 1 15
4. Daud 0 0 12
5. Elbert 1 0 10
6. Fara 3 1 8
7. Gan 4 1 6
8. Hazim 3 1 16
9. Izam 2 4 14
10. Jaya 2 6 18
Total
Average Score
D.I.
 Name Score
Item 1 (max=5) Item 2(max=5) Item 3(max=20)
1. Ali 5 2 9
2. Baba 4 0 14
3. Chin 4 1 15
4. Daud 0 0 12
5. Elbert 1 0 10
6. Fara 3 1 8
7. Gan 4 1 6
8. Hazim 3 1 16
9. Izam 2 4 14
10. Jaya 2 6 18
Total 28 17 122
Average Score 28/10=2.8 17/10=1.7 122/10=12.2
D.I. 2.8/5=0.56 1.7/5=0.34 12.2/20=0.61
 Item Discrimination Index
 to differenciate the low achievers from the high
achievers:

Type of Items Students’ Ratio

Positive Discrimination High Achievers > Low Achievers

Negative Discrimination High Achievers < Low Achievers

No discrimination High Achievers = Low Achievers

 Item which has been responded correctly by
high achievers – considered as having a good
discrimination
 Steps to determine Discrimination Index
 Arrange the marks from the highest to the
lowest.
 Divide equally, i.e. 50% of the highest and
another 50% as the lowest
 Suitable for ‘by class’ analysis.
 If number of students exceed over 100, 25% or
33% from both achievers are sufficient
 Calculate the value of Difficulty Index (k) for
each group ( K h ) and ( K l)
 Find the difference of K for value of
Discrimination Index : D = K h – K l
 D = Discrimination Index
 K h = Difficulty Index for high achievers
 K l = Difficulty index for low achievers

Discrimination Index Item Assessment

0.40 and above Very Good
0.30 – 0.39 Good and can be re-valued
0.20 – 0.29 Marginal – need to re-value
0.19 and below Weak – item is rejected
 Example 1:
 40 students, divide into 2 groups of 20, i.e., 1st
group, high achievers, 2nd group low achievers.
 We want to analyse Item (question) number 8
whether it is a good Item or not.
 In the 1st group, 16 of the got it right, while in
the 2nd group, only 4; so,
K h = 16/20 = 0.8 or (80%)
K l = 4/20 = 0.2 or (20%), therefore
D = K h – K l ( 0.8 – 0.2) = 0.6
Conclusion : Item number 8 is GOOD
 Example 2:
 For MCQs, the distractors should also be
analysed to determine the quality of the
Item (question):

Item 7 Choices
A B* C D
15 – high achievers 2 5 0 8
15 – low achievers 5 10 0 0
 K = 15/30 = 0.5
 D = K h - K l
 = 5/15 - 10/15
= 0.33 – 0.66 = -0.33
 Conclusion:

1. Distractor A – acceptable
2. B – chosen by most of the low achievers
3. Distractor C – not distracting at all
4. Revise Distractor D – only high achievers seem to
choose it
5. Therefore, REJECT Item number 7 because it has
(-) D value