An Assessment of Science Teachers’ Utilization of the Knowledge of Test Construction Procedure in Multiple Choice Objective Tests in Secondary Schools in Yala LGA, Cross River State (Published)
The aim of this study was to assess the extent of utilization of the knowledge of test construction procedure in setting Multiple Choice Objective Tests by science teachers in secondary schools in Yala Local Government Area of Cross River State. To achieve this, the descriptive survey research design was used in which a purposeful sample of 87 Chemistry teachers was selected from amongst the 213 science teachers in the area. The instrument used for the study was a well validated and fixed response questionnaire designed by the researchers tagged Test Construction and Utilization Procedure Questionnaire (TCUPQ) having a total of forty items designed on a four point interval scale with a Cronbach alpha co-efficient of 0.82. Data obtained from the subjects were analysed using the means and standard deviations. The results showed that science teachers studied utilize their knowledge of test construction procedures effectively in setting objective tests; however, they do not subject the students to pre-test before the main test is carried out. It was recommended amongst others that science teachers be sponsored to attend assessment practice workshops and also be encouraged to give pre-tests before the main test in schools.
Keywords: Assessment, Construction, Procedure, Test, Utilization
Construction, Administration and the Standardisation of Mathematics Multiple Choice Test Items for Junior Secondary School Two (JSS 2) in Oyo State, Nigeria (Published)
The rationale for this study was to construct, administer and validate a mathematics achievement test for junior secondary school two students (JSS 2) in Oyo State, Nigeria. The instrumentation research design was used for the study. Purposive sampling technique was used in selecting two private schools in Ibadan metropolis; from which a total sample of 83 students in JSS 2 was purposefully and automatically selected as study sample. The test instrument was face-validated in terms of clarity of words and plausibility of distracter by specialist in the International center for Educational Evaluation, Institute of Education, University of Ibadan and experienced secondary school mathematics teachers. The MAT (mathematics achievement test) consisted of 200 multiple choice test items of four strata with Kudar-Richardson KR-20 reliability coefficient of 0.963 which was administered to 83 students and the response of these students were used in determining students’ mastery ability in the subject. The findings of the study show that the MAT is a valid and reliable instrument for measuring achievements in mathematics tests for junior secondary school 2 students; especially in Nigerian secondary school system. It is recommended that researchers, teachers and relevant educational stakeholders should constantly establish the reliability coefficient; difficulty and discrimination indices of test items they develop in measuring educational achievements so as to ensure the items are valid and relevant to the course objectives.
Keywords: Mathematics achievement test, Test, Testing, item analysis, item construction, standardisation.
Development and Validation of Mathematics Achievement Test for Primary School Pupils (Published)
The aim of this study was to construct and validate a mathematics achievement test for primary six school pupils, Four research questions were employed in constructing the study. The design of the study is instrumentation research design. Using random sampling technique via balloting 10 primary schools was drawn from 54 primary schools in Obio Akpor L.G.A. Through stratified random sampling technique 858 primary six pupils were drawn from the population of 2928 primary six pupils from Obio/Akpor L.G.A. The Form 1 MAT was face-validated in terms of clarity of words and plausibility of distracter by specialist in Educational Measurement and Evaluation and mathematics teachers. The Form II MAT consist of what was adminstered to 858 pupils and their response were used in determining proportions of pupils who showed mastery ability.The findings of this study show that the MAT is a valid and reliable instrument for measuring achievements in mathematics tests.
Keywords: Mathematics achievement test, Test, development and validation
Parenting Styles as Correlates of Students’ Attitude towards Examination Malpractices in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area of Rivers State: Implications for Counselling (Published)
Parenting styles refers to practices adopted by parents in rearing their children. A good parenting style is needed to develop in a child interpersonal relationship, capacity to take initiatives, self-reliance, motivation and to conform to societal acceptable code of conduct. Bad parenting style is counterproductive and may as well get children involved in antisocial behaviours including examination malpractices. This work is a correlational study intended to determine the relationship between parenting styles and students’ attitude towards examination malpractices. Three research questions and three hypotheses were designed to guide the study. The instruments for data collection were Students’ Attitude to Examination Malpractices Scale and Parenting Style Scale. These instruments were vetted by three experts in Educational Psychology. The reliability coefficient of Attitude to Examination Malpractices Scale measured through test-retest method and Pearson product moment correlation technique was 0.86. The reliability indices of sections of Parenting Style Scale established through Cronbach Alpha technique were 0.68, 0.81, 0.73 and 0.84 for sections A, B, C and D respectively. It was found that though, majority of the students showed negative attitude towards examination malpractices, a sizeable percentage of them showed positive attitude towards the malaise. Authoritative, authoritarian, permissive and neglectful parenting styles had a significant joint relationship with students’ attitude towards examination malpractices. Authoritative, authoritarian and permissive parenting styles each had individual negative relationship with students’ attitude towards examination malpractices while neglectful parenting style had a positive relationship with students’ attitude towards examination malpractices. Based on these findings, it is imperative for the counsellors to assist prospective couples through premarital counselling or marital counselling to adopt good parenting styles especially authoritative parenting style in nurturing their children. Appreciable number of counsellors should be employed by the government of Rivers State and sent to secondary schools to help maladjusted students acquire good value re-orientation that will enable them distinguish what is good from what is bad with a view to avoiding negative tendencies including examination malpractices.
Keywords: Authoritarian, Authoritative, Corruption, Examination, Fraud, Test, antisocial behaviour, cheating, malpractices, neglectful parenting styles, permissive
A Comparison between Two Test Item Formats: Multiple-Choice Items and Completion Items (Published)
This study aimed at investigating the influence of item formats upon students’ performance and item psychometric characteristics. The students of evaluation and measurement 68 students were chosen to collect the data, 2 test format were applied; Multiple Choice items test and Completion items test. The results indicated that students performance was effected by the type of the test items, female students’ performed higher than male students’ on the 2 forms, and the psychometric characteristics of the test were found to be affected by test format.
Keywords: Item, Item Format, Performance, Psychometric Characteristics, Test