DELTA MODULE 1 PAPER 2 TASK 1
Questions 100% Correct!!
Fresh starts - ANSWERTest items which do not rely on a previous test item.
Opportunities for students to pause, gather thoughts and start again to get an
answer right. Good tests are usually designed so that each item constitutes a fresh
start. Test-takers are able to perform at their best. If they get stuck in one part, they
have other opportunities.
Washback/Backwash - ANSWERThe effect that knowledge of the contents of a test
may have on the course which precedes it.
It is associated primarily with "teaching the exam".
Norm-referenced test - ANSWERA test which measures results against a population,
usually students' peers. Learners are judged by comparison with others in the cohort,
A norm-referenced test will not judge how well students achieved a task in a test but
how well they did against the other students in the group. . E.g. A public
examination. Some universities apply norm-referencing tests to select
undergraduates. The percentage of the test cohort (i.e. the people taking the exam)
who will pass or get certain grades is decided in advance.
Forward wash - ANSWERThe effect a test has on the teaching that follows the test
It may be positive or negative.
Example (negative effect) : If students are working towards an exam where all of the
test items focus on grammatical accuracy, the teacher may spend much of the
preceding course focusing on this area - and possibly neglecting other areas that
they will need outside the course such as spoken fluency or listening. Thus the test
would have negative backwash - it pushed the teacher into "teaching for the test"
rather than providing a balanced course which dealt with all the students needs and
developed other areas of competence than just grammatical knowledge.
Face validity - ANSWERThe extent to which a test appears valid - i.e. appears to be
"a good test" to the people using it. Does the test look like the type of test students
will expect? Will students trust the test? If a test does not have face validity, learners
are not going to want to take the test or be happy that its results are a fair
assessment of their language competence. are *fresh starts included?. E.g. pauses
in a listening tests, different prompt questions in a speaking test.
Criterion-referenced tests - ANSWERA test which measures results against a scale
For example Cambridge English Exams such as FCE which follow specific 'can do'
criteria to measure test-takers'results (a B2 student should be able to use the past
perfect).
Initial testing - ANSWERIt can be either a diagnostic test to help formulate a syllabus
and course plan or a placement test to put learners into the right class for their level.
, Formative Testing - ANSWERCarried out during a course, usually to assess
learners' progress and used to enhance and adapt the learning programme.
Robert Stake describes the difference this way: When the cook tastes the soup,
that's formative. When the guests taste the soup, that's summative.
Summative testing - ANSWERTests which measure how well a set of learning
objectives has been achieved at the end of a period of instruction. E.g. an end of
course test
Robert Stake describes the difference this way: When the cook tastes the soup,
that's formative. When the guests taste the soup, that's summative.
Formal evaluation - ANSWERIt usually implies some kind of written document
(although it may be an oral test) and some kind of scoring system. It could be a
written test, an interview, an on-line test, a piece of homework or a number of other
things.
Example: an externally set and marked examination.
Informal evaluation - ANSWERIt may include some kind of document but there's
unlikely to be a scoring system as such and evaluation might include, for example,
simply observing the learner(s), listening to them and responding, giving them
checklists, peer- and self-evaluation and a number of other procedures.
Example: asking students if they need to revise the area.
Objective testing - ANSWERCharacterised by tasks in which there is only one right
answer. It may be a multiple-choice test, a True/False test or any other kind of test
where the result can readily be seen and is not subject to the marker's judgement.
E.g. a multiple-choice test with one right answer only.
Subjective testing - ANSWERThose tests in which questions are open ended and
the marker's judgement is important. Of course, there are various levels of test on
the subjective-objective scale.
Achievement test - ANSWERA test designed to assess what a person has learned.
e.g. end-of-course test.
Teachers are mostly involved in writing and administering achievement tests as a
way of telling them and the learners how successfully what has been taught has
been learned.
Progress test/formative assessment - ANSWERA test used during a course in order
to assess the learning up to a particular point in the course.
Structured response - ANSWERThe subject is given a structure in which to form the
answer. Sentence completion items of the sort which require the subject to expand a
sentence, such as He / come/ my house / yesterday / 9 o'clock into He came to my
house at 9 o'clock yesterday.
Free response - ANSWERIn these tests, no guidance is given other than the rubric
and the subjects are free to write or say what they like.
Questions 100% Correct!!
Fresh starts - ANSWERTest items which do not rely on a previous test item.
Opportunities for students to pause, gather thoughts and start again to get an
answer right. Good tests are usually designed so that each item constitutes a fresh
start. Test-takers are able to perform at their best. If they get stuck in one part, they
have other opportunities.
Washback/Backwash - ANSWERThe effect that knowledge of the contents of a test
may have on the course which precedes it.
It is associated primarily with "teaching the exam".
Norm-referenced test - ANSWERA test which measures results against a population,
usually students' peers. Learners are judged by comparison with others in the cohort,
A norm-referenced test will not judge how well students achieved a task in a test but
how well they did against the other students in the group. . E.g. A public
examination. Some universities apply norm-referencing tests to select
undergraduates. The percentage of the test cohort (i.e. the people taking the exam)
who will pass or get certain grades is decided in advance.
Forward wash - ANSWERThe effect a test has on the teaching that follows the test
It may be positive or negative.
Example (negative effect) : If students are working towards an exam where all of the
test items focus on grammatical accuracy, the teacher may spend much of the
preceding course focusing on this area - and possibly neglecting other areas that
they will need outside the course such as spoken fluency or listening. Thus the test
would have negative backwash - it pushed the teacher into "teaching for the test"
rather than providing a balanced course which dealt with all the students needs and
developed other areas of competence than just grammatical knowledge.
Face validity - ANSWERThe extent to which a test appears valid - i.e. appears to be
"a good test" to the people using it. Does the test look like the type of test students
will expect? Will students trust the test? If a test does not have face validity, learners
are not going to want to take the test or be happy that its results are a fair
assessment of their language competence. are *fresh starts included?. E.g. pauses
in a listening tests, different prompt questions in a speaking test.
Criterion-referenced tests - ANSWERA test which measures results against a scale
For example Cambridge English Exams such as FCE which follow specific 'can do'
criteria to measure test-takers'results (a B2 student should be able to use the past
perfect).
Initial testing - ANSWERIt can be either a diagnostic test to help formulate a syllabus
and course plan or a placement test to put learners into the right class for their level.
, Formative Testing - ANSWERCarried out during a course, usually to assess
learners' progress and used to enhance and adapt the learning programme.
Robert Stake describes the difference this way: When the cook tastes the soup,
that's formative. When the guests taste the soup, that's summative.
Summative testing - ANSWERTests which measure how well a set of learning
objectives has been achieved at the end of a period of instruction. E.g. an end of
course test
Robert Stake describes the difference this way: When the cook tastes the soup,
that's formative. When the guests taste the soup, that's summative.
Formal evaluation - ANSWERIt usually implies some kind of written document
(although it may be an oral test) and some kind of scoring system. It could be a
written test, an interview, an on-line test, a piece of homework or a number of other
things.
Example: an externally set and marked examination.
Informal evaluation - ANSWERIt may include some kind of document but there's
unlikely to be a scoring system as such and evaluation might include, for example,
simply observing the learner(s), listening to them and responding, giving them
checklists, peer- and self-evaluation and a number of other procedures.
Example: asking students if they need to revise the area.
Objective testing - ANSWERCharacterised by tasks in which there is only one right
answer. It may be a multiple-choice test, a True/False test or any other kind of test
where the result can readily be seen and is not subject to the marker's judgement.
E.g. a multiple-choice test with one right answer only.
Subjective testing - ANSWERThose tests in which questions are open ended and
the marker's judgement is important. Of course, there are various levels of test on
the subjective-objective scale.
Achievement test - ANSWERA test designed to assess what a person has learned.
e.g. end-of-course test.
Teachers are mostly involved in writing and administering achievement tests as a
way of telling them and the learners how successfully what has been taught has
been learned.
Progress test/formative assessment - ANSWERA test used during a course in order
to assess the learning up to a particular point in the course.
Structured response - ANSWERThe subject is given a structure in which to form the
answer. Sentence completion items of the sort which require the subject to expand a
sentence, such as He / come/ my house / yesterday / 9 o'clock into He came to my
house at 9 o'clock yesterday.
Free response - ANSWERIn these tests, no guidance is given other than the rubric
and the subjects are free to write or say what they like.
