matching test
DESCRIPTION
The Matching test formatTRANSCRIPT
THE
MATCHING
TEST
FORMAT
The matching test item format provides a way for
learners to connect a word, sentence or phrase in
one column to a corresponding word, sentence or
phrase in a second column. The items in the first
column are called premises and the answers in
the second column are the responses.
The convention is for learners to match the
premise on the left with a given response on the
right. By convention, the items in Column A are
numbered and the items in Column B are labeled
with capital letters.
EXAMPLE
PREMISES RESPONSE
COLUMN A COLUMN B
___1. Person who performs
mysterious tasks no one
understands
A. Facilitator
___2. Person who provides
schooling for children
B. Trainer
___3. Person who enables a group
to find solutions
C. Instructional Designer
___4. Person who instructs adults
in a classroom
D. Meeting Organizer
E. Teacher
Many authoring tools come with a pre-built
matching test item template, which may involve
dragging responses to the premise or typing the
letters from Column B into Column A. The
authoring tool templates may vary from the
conventions of the written format.
WHEN TO USE MATCHING
The matching test item format provides a change
of pace, particularly for self-check and review
activities. Many instructional designers employ
them in quizzes and tests too. They are effective
when you need to measure the learner’s ability to
identify the relationship or association between
similar items.
THEY WORK BEST WHEN THE COURSE
CONTENT HAS MANY PARALLEL CONCEPTS,
FOR EXAMPLE:
Terms and Definitions
Objects or Pictures and Labels
Symbols and Proper Names
Causes and Effects
Scenarios and Responses
Principles and Scenarios to which they apply
CONSTRUCTION
GUIDELINES
If you decide to use a matching format, take the
time to construct items that are valid and
reliable. Here are some guidelines for this.
1. Two-part directions. Your clear directions at the
start of each question need two parts: 1) how to make
the match and 2) the basis for matching the response
with the premise. You can also include whether items
can be re-used, but often pre-built templates don’t
allow for this.
Example for exercise above: Drag each career name in
Column B to the best definition in Column A. No items
may be used more than once.
2. Parallel content. Within one matching test item,
use a common approach, such as all terms and
definitions or all principles and the scenarios to which
they apply.
3. Plausible answers. All responses in Column B
should be plausible answers to the premises in Column
A. Otherwise, the test loses some of its reliability
because some answers will be “give-aways.”
4. Clueless. Ensure your premises don’t include hints
through grammar (like implying the answer must be
plural) or hints from word choice (like using the term
itself in a definition).
5. Unequal responses. In an ideal world, you should
present more responses than premises, so the
remaining responses don’t work as hints to the correct
answer. This is not often possible when using a
template.
6. Limited premises. Due to the capacity limitations
of working memory, avoid a long list of premises in the
first column. A number that I’ve come across is to keep
the list down to six items. Even less might be better,
depending on the characteristics of your audience.
7. One correct answer. Every premise should have
only one correct response. Obvious, but triple-check to
make sure each response can only work for one
premise.
REARRANGMENT ITEMS
Rearrangment items: rearrange and skip certain
items in order to better estimate the examinees'
abilities, without allowing them to cheat on the
test.
The rearrangement procedure is effective in
reducing the standard error of the Bayesian
ability estimates and in increasing the reliability
of the same estimates.
RANKING ITEMS
A ranking is a relationship between a set of
items such that, for any two items, the first is
either 'ranked higher than', 'ranked lower than'
or 'ranked equal to' the second. It is not
necessarily a total order of objects because two
different objects can have the same ranking. The
rankings themselves are totally ordered. For
example, materials are totally preordered by
hardness, while degrees of hardness are totally
ordered.
By reducing detailed measures to a sequence of
ordinal numbers, rankings make it possible to
evaluate complex information according to
certain criteria. Analysis of data obtained by
ranking commonly requires non-parametric
statistics.
ADVANTAGES AND LIMITATIONS
THAT THIS TYPE OF TEST MIGHT
HAVE
Advantages:
Relatively easy to construct
Easy to score
Disadvantages:
Time consuming for students
Not good for higher levels of learning
TIPS FOR WRITING GOOD MATCHING ITEMS:
Need 15 items or less.
Give good directions on basis for matching.
Use items in response column more than once
(reduces the effects of guessing).
Use homogenous material in each exercise.
Make all responses plausible.
Put all items on a single page.
Put response in some logical order (chronological,
alphabetical, etc.).
Responses should be short.
SKILL LEVELS THAT CAN BE REINFORCED
THROUGH THIS TYPE OF TEST ITEM
Good for:
Knowledge level
Some comprehension level, if appropriately
constructed
Types:
Terms with definitions
Phrases with other phrases
Causes with effects
Parts with larger units
Problems with solutions
MAJOR LIMITATIONS FOR THIS TYPE OF
TEST
They are time consuming for students
They are not good for higher levels of learning
They have difficulty measuring learning
objectives requiring more than simple recall of
information
They are difficult to construct due to the problem
of selecting a common set of stimuli and
responses
They place a high degree of dependence on the
student's reading ability and instructor's writing
ability.
WHAT ARE THE NAMES OF THE
COLUMNS?
The items in the first column are
called premises and the answers in the second
column are the responses.
PREMISE
A previous statement or proposition from which
another is inferred or follows as a conclusion. In tests:
Words or phrases.
RESPONSE
Written answer.
When there are exactly as many premises as there are
responses and when each response is used once and
only once in the matching process, the test item is said
to have perfect matching. When some of the responses
are used more than once or not at all, the item is said
to have imperfect matching. Imperfect matching
makes guessing more difficult.
PERFECT MATCHING
COLUMN A COLUMN B
______1. James Michener A. History
______2. Stephen King B. Horror
______3. Erma Bombeck C. Humor
______4. Agatha Christie D. Mystery
______5. Walt Whitman E. Poetry
______6. Danielle Steele F. Romance
______7. Isaac Asimov G. Science Fiction
IMPERFECT MATCHING
COLUMN A COLUMN B
______1. James Michener A. History
______2. Stephen King B. Horror
______3. Erma Bombeck C. Humor
______4. Agatha Christie D. Mystery
______5. Walt Whitman E. Poetry
______6. Danielle Steele F. Romance
______7. Isaac Asimov G. Science Fiction
H. Tragedy
THANK YOU