Me, write an exam?
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Exam course given to the UNED, Costa Rica. June 22, 2010
![Me? Write an exam? How to write a communicative exam JoAnn Miller, Macmillan Publishers [email_address] www.efltasks.net](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/mewriteanexam-cr-uned-wb-100622183406-phpapp02/85/me-write-an-exam-1-320.jpg)
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Me, write an exam?
- 1. Me? Write an exam? How to write a communicative exam JoAnn Miller, Macmillan Publishers [email_address] www.efltasks.net
- 23. Content Analysis: Information from the contents Functions (10 points): Talking about imitation products Talking about food and food festivals Discussing the movie industry Making a business plan Grammar (5 points): Nouns in groups Indefinite Pronouns Vocabulary (10 points): Food Business language ///// /// ///// ///// ///// //// ///// /// ///// ///// /// 8 10 9 5 32 3 5 8 5 3 8 8 / 32 =__% 25% 31% 28% 16% 25% X 10 = ___pts 2.5 pts 3 pts 3 pts 1.5 pts 37% 2 pts 63% 3 pts 63% 6 pts 37% 4 pts
- 26. What information can you get out of this overview?
- 27. Content Analysis: Information from overview Skill Sections in Unit Functions (10 points) Talking about similarites and differences Talking about prefrences Discussing opinions Talking about past events Grammar (10 points) comparative adjectives comparatives and superlatives Superlative adjectives Vocabulary (10 points) sports feelings
- 28. Categorization of activities Skill Sections in Unit Functions (10 points) Talking about similarities and differences 1 1 Talking about preferences 2 2 2 Discussing opinions 3 3 Talking about past events 4 4 4 4 Grammar (10 points) comparative adjectives 1 1 1 1 w1 w1 comparatives and superlatives 2 2 w2 w2 w3 Superlative adjectives 3 3 w2 Vocabulary (10 points) sports 1 2 2 w1 w1 feelings 2 2
- 33. Skill Sections in Unit Count % Points Functions (10 points) Talking about similarities and differences 1 1 2 18% 1.8 Talking about prefernces 2 2 2 3 27% 2.7 Discussing opinions 3 3 2 18% 1.8 Talking about past events 4 4 4 4 4 36% 3.6 11 Grammar (10 points) comparative adjectives 1 1 1 1 w1 w1 6 43% 4.3 comparatives and superlatives 2 2 w2 w2 w3 5 36% 3.6 Superlative adjectives 3 3 w2 3 21% 2.1 14 Vocabulary (10 points) sports 1 2 2 w1 w1 5 71% 7.1 feelings 2 2 2 29% 2.9 7
- 35. Grammar? What will you test?
- 37. Vocabulary? What will you test?
- 39. Functions? What will you test?
- 49. So what does this all mean? Accuracy Accuracy Accuracy Accuracy Accuracy / Fluency Fluency Fluency Prod. /Recog. Prod. /Recog. Prod. /Recog. Recognition Recognition Production Production Subj. / Obj Subj. / Obj Objective Objective Objective Subjective Subjective
- 54. IV. The clerk knows Cleopatra. Caesar asks the clerk about Cleo. Complete the conversation. Use the words in parentheses. ( 4 points, .5 each) Clerk : Yes, I know her. Julius : (1) _______________________________________ (work) ? Clerk : (2) ________________________________ ( palace downtown). Julius : (3) _______________________________________ ( do) ? Clerk : (4) ___________________________________ ( help people). Julius : (5) ___________________________________ ( close friend)? Clerk : Yes, (6) ____________________________________ (funny). Julius : (7) _______________________________________ ( sports)? Clerk : Yes, (8) ___________________________________ ( tennis ). Actual Student Responses on the worksheet
Notas del editor
- There are testing alternatives [click] that aren’t the traditional “paper and pencil” exams. [click] You can evaluate students’ progress constantly, not punctually (at specific times) [click] Definitions from REF 1: The Reflective Portfolio: Two Case Studies from the United Arab Emirates, Christine Coombe and Lisa Barlow, Forum Online, http://exchanges.state.gov/forum/vols/vol42/no1/p18.htm
- Reference 1 (REF1) From The Reflective Portfolio: Two Case Studies from the United Arab Emirates, Christine Coombe and Lisa Barlow, Forum Online, http://exchanges.state.gov/forum/vols/vol42/no1/p18.htm
- Portfolio assessment is very popular in places like the US where classes are small and teachers have office hours and preparation time [click] But they are more subjective, you can’t guarantee that two teachers will be grading the same way and [click] Teachers in Mexico have physical limitations: lots of students, lots of groups, little free time to correct [click] Would they be accepted by the SEP, schools, parents and students? Have participants discuss in pairs and then compare responses.
- Why do we rely on written tests here in Mexico? [click] It isn’t the only way to test and it probably isn’t the fairest…some students don’t do well on written tests [click] But they are the easiest way to test with the large numbers of students we have here [click] It is more objective and can be designed so that results can be fairly consistent among teachers at the same institution [click] And they are accepted by institutions (official study plans, schools) parents and the students themselves
- Only show the title of the slide. Ask teachers how many have exam banks at their schools (If some participants don’t know what exam banks are, ask for a definition). Put students into groups, try to get at least one teacher who has worked with an exam bank in each group. Have them discuss the advantages and disadvantages of the exam banks. When they finish, listen to some of their conclusions. Then continue on with the slide. Exam banks have many advantages for large schools. They are a collection of exams [click] that could be written by the teachers or a special committee [click]. They must be based on institutional guidelines. [click] It is possible to have various cycles of the exams.
- Benefits: Teachers don’t have to write all their own exams. Instead of writing 5, 10 or more exams a semester, they write one or two. It save time, energy and quality. [click] They are useful in larger schools because they help standardize performance assuring all the students who pass from one level to another are ready. The criteria, instructions and grading are uniform. [click] Face validity (an exam looks like the teachers and students expect it to). The format is similar. All exams in the exam bank follow the same rules so there are no surprises. They even look similar. [click] Exams are also about the same length. In reality exams banks are the most time-efficient, reliable ways to test. Each exam can be written with the same criteria and the results between groups is much more reliable. Various cycles can be created so that cheating is minimized and each individual teacher works less since instead of writing an exam for every class they are teaching, they might just write a couple of exams for the exam bank. In pairs: Do they have exam banks? How do they work? If not, would they work?
- Only show the title of the slide. Ask teachers how many have exam banks at their schools (If some participants don’t know what exam banks are, ask for a definition). Put students into groups, try to get at least one teacher who has worked with an exam bank in each group. Have them discuss the advantages and disadvantages of the exam banks. When they finish, listen to some of their conclusions. Then continue on with the slide. Exam banks have many advantages for large schools. They are a collection of exams [click] that could be written by the teachers or a special committee [click]. They must be based on institutional guidelines. [click] It is possible to have various cycles of the exams.
- Benefits: Teachers don’t have to write all their own exams. Instead of writing 5, 10 or more exams a semester, they write one or two. It save time, energy and quality. [click] They are useful in larger schools because they help standardize performance assuring all the students who pass from one level to another are ready. The criteria, instructions and grading are uniform. [click] Face validity (an exam looks like the teachers and students expect it to). The format is similar. All exams in the exam bank follow the same rules so there are no surprises. They even look similar. [click] Exams are also about the same length. In reality exams banks are the most time-efficient, reliable ways to test. Each exam can be written with the same criteria and the results between groups is much more reliable. Various cycles can be created so that cheating is minimized and each individual teacher works less since instead of writing an exam for every class they are teaching, they might just write a couple of exams for the exam bank. In pairs: Do they have exam banks? How do they work? If not, would they work?
- Base the content analysis on the textbook for the reasons we mentioned previously…Slide 13
- You can’t test students on something they haven’t seen. [click] If you are writing for other teachers, the only thing you have in common is the textbook. If you are only writing for your students and they are absent, the only resource they have is their textbooks[click] You need to make an analysis of how much time is spent on each aspect you want to test.
- Here is an example of a final content analysis. If you are using an exam bank, all the teachers should have it. The students should also have it. It can help them study. Look at the Grammar section. Notice that one point of the 15 points on that section of the exam is dedicated to the comparative. If the student didn’t know only one point was dedicated to that structure, he would know that it was more important to study BE and the simple present (7 points). This can also help the teachers since no one would spend hours teaching all aspects of the comparative if it is not represented with more than one point on the exam. This would be a positive washback effect.
- Ask participants what they think “communicative testing” refers to. After hearing some possibilities, tell them: The “Communicative Approach” has been in existence since the late 80s. We now accept the ideas of teaching communicatively: group work, teaching language in context, etc, but we continue testing traditionally [click] Ask participants what “traditional testing” is (isolated sentences, transformation, grammar-based) [click] Communicative testing means testing in context…not isolated sentences
- HO2-- Let’s look at some examples. What will you test? [click] Grammar? Refer participants to HO2. Have them look at the grammar examples and compare them in pairs. What are the differences ? When they finish giving you some differences go to the next slide.
- [click] The example on the left is traditional. There is no context. It is OK for simple structures like this one, but what about more complex structures such as If clauses or present perfect/past? Here is an example you can give them: If I __________ (be invited) to your party, I __________ (go). What is the answer? If I am invited to her party, I’ll go (If 1) If I were invited to her party, I’d go (If 2) If I had been invited to her party, I would have gone (If 3) Since there is no context, any of them would be correct. [click] In the other example the grammar is presented in context, a conversation. If this had been about If clauses, it might have been: “ I’m sorry. I didn’t know she was going to have a party. If I ______________ (be invited), I ___________ (go).” Obviously If 3.
- What will you test? [click] Vocabulary? Refer participants to the HO2. Have them look at the vocabulary examples and compare them in pairs. What are the differences? When they finish giving you some differences go to the next slide.
- [click] The example on the left is a traditional vocabulary section. It tests if they learned a vocabulary list, but it doesn’t test if they really know how to use the vocabulary. [click] The example on the right tests many different problems students can have when they work with vocabulary: Difficult pairs: (1) (3) (6) Collocation: (2) (4) (5) The context lets you test more.
- Ask participants how they could test functions…collect some ideas.
- Go over the definition of functions just in case someone doesn’t know what they are.
- Go through the examples. Emphasize how the following aspects become more complex as we go down the list: Grammar structures (easy to more difficult) Length of sentences (short to long) Register (from informal to formal)
- This is the best type of section to test students’ knowledge of functions. (In HO2) [click] Students complete a conversation (or paragraph) with sentences (or even phrases) that communicate the correct function logically. Go over the first example. Show that there isn’t one correct answer. The first one could be: It has / I have / There is a big living room. Elicit possible answers for # 2 and 3. The section can be even more open as the other two option show. Elicit possible answers. Have participants compare this with the grammar and vocabulary sections they have seen. What are the differences? Emphasize that here the purpose is communication and that communication can occur even if the students don’t use complete sentences or make some grammar errors. This will be seen later in the workshop when they learn to correct these sections.
- Have participants look at the example and suggest what kinds of exam sections they could write combining vocabulary themes and then [click] dividing them…. If there is time, in pairs, have them think of conversations, paragraphs, etc. and describe what they would be like to practice these sections. Then have them go back to their content analyses and decide how point values can be combined or divided to reach the number of points they determined previously for their exam (see What to test and how often, slides 11-15). 15 minutes.
- In production, the student writes more than one word (remind them of Complete the Conversation for testing functions) The student can be more creative and the teacher has to be more alert because more than one answer might be correct. In recognition (for example, multiple choice or true/false), there is only one correct answer and it isn’t creative. Production means more work. Teachers with large number of students can’t handle a 50-50 balance. A good exam could be 20-80 or 30-70 (production/recognition) and still be fair. TOEFL and other similar exams are all recognition…they never test whether the student can produce language. Years ago this led to a big influx of Asian students into US universities. They had studied grammar and reading, but no speaking or writing. They did great recognizing correct answers on the TOEFL and got very high scores, but when they arrived in the US, authorities realized they couldn’t say two words in English….The TOEFL exam was revised and now includes writing sections and often oral interviews are required to study in the US.
- Sections can also be objective or subjective. It is good to have some subjective sections, but an exam with sections that are all graded subjectively make it difficult to judge student ability between different teachers…. However, even though they are more difficult to grade, they do give more information about students’ ability. The limitations can be overcome if the graders are trained…. This is a very common problem with oral grading.
- It’s easy to correct an “A, b, c” section, but how do you correct a “complete the conversation” section so that it really tests communicative ability and competence?
- Go over the summary
- These are examples of partial credit. Go over then one-by-one. Ask participants if they would give partial credit or not if they were grading communication… First example: Does it communicate? Would you be able to answer the student’s questions? Probably. If it were a C1 student on the first exam, I’d give credit, but write in the corrections. On later exams, I’d probably not be a generous. Second example: The meaning is different. In the correct answer, you didn’t invite me, in the student’s answer you might do so in the future. Although the grammar is correct, it doesn’t communicate and I wouldn’t give any credit. Third example: Click slowly, discussing as you go. The first one communicates and if it were the first time students had worked with the past I’d accept it and just write in the correction. They use “yesterday” to indicate the tense. [click] This could also be accepted if it were in answer to the question. “what did you do yesterday?”. Correcting these sections, you have to ask “does the answer communicate the idea required by the conversation.” If so, accept it or give partial credit depending on the level of the students.
- This is the exam section used in the activity (HO7). Go over it and get possible answers before they begin working. Have them work in pairs, grading the students’ work. (15 minutes) Then go over the worksheet, comparing how they graded.
- Go over this with the participants. It will be the hardest section to write since they have very little experience with communicative exams.
- Go over with participants. Ask for their opinions. From (REF5) Designing Test Questions, Grayson H. Walker Teaching Resource Center, The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, http://www.utc.edu/Administration/WalkerTeachingResourceCenter/FacultyDevelopment/Assessment/test-questions.html
- Go over… From same source as previous slide
- Get examples so you can be sure they understand what the stem (first part) and options are (A.b.c)
- REF 3: From Kehoe, Jerard. Writing Multiple-Choice Test Items. ERIC/AE Digest Series EDO-TM-95-3, October 1995. http://www.ericdigests.org/1997-1/test.html Go through the points one-by-one…checking comprehension as you go
- Continued
- You might want to discuss how many items they feel they should use. Kehoe recommends 3-4, but some really formal exams use 5 options.
- These are the different orders possible…. Talk about which seem best and why? Do multiple Choice handout (HO5) in pairs (30 minutes). These are the poor examples from the Burton article. Have participants think about what they think is wrong with them and how they could be improved. Then go over them. Use REF 4 to correct… REF 4: Burton, Steven J. Richard R. Sudweeks, Paul F. Merrill, Bud Wood. How to Prepare Better Multiple-Choice Test Items: Guidelines for University Faculty, Brigham Young University Testing Services and The Department of Instructional Science. 1991. http://testing.byu.edu/info/handbooks/betteritems.pdf When they finish HO5, have them write a multiple choice section using their content analyses and the section divisions they recently did. When they finish, have them compare and criticize their work. Be careful they are using multiple choice for reasonable sections…(20 minutes)