Formats for Assessment

Introduction

Psychological and educational assessments today come in many forms: they vary on the basis of the item type or types that are included, the physical means by which items are presented to test-takers and responses are supplied, and the manner in which items and test forms are assembled. In this way, the format of an assessment is the end result of numerous psychometric and practical considerations about the nature of the ability being evaluated and the appropriate and the most feasible ways to gather such information. By separating formats for assessment into several component parts, the layers of decisions that must be made in the process of test creation emerge and the full range of possibilities for test creation and use likewise become more readily apparent. The three component parts that constitute the format of an assessment are (1) methods of delivery and response collection, (2) test algorithm, and (3) item type. The remainder of this entry will focus on each component in turn and how they relate to each other and test purpose in defining the format of an assessment.

Methods of Delivery and Response Collection

The choice of delivery and response modes for assessment is central in the process of test development, as this refers to the physical means or medium by which items are presented to test-takers and how test-takers in turn provide answers. There are four methods by which a test can be presented and responded to/recorded: using pencil and paper, oral, by physically carrying out a behaviour or series of behaviours, or via electronic media such as computers or other audio/video devices. Of course, two or more delivery modes could be used in a single assessment; for example, a classroom teacher might read item stems aloud while students write answers on their papers.

Many educational assessments administered to students on a large scale are implemented as paper-and-pencil instruments for both item delivery and response collection. This builds flexibility into the test administration because many test-takers can be evaluated at once, they can work at their own pace, and answer sheets can be gathered for scoring at the convenience of the administrator. On the negative side, the paper-and-pencil format may not be the most flexible mode of delivery and response collection for all constructs.

Indeed, certain constructs of interest to psychologists and educators are better suited to assessment by oral or physical/behavioural means, especially with regard to test-takers' responses. These modes of assessment allow for the administrator to evaluate a test-taker in a more one-on-one setting, which the examinee may be more comfortable with and this may lead to more valid assessment. Completing an assessment by a series of behaviours could include the use of role-playing exercises, while an oral assessment might be along the lines of a psychological interview or thesis defence. By these two methods test-takers can demonstrate competency in areas that paper-and-pencil tests cannot readily assess, but in both methods practical considerations such as economic and time costs as well as psychometric complexity of scoring are factors that must be taken to account.

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