Multiple-choice construction competencies and items‟ quality: evidence from selected senior high school subject teachers in Kwahu-South District

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to explore the relationship between the multiple-choice test construction competencies of senior high school teachers in the Kwahu-South District and the quality of multiple-choice test items they construct, as well as the effect of years of teaching on such relationship. To examine the relationship among the variables under investigation, the quantitative approach is employed using correlational research design. The total number of teachers that constituted the population for the study was 157. However, with the use of purposive sampling technique, the study covered only 47 participants (n = 47) out of the 157 teachers. Questionnaire and document examination were used as the main data collection instruments. The overall reliability coefficient of the 20-item questionnaire using Cronbach‟s alpha was .75. The data collected was analysed using means and standard deviations, frequency count, percentages, and Pearson Product-Moment Correlation Coefficient. Finding from the study revealed no significant relationship between the teachers‟ test construction competencies and the quality of the multiple-choice test items. This implied that the presence of problem items influenced the quality of the multiple-choice tests in a manner that it showed no significant relationship with the teachers‟ self-reported appreciable or high levels of multiple-choice test construction competencies. Thus, it was recommended that school authorities and classroom teachers pay critical attention to factors that reduce the quality of multiple-choice items and put up measures that will improve the reliability and validity of results obtained from assessments that involve the use of multiple-choice test items.