1. This presentation was developed for the
exclusive use of students enrolled in:
Educational Testing & Grading,
Professor Gregory E. Stone.
© 2004 Gregory E. Stone. All rights reserved. This presentation may not be
reproduced in any form, in part or as a whole, without the express written permission
of the author.

2. OBJECTIVE ITEMS

3. Objective items do not
require human interpretation
during the scoring process.
The term “objective” refers to the
manner in which an item is scored.

4. Objective items come in
many shapes and sizes.
True-False
Matching
Multiple-choice
Fill-in-the-Blank*

5. True-False Items
George Washington was the first
president of the United States.
True False

6. True-False Items
George Washington was the first
president of the United States.
True False
Problems:
Either Too Easy or Too Esoteric
50/50 chance - Easy guessing

7. True-False Items
George Washington was the first
president of the United States.
True False
Center on moderate difficulty.
Create thoughtful items, avoiding
Knowledge.

8. Matching Items
Column A Column B
Tiger Reptile
Turtle Mammal

9. Matching Items
Column A Column B
Tiger Reptile
Turtle Mammal
Problems:
Increasing simplicity of answering.
Often very easy.

10. Matching Items
Column A Column B
Florida Columbus
Illinois Chicago
Ohio Springfield
Tallahassee
Avoid 1:1 correspondence
Add ‘distractors’

11. Multiple Choice Items
From which emperor did Captain
James T. Kirk’s middle name
originate?
C. Julius Caesar
B. Claudius
C. Tiberius
D. Trafalgar

12. Multiple Choice Items
From which Roman emperor did Captain
James T. Kirk’s middle name originate?
A. Caesar
B. Claudius
C. Nero
D. Tiberius
Best of the Objective Items types.
Can test wide range of content.
Easily scorable.
100 years of psychometrics.

13. Multiple Choice Items
From which Roman emperor did Captain
James T. Kirk’s middle name originate?
A. Caesar
B. Claudius
C. Nero
D. Tiberius
Problems:
Takes a LONG time to write.
Difficult to test higher functions,
though that is debatable.

14. Fill-in-the-Blank Items
To save middle-
earth, Frodo
journeyed to Mount
__________.

15. Fill-in-the-Blank Items
To save middle-
earth, Frodo Doom
journeyed to Mount
__________.
Your book suggests fill-in-the-blank
may be objective….BUT, it depends
on how you intend to grade it!

16. Fill-in-the-Blank Items
To save middle-
earth, Frodo Doom
journeyed to Mount
__________.
Problems:
Shifty objectivity.
Simplicity & Difficulty.

17. Taxonomy Evaluation
Objective items are Synthesis
written at different
Analysis
taxonomic levels.
Application
Objective items work best Comprehension
and most effectively at or
Knowledge
below Application.

18. Knowledge
In which state is St. Augustine
located?
B. California
C. Florida
D. Georgia
D. North Carolina

19. Knowledge → Comprehension
Was Florida considered one of the
original 13 colonies?
C. No, at the time it was Spanish.
B. No, because it was too far south.
E. Yes, because it seceded in 1862.
D. Yes, it was George III’s favorite.