Matching Exercises Test Items In Nursing Education
Matching Exercises
Matching exercises consist of two parallel columns in which students match terms, phrases, sentences, or numbers from one column to the other. In a matching exercise students identify the one-to-one correspondence between the columns. One column includes a list of premises (for which the match is sought); the other column (from which the selection is made) is referred to as responses (Miller et al., 2009).
The basis for matching responses to premises should be stated explicitly in the directions with the exercise. The student identifies pairs based on the principle specified in these directions. With some matching exercises, differences between the premises and responses are not apparent, such as matching a list of laboratory studies with their normal ranges, and the columns could be interchanged.
In other exercises, however, the premises include descriptive phrases or sentences to which the student matches shorter responses. Matching exercises lend themselves to testing categories, classifications, groupings, definitions, and other facts. They are most appropriate for measuring facts based on simple associations (Miller et al., 2009).
One advantage of a matching exercise is its ability to test a number of facts that can be grouped together rather than designing a series of individual items. For instance, the teacher can develop one matching exercise on medications and related side effects rather than a series of individual items on each medication.
This makes it possible to assess at one time a large number of related facts and associations between two sets of information (Nitko & Brookhart, 2007). A disadvantage, however, is the focus on recall of facts and specific information, although in many courses this reflects an important outcome of learning.
Principles for Writing Matching Exercises
Writing Matching Exercises Matching exercises are intended for categories, classifications, and information that can be grouped in some way. An effective matching exercise requires the use of homogeneous material with responses that are plausible for the premises. Responses that are not plausible for some localities provide clues to the correct match. Principles for writing matching exercises include:
- Develop a matching exercise around homogeneous content. All of the premises and responses to be matched should relate to that content, for example, all laboratory tests and values, all terms and definitions, and all types of health insurance and characteristics. This is the most important principle in writing a matching exercise (Miller et al., 2009).
- Include an unequal number of premises and responses to avoid giving a clue to the final match. Typically there are more responses than local, but the number of responses may be limited by the maximum number of spaces per item allowed on a Scannable answer sheet. In that case, the teacher may need to write more premises than responses.
- Use a short list of premises and responses. This makes it easier for the teacher to identify ones from the same content area, and it saves students reading time. With a long list of items to be matched, it is difficult to review the choices and pair them with the premises. It also prohibits recording the answers on a Scannable form. Miller et al. (2009) recommended using four to seven items in each column. A longer list might be used for some exercises, but no more than 10 items should be included in either column (p. 190).
- For matching exercises with a large number of responses, the teacher should develop two separate matching exercises. Otherwise students spend too much time reading through the options.
- Directions for the matching exercises should be clear and state explicitly the basis for matching the premises and responses. This is an important principle in developing these items. Even if the basis for matching seems self-evident, the directions should include the rationale for matching the columns.
- Directions should specify whether each response may be used once, more than once, or not at all. Matching items can be developed in which students match one response to one premise, with at least one “extra” response remaining to avoid giving a clue to the final match. Items also can be written in which students can use the responses more than once or not at all. The directions should be unambiguous about the selection of responses.
- Place the longer premises on the left and shorter responses on the right. This enables the students to read the longer statement first, and then search on the right for the correct response, which often is a single word or a few words.
- The order in which the premises and responses are listed should be alphabetical, numerical, or in some other logical order. Alphabetical order and listing numbers in sequence eliminate clues from the arrangement of the responses (Miller et al., 2009). If the lists have another logical order, however, such as dates and sequences of a procedure, then they should be organized in that order. Numbers, quantities, and similar types of items should be arranged in decreasing or increasing order.
- The entire matching exercise should be typed on the same page and not divided across pages. This prevents students from missing possible responses that are on the next page and their turning pages back and forth to read both premises and responses at one time. It also may decrease the time required for students to take the test (Miller et al., 2009).
Conclusion
Test items may be categorized as selected- and constructed-response items. Selected-response formats, which are structured and ask the test-taker to choose an answer from among alternatives, include true–false, matching exercises, multiple-choice, and multiple-response. Constructed response items provide an opportunity for students to formulate their own ideas and express them in writing.
In addition to these, many other types of evaluation methods are appropriate for assessing student learning in nursing courses and clinical practice. This chapter described how to construct two types of test items: true–false and matching exercises, including variations of them. A true false item consists of a statement that the student judges as either true or false.
In some forms, students correct a response or supply a rationale as to why the statement is true or false. True–false items are most effective for recall of facts and specific information but also may be used to test the student’s understanding of an important principle or concept. Matching exercises consist of two parallel columns in which students match terms, phrases, sentences, or numbers from one column to the other.
One column includes a list of premises and the other column, from which the selection is made, contains the responses. The student identifies pairs based on the principle specified in the directions. Matching exercises lend themselves to testing categories, classifications, groupings, definitions, and other facts. As with true–false, they are most appropriate for testing recall of specific information.
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