Table Of Specifications

TABLE OF SPECIFICATIONS A table of specification is a plan prepared by a classroom teacher as a basis for test construction, especially a periodic test. It is important that this be carefully prepared because it contributes to the development of the quality test which, per se, is a good instrument for diagnostic and remedial teaching. Through it, the degree of content, as well as skill mastery, can be determined and a balanced test representing varied skills can be achieved. The table of specifications can also provide an assurance that the test will measure representative samples of the instructional objectives and the contents included in the instruction. Preparing the Table of Specification 1. Make the content outline of the subject matter which has been taught after a definite period of time. 2. Determine the objectives, specific knowledge or skills to be tested. 3. Decide the number of test items to be constructed. 4. Find the number of class sessions (or hours) spent for each subject matter, unit, chapter, etc., taught and the total number of class sessions. 5. Find the total number of items for each subject matter.

TT 

NR  TD TR

Where : TT  Total number of items for each topic N R  Number of sessions for the topic TR  Total number of sessions TD  Total number of items desired 6. Distribute the number of test items.

Sample Table of Specifications The following are examples of table of specifications. (a) One-way table of specifications for Elementary Mathematics II, indicating areas of instructions and number class sessions. Number of Number of Test Content Class Items Placement Sessions 1. Subtraction concepts 4 2. Subtraction as the inverse 4 of addition 3. Subtraction without 8 regrouping 4. Subtraction with 5 regrouping 5. Subtraction involving 8 zeros 6. Mental computation 4 through estimation 7. Problem solving 7 Total 40 50 1 – 50 (b) One-way table of specifications in Elementary Agriculture Content 1. Definition of terms 2. Fertilization 2.1 Natural fertilizers 2.2 Commercial fertilizers 2.3 Compost pits 3. Kinds of crops 3.1 Leafy vegetables 3.2 Vine crops 4. Garden characteristics 4.1 Topography 4.2 Fencing 4.3 Water supply Total

Number of Recitation

Number of Items

Test Placement

45

1 – 45

7 3 4 3 5 5 4 3 6 40

(c) Two-way table of specifications in Elementary Agriculture Educational Objectives

No. of Sessions A. Cognitive: Knowledge Comprehension Application Analysis and Synthesis

Disposal of Garden Products

Care and Fertilization

Related Activities

Total

15

10

15

40

Test Placement

11 8 10 9

B. Affective, Change in attitudes, Appreciation of valuing 12 Total 19 12 19 50 1 – 50 (d) Two-way table of specifications in high school Physics, indicating content, number of class sessions, and objectives to be tested Instructional Objectives Content CS T K C Ap An Sy Ev 1. Conversion of units 3 6 2. Speed and velocity 3 6 3. Acceleration 2 4 4. Free falling bodies 1 2 5. Projectile motion 1 2 6. Force 1 2 7. Vector 2 4 8. Work, energy, and 3 6 power 9. Conservation of energy 2 4 10. Conservation of 2 4 momentum Total 20 4 6 8 8 7 7 40 (CS – class sessions or hours, K – knowledge, C – comprehension, Ap – application, An – analysis, Sy – synthesis, Ev – Evaluation, T - total)

(e) Two-way table of specifications for first year Physics, leading to a diploma course in Electrical Engineering SELECTION SUPPLY TYPE ITEMS TYPE ITEMS Number TOPIC of Hours H K C A Total K C A Total a 1. Heat 7 7 10(1) 2. Light 8 8 10(1) 3. Sound 6 6 10(1) 4. Magnetism 7 7 10(1) 5. Electricity 12 12 20(2) 15 15 10 40 15 15 10 20 60(6) Total 40 hours 100  K – knowledge, C – comprehension, Ap – application, HA – higher than application  Selection items may include true – false, multiple – choice, and matching items.  Supply items may either be low – order supply (identification, direct – question, and fill – in – the – blank items), or high – order supply (problem – solving and essay items).  Numbers in parentheses indicate the number of high – order supply questions/items per topic.  Heat – 7+10=17 points or marks; Light – 8+10=18 points; Sound – 6+10=16 points; Magnetism – 7+10=17 points; Electricity – 12+20=32 points. TOTAL = 100 points or marks

Need for a Table Specifications As a teacher, you will often have to set test papers at the end of a unit of instruction or a course. The results from these tests should provide you with enough information about how effective your teaching has been. The test results should also provide your students with information about how well they have achieved the objectives of the course. To be able to provide yourself and your students with this information, your tests must be both valid and reliable. Remember that content validity is one of the important factors to be considered when you construct a test. To achieve content validity in your tests, you must write items which cover or sample: a. the content of your course, and b. the different abilities of your students. You will find, however, that it is very difficult to over all the instructional objectives and all the content of your course in the limited time you have available for testing. What you can do, therefore, is to assign relative weightage or importance, to a sample of particular topics or objectives. Remember that this sample must be representative. To help you determine whether your sample is representative or not, a table of specification (ToS) is used. A table of specification shows how much weightage is given to different topics and for each student’s ability to be tested. Constructing a Table of Specifications The following steps will help you construct a table of specification. The example used here is for first year Physics leading to diploma course in Electrical Engineering. 1. List the topics to be tested and the amount of time spent in teaching each topic. TOPIC Heat Light Sound Magnetism Electricity TOTAL TIME 14 hrs. 16 hrs. 12 hrs. 14 hrs. 24 hrs. 80 hrs.

2. Allocate marks for each topic as a percentage. The number of marks you allocate will be based on (a) the time required to teach each topic, (b) the relevance of topic to learning other topics and/or subjects, and (c) how important each topic is to students’ later activities. As a first step, allocation of marks for each topic as a percentage can be calculated based on the time allocated for each topic with reference to the total time available for the entire subject. These allocations, however, need to be modified based on the consideration of the relevance of individual topic to the learning of other topics/subjects and its importance to activities at a later date. TOPIC

TIME

MARKS ALLOCATION

Heat Light Sound Magnetism Electricity TOTAL

14 hours 16 hours 12 hours 14 hours 24 hours 80 hours

(14/80) × 100=17.5% (16/80) × 100=20.0% (12/80) × 100=15.0% (14/80) × 100=17.5% (24/80) × 100=30.0% 100.0%

MODIFIED ALLOCATIONS 17% 18% 16% 17% 32% 100%

3. Determine the levels of ability necessary for each topic. 4. Allocate percentage marks for different abilities in each topic. ABILITIES TOPIC

Knowledge

Comprehension

Application

Higher than Application

TOTAL

Heat 6% 6% 2% 3% 17% Light 8% 6% 2% 2% 18% Sound 4% 6% 2% 4% 16% Magnetism 6% 4% 4% 3% 17% Electricity 6% 8% 10% 8% 32% Total 30% 30 20% 20% 100% In this example, highest weightage has been given to application (A) and higher than application (HA) abilities in the topic of electricity. This is because in its subsequent years, Electrical Engineering requires students to apply the principles of electricity.

5. Determine the type of test to be given.

7. Determine the marks for each topic, each level, and type of item/question.

Usually, selection type of test items is written for testing students’ knowledge, comprehension, and application. Higher – order abilities are usually tested by supply type questions, such as essay and problem – solving questions. Small sub – sections of supply type questions may also be used to test the related lower abilities, i. e., knowledge, comprehension and application.

A new table of specification can now be prepared which shows the breakdown of actual marks allocated for each topic, level, and type of items/questions.

TOPIC 6. Determine the proportion of marks for selection and supply type items/questions. You might decide that to build sufficient reliability into your test, you will have a ratio of objective terms (selection) and subjective questions (supply) of 40:60. The next step is to decide how many marks are to be allocated to selection type and supply type questions for each ability level. Assume that the total marks for the test is 100. Referring to the table in Step 4, you will realize that 20 marks will be allocated to higher than application (HA) abilities to be tested by supply type questions and 80 marks will be allocated to knowledge (K), comprehension (C), and application (A) abilities to be tested both through selection and supply questions. Remember also that the test should have a proportion of selection: supply as 40:60.

Selection type items Supply type items Total

K, C, A 40 40 80

HA 0 20 20

Total 40 60 100

Out of the total of 100 marks, 60 marks are to be allocated to supply type questions. Out of these 60 marks, 20 marks are for higher – order abilities, and the remaining 40 marks are for abilities up to application level, to be tested by supply type questions. Similarly, out of the 80 marks allocated to abilities up to application level, 40 marks are allocated to the supply type questions; the remaining 40 marks are to be allocated to selection type items for testing abilities up to application level.

Heat Light Sound Magnetism Electricity Total

SELECTION TYPE ITEMS K C A Total 3 3 1 7 4 3 1 8 2 3 1 6 3 2 2 7 3 4 5 12 40

SUPPLY TYPE ITEMS K 3 4 2 3 3

C 3 3 3 2 4

A 1 1 1 2 5

8. Determine the number of items/questions to be included.

HA 3 2 4 3 8

Total 10(1) 10(1) 10(1) 10(1) 20(2) 60