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CHAPTER 8
TESTING
INTRODUCTION
Navy schools use tests to determine whether or not a student has sufficient knowledge or skill
to meet the requirements established by the learning objectives; that is, whether or not the
student has learned the material. The philosophy underlying Navy testing is based on the
achievement of learning objectives. Tests are given to determine if a student can demonstrate,
in some measurable way, achievement of the objectives.
You will fill a critical role in the testing program for the courses you instruct. After
curriculum has been validated, course personnel (primarily instructors) are responsible for the
development of additional versions of tests, development of additional test items, and analysis
of tests and test items.
You will be concerned with two methods of testing; knowledge and performance. Knowledge
tests measure achievement of objectives through the use of test items written at the appropriate
learning level. Performance tests measure skill acquisition by having the student demonstrate
specific behaviors defined by the learning objectives.
This chapter focuses primarily on the
information you will need to develop knowledge test items.
KNOWLEDGE TEST ITEM DEVELOPMENT
The behavior, conditions, and standards specified in the objectives will determine the level of
learning tested. You need to know how students will use this material in the job so that you
can test the material to that level. Navy training uses five levels of learning which are based on,
though not identical to, the learning levels defined in Chapter 7. Definitions and examples of
the five learning levels are as follows:
Recognition. Recognition is the process of verbatim identification of specific terms, facts,
rules, methods, principles, procedures, objects, and the like, presented during training. Students
select from two or more alternatives to identify the information. For example, a test item may
ask the students to identify a particular switch on a piece of equipment by matching its name
to a diagram of the switch. That is a recognition test item if the student has been taught that
specific information during training.
Recall.
Recall is the verbatim remembering of specific terms, facts, rules, methods,
procedures, principles, and the like. To correctly answer a recall test item, students remember
and respond exactly as taught. A recall test item requires students to respond from memory
instead of selecting the response from two or more alternatives.
Listing the steps of a
maintenance procedure and answering a completion question by labeling parts on a diagram are
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