PSYCHOMETRIC PROPERTIES OF MULTIPLE-CHOICE TEST ITEMS IN HISTORY SUBJECT FOR ASSESSING STUDENTS IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN NASARAWA STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

The study focused on development and determination of psychometric properties of multiple-choice test items for students in history in secondary schools. Two research questions and one hypothesis were involved in the study It utilized the instrumentation research design and was carried out in Nasarawa State, Nigeria. The population for the study was 248 SSIII history students using three ability groups (36 high, 70 average and 42 low abilities).  There was no sampling because the population was manageable. Sixty (60) multiple-choice test items were developed from the literature reviewed and WAEC history curriculum and used in the study. The test was validated by three experts, two in the Department of History Education, and one from the Department of Measurement and Evaluation, all in the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. The test was used in assessing students in the four secondary schools in the study area. The reliability of the items was determined using test-retest method and Kudder-Richardson (K-R21). This yielded co-efficient of .86 depicting that the instrument is reliable. The Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was utilized to test the hypothesis at 0.05 level of significant. It was found out that the items had difficulty indices of between 0.30 and 0.70. It was therefore recommended that the examination bodies (WAEC and NECO) should adopt the psychometric multiple-choice test items in their examination for certification of students at the secondary school level.