Classification of Test Items Written by Mathematics Pre-Service Teachers

Most teachers assume that asking questions contributes to the effectiveness of their instruction. Because proper questioning techniques are important for the classroom, this study identified the Mathematics pre-service teachers’ classification of test items using the revised Bloom’s Taxonomy (rBT) and the Cunningham’s Levels of Questions (CLQs). It used a group of forty two pre-service Mathematics teachers who were asked to classify each thinking skills in the rBT as to LOT or HOT and then create test items falling under each category of the rBT and CLQ. Results revealed that most of the pre-service teachers have viewed LOT and HOT based on the level of difficulty of the given problem. They found it relatively easier to create test items using the Cunningham’s Levels of Questions, a non-familiar nomenclature for classifying test items, rather than the well-known Bloom’s Taxonomy. Pre-service teachers should be able to identify and classify questions according to their cognitive purposes.