23. Workshop on preparation of Model Achievement Test

[Kerala University English Teacher Educator’s Forum - KUETEF]


Stage 1. Briefing regarding the issues related to preparing Model Achievement Test.

The Secretary initiated a discussion regarding the current practice of SCERT to drop the preparation of Blue Print for question papers for the SSLC examination. Copies of Blue Print of the following examinations were made available for perusal by the participants of the workshop:

1. Sample Blue Print from The English Teacher’s Handbook
2. English : Paper 1: AISLC Examination (Tamilnadu Anglo-Indian schools)
3. English : Paper 2: AISLC Examination ( Tamilnadu Anglo-Indian schools)
4. English Standard XI of SCERT (2006)
5. English Standard XII of SCERT (2006)
6. General English Standard XI (Tamilnadu)
7. Special English Standard IX (Tamilnadu)
8. Communicative English Standard XII (Tamilnadu)

Stage 2: Relevant quotations from a standard reference book on the characteristics of a good test and the reference to preparation and need of Blue Print was presented by the Secretary. This was followed by a discussion regarding the advantages of preparing a Blue Print and the possibility of replacing the Blue Print with an enriched Question-wise Analysis statement which provides all the necessary information that a test marker requires.

During the discussion the following issues were highlighted:

•Teachers in secondary schools in Kerala today employ Constructivist teaching strategies in the classroom.

•The traditional Blue Print is a three-dimensional chart which focuses on Objectives of questions set on Bloom’s Taxonomy, viz; Knowledge, Comprehension etc. and is based on a Behaviourist paradigm. This, the participants insisted ought to be modified.

•After critically examining the sample Blue Prints supplied and familiarizing themselves with the guidelines for the preparation of a good test, the participants felt that the Blue Print should be retained but its form should be modified.

•All the participants unanimously agreed that it is necessary to familiarize novice teacher trainees with the concept of Blue Print of a question paper.

•It was also agreed upon to make use of the Blue Print format prepared during the workshop held in August 2005 in which the Secretary had participated and which was later supplied by SCERT.

[Until the format can be made available for downloading, those members who are interested may contact the Secretary by email for its copy]


Stage 3 : Familiarizing with Mental Processes.

A copy of the list of ten Mental Process published along with the sample question paper by SCERT in 2006 was made available for the participants of the workshop
[The Question paper can be downloaded in pdf format at

http://kmohss.com/english_1set.pdf ]

The ten Mental Process are:

No. 1. retrieves/ recollects/retells information

No. 2. readily makes connections to new information based on past experiences and
formulates initial ideas/concepts.

No. 3 detects similarities and differences.

No. 4. classifies/ categorises/ organizes information appropriately.

No. 5 translates/ transfers knowledge or understanding and applies them in new
situations.

No. 6 establishes cause-effect relationships.

No. 7 makes connections/ relates prior knowledge to new information/
applies reasoning and draws inferences.

No. 8 communicates knowledge/ understanding through different media.

No. 9. imagines/fantasises/designs/predicts based on received information.

No.10. Judges/ appraises/evaluates the merits or demerits of an idea/develops own
solutions to a problem.


Stage 4: Familiarizing with Questions

The participants formed four groups and SSLC Question Papers for English of 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010 was supplied – one for each group. Even as the participants familiarized themselves with the type of questions normally asked for the Public examination, they also tried to identify the Mental Process the students are likely to employ in attempting to answer the questions.

A few findings:

*Many participants found that most questions asked for the Public Examination necessitated the activation of more than one Mental Process.

*The resemblance of Mental Processes to the higher order thinking skills under the Cognitive Domain was pointed out by some members.

*This was one indication that the SCERT guidelines for focusing on thinking skills was nothing but assigning of a new name- ‘Mental Process’, as a backbone for the Constructivist strategies they were trying to propagate.

Stage 5 : Once the participants familiarized themselves with the questions set for the SSLC examination by relating it to a Mental Process, they prepared the following questions based on the first unit of Book 2 of the Standard VIII Course Book.

Questions based on Mental Process No. 1 (retrieves/ recollects/retells information)
[Prepared by Ms. Chitra, Ms Durga & Ms. Rany]


Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions that follow :

It was then the Government agents came into the studio with a loaded gun. They fired twice and the Emperor and the Empress fell dead. The musicians, the dancers and the announcers were asked to get their handicaps back on.

It was then that George and Hazel noticed the blackout on the television set:
‘Have you been crying?’ he asked Hazel.

‘Yes’, she said;

‘What about?’ he asked.

‘I forget’, she said.

‘Forget sad things,’ said George.
‘I always do’, said Hazel.

George wanted to say something. But then there was the sound of a gun in his head.
He winced.

1. What did the Government agents do?
2. ‘He winced’. Who is the ‘he’ referred to ?

* Read the lines from ‘The Bat’ and answer the following questions:

By day the bat is cousin to the mouse.
He likes the attic of an aging house.

His fingers make a hat about his head.
His pulse beat is so slow we think him dead.

He loops in crazy figures half the night
Among the trees that face the corner light.

1. What does the bat do at night?
2. What does the bat like?


Questions based on Mental Process No. 2. (readily makes connections to new information based on past experiences and formulates initial ideas/concepts)
[Prepared by Ms. Chitra, Ms Durga & Ms. Rany]

( Based on the first six paragraphs of ‘Harrison Bergeron’)

1. What would the likely conversation between George and Hazel be when they know about the arrest of their son Harrison? Write it down.

2. Prepare a write-up with captions on your vision of the year 3000.
[Hints :…]

3. Write a short paragraph on Harrison Bergeron’s character making use of the following hints.


Questions based on Mental Process No. 3 ( detects similarities and differences)
[Prepared by Ms. Chitra, Ms Durga & Ms. Rany]

Answer the following questions based on the poem ‘The Bat’

1. Pick out two pairs of rhyming words

2. Contrast the description of the bat in lines 3 and 4 with lines 5 and 6

Questions based on Mental Process No. 4
(classifies/ categorises/ organizes information appropriately)
[Prepared by Ms. Shailaja D & Ms. Anila Chacko]

The following are some events from ‘Harrison Bergeron’ which are given in a jumbled order. Write a paragraph by rearranging them.

1. George and Hazel were watching television.
2. A police photograph of Harrison Bergeron was flashed on the screen.
3. Harrison was a genius and regarded as extremely dangerous.
4. He was held on suspicion of plotting to overthrow the government.
5. His thoughts fled in panic, like bandits from a burglar alarm.

Questions based on Mental Process No. 5 (translates/ transfers knowledge or understanding and applies them in new situations )
[Prepared by Ms. Shailaja D & Ms. Anila Chacko]

Complete the following conversation between astronaut friends:

AS 1 : What a beautiful scene it is ! …………………………….?

AS 2 : Yes, of course. Really it is ………………………

AS 1 : What are the things you wanted to search here?

AS 2 : I just wanted to ……………………………………….

AS 1 : Come here, there’s plenty of ……………………………..

AS 2 : I can’t believe my eyes.

AS 1 : Shall we move on ?

AS 2 : ……………………. Yes.


Questions based on Mental Process No. 6 (establishes cause-effect relationships)
[Prepared by Ms. Shailaja D & Ms. Anila Chacko]
Prepare a short speech of not more than 80 words to be made in your school assembly on the development of science and technology. (Draw on ideas from ‘First Manned Flight To Venus’)

Questions based on Mental Process No. 7 (makes connections/ relates prior knowledge to new information/applies reasoning and draws inferences)
[Prepared by Ms. Raji V.R & Ms. Susan George]


1. What phrase does the poet use to describe sugarcane?

2. Who do you think lives in Venus? How do you perceive them?

3. How does Harrison’s death affect his parents?

4. What does the bat do at night?


Questions based on Mental Process No. 8 (communicates knowledge/ understanding through different media) [Prepared by Ms. Raji V.R & Ms. Susan George]


1. Write a brief description about the bat based on the poem ‘The Bat’

2. Describe the picture that Roethke paints in the lines
“He loops in crazy figures half the night
Among the trees that face the corner light”

3. Write a short poem about an animal or bird that fascinates you.

4. Write a letter that you might have written to your parents explaining your reasons to rebel against the laws of society drawing ideas from ‘Harrison Bergeron’.

5. Describe the appearance of Harrison as you see him in the television studio.


Questions based on Mental Process No. 9 (imagines/fantasises/designs/predicts based on received information) [Prepared by Ms. Raji V.R & Ms. Susan George]


1. Answer the question based on the hints given
Imagine that you are living in the year 2081. Describe how society will have changed by 2081.
[Hints: changes in science and tech-energy sources available- culture- fashion trends-food habits- construction of houses- social mingling]

2. Answer the question based on the hints given
What strikes you the most about the story ‘Harrison Bergeron’ ?
[Hints: Extraordinary genius-powerful satire- ridicules the effect TV can have on viewers- continues to evoke thoughtful responses about equality and individual freedom]

3. Imagine that you have visited a foreign land and you actually witnessed the events described in ‘Harrison Bergeron’. Prepare a newspaper report .

4. Imagine that you are the School Leader. Your school management plans to conduct a seminar on Road Safety. Prepare a notice inviting the public to take part in the seminar.

5. ‘When mice with wings can wear a human face’. Do you find this line from ‘The Bat’ is strange? Why?


Questions based on Mental Process No. 10 (Judges/ appraises/evaluates the merits or demerits of an idea/develops own solutions to a problem)
[Prepared by Ms. Raji V.R & Ms. Susan George]

1. What are your feelings about bats after reading the poem ‘The Bat’?

2. Did you find any fault with Harrison while reading the story ‘Harrison Bergeron’?

3. The poem ‘Sugarfields’ expresses the feeling that one’s identity and personality are shaped by one’s parents and the cultured background of one’s family. Do you agree with it? Why?



It is hoped that this would help both teacher educators and trainees visiting this Blog to get an idea about the kind of questions trainees should prepare for the Achievement Test during the second spell of Practice Teaching. Please post or email your comments to cpteach@rediffmail.com