Alignment of Statistics Course using Examination Items

Examination items are useful instruments not only to measure student's achievement but also to improvise the process of teaching and learning. There are two important questions regarding examination items. First, how far the instrument that has been developed can reflect the true content of the subject being taught? Secondly, can it measure the multi dimensional facets which reflect student's cognitive ability? This paper examines these two questions by taking an in depth look at the examination items of TTTR1713, Probability and Statistics course in Faculty of Information Science and Technology for 2010/2011 sessions. The course alignment is carried out by building the content matrix to be able to look at the relationship between the precise topic revealed in the item and cognitive capability dimension in Bloom taxonomy. The mapping of this matrix is carried out by the inclusion of the score to every cell using the four point scale. The comparison of mapping is done based on the examination items and the emphasis of teaching which acts as the benchmarking standard. As a result, the pattern of mapping using examination items and teaching practice is matching while the level of students’ cognitive ability being measured varies and the examination emphasis pattern is similar with that being carried out in the classroom.