Applying your tests

We hope you enjoyed designing your own little test at the end of last week. Just trying it out yourself does not ensure though, that it will bring the expected answers you are hoping for. So at the end of this week, we would like you to pilot your test.

Let’s recall how to do that:

• Run the test in a small group.
• Check that the length does not exhaust the participants. If so, shorten it.
• Correct the setup, if necessary.
• Throw out the items that did not meet the criteria (e.g. the 4 second rule).
• Only keep those items on the list, that pass the test in 90% of the cases.

Not all of this will apply to you, but we would like you to do the following:

1. After receiving feedback from your peers, rethink your item selection and remove, if necessary, items you do not trust anymore.

2. Creating your test set by:
   + Print out the items so that they are about 10×15 cm (A6 size) big. You can find them again at the very bottom of this page under Downloads -> 16 items to print. + Cut them into separate item cards. + Write the lead-in phrase on each item, leaving out the target noun or verb. For instance:

3. Now pilot your test in 3 participants. They can be family members, colleagues, friends. + Put your phone next to you. Use the stopwatch and the recording on your phone. + Give clear instructions to the participant: “name the picture by completing the sentence on it as accurately and fast as possible. + Try to record and time the answers.

4. After you are done, you can listen to the recording and note the answer.

5. Now check your items again.
   + Which of them could not be named at all? + Which could not be named in the given time? + Which elicited too many different answers?

6. Compile a document with the original item list and the remaining ones after testing.

Feel free to report on your finding in the discussion section! We are very interested in how this practical session worked out for each of you and how reliable your item selection turned out to be!