There was no preset goal as to the number of items the panels should generate; however,
there were several factors that limited the amount of time spent on item writing. During the
workshop it became apparent that most of the participating teachers had little experience in
designing multiple-choice tests. They seemed to prefer more open-ended examinations, which
they indicated, were easier to construct. Extension agents attending reported that they had never
designed a test nor written a test question. This challenge demanded detailed instruction on how
to properly construct a criterion-referenced, multiple-choice test item. Therefore, the
instructional period took longer than expected and included many questions from the
participants. However, once properly instructed on the criterion-referenced approach to
generating items, the participants displayed a higher comfort level developing questions.