Selecting testing formats
What are the criteria you use for selecting testing formats?
Hi Vaughan, If you really feel there are problems with the standardized assessments, I think it is important that you discuss this with your supervisors. Susan
Susan Polick
As a new instructor is it wrong to want to change the standardized tests that are already in place?
Hi Larry, Thanks for your post to the forum. I am glad that you got some ideas on additional asessment choices. Best wishes for continued success in your teaching career. Susan
Susan Polick
Trying to incorporate as many formats as possible. incorporating multiple choice, fill in the blanks, open format questions allows you to evaluate better than using only one system.
Multiple choice questions and allow the student to identify the answer. Completion allows them to ellaborate more on information covered. This gives me more insight as to where each student is in class. This did however enlighten me to more thinking of short answer and essays.
As others have stated it all depends on the courses at our institution. Pre and Post test are developed by course directors to determine the success of the course. This test includes multiple choice, fill in the blank, T/F and matching and has been an effective asssesment.
We also use a newly designed standard test to determine the critical thinking ability of our students which also has proven to be effective to increase the understanding of critical thinking and how how students can improve in it.
Hi Mabel, You are definitely using a comprehensive asessment strategy! Best wishes for continued success in your teaching career., Susan
Susan Polick
I pull most of my tests from publisher TEST BANKS, and modify according to student population & skills. I try to use a combination on every test: matching, T/F, completing, matching, and short answers. I find that by using various forms, the students get better grades. I am not a huge fan of T/F questions, but I feel a few are appropriate.
If the class is "hand-on", then obviously I need to provide the lab time to assess clinical skills.
it depends on what you are teaching and what results you want to find out form the class. Did they learn from you? Did they retain the information or just memorize it an so on
Hi Johan, that is a good assessment strategy. Susan
Susan Polick
That truly depends on the subject that I am teaching and the information that is required for the students to be tested on. If I am in a Lab setting then I will be using skill based testing. if I am testing on a lecture I have done then I will probably use T/F and multiple choice.
I give a quiz early on at the start of the course that contains a mix of several types of questions: short-answer, true/false, completion, and multiple-choice. I then evaluate the question types the majority of students had a problem with and modify future tests accordingly.
Since I teach online, I the tests are already made up by the school and are multiple choice timed tests.
I usually would take the time to use a wide variety of formats to keep the students thinking independently.
Hi Terry, It's really good to continuously reassess our assessment choices. Susan
Susan Polick
I now see that you don't need to test the same way for different subjects. I use multiple choice and true and false for Finance class and I have not been satisfied with the process. While an essay is too much, the completion method may work better. Also, I have used standardized tests and this is pushing me to step outside the box.
Hi Jose, Thanks for your post to the forum. In my opinion, what you describe is an ideal mix of assessment types! Best wishes for continued success in your teaching career. Susan
Susan Polick
Hi Richard, That's a great suggestion for those of us who must primarily use standardized testing. Susan
Susan Polick
Selecting testing format is very important and one of the most challenging part of being an instructor. For an instructor it is important to measure the knowledge and skills students have acquired during the semester. Although depend of the class, in some courses I use a test bank provided by the publisher to make an exam with a blend of true/false, multiple-choice and small essay questions to measure different levels of students’ knowledge. Some students complain about the difficulty of the test but after doing a couple of test everyone do fine.
