In my particular field (Accounting) the testing must demonstrate mastery of the concepts and skills taught. I use test results to evaluate both the student and myself, the instructor.
Yes it does, I have also found that it takes many different eyes on the test. If you allow many people to proof read and actually take the test you will find more issues students may have with the test
I am fairly new at teaching and my tests have been created for me. I find it difficult sometimes as I have to be sure that I am covering material that is being questioned on the test. The course involves a great deal of memorization on the student's part so repetition is very important. I am trying to test my students' knowledge by asking questions using powerpoint presentations daily. By doing this I have some idea of how much they are absorbing before I give them a true test. I am trying to focus in on some of the different learning styles. I appreciate the sharing of experiences in these forums.
In the past, I have had trouble with test bank, multiple choice, questions having more than one correct answer if the question is just slightly misinterpreted.
In certain skills classes we have computer graded materials. For instance, our keyboarding program times and grades all exercises. However, the instructor has the option of choosing both the grading parameters and the exercises which can be eliminated from the grading process. For those students with physical disabilities, this seems only fair. Business English, however, requires subjective grading, but the basic requirements of grammar define even that area of grading. While a research paper may not be an inspired example of critical thinking skills, if its grammatical framework is essentially correct, it is difficult to fault the student who has not yet developed a thinking style to match what an instructor wants in a research document. Some testing--if writing skills are tests--simply have to remain subjective.
You're right Barbara- often it depends on what you are assessing. If it is a skill or procedure that may be complicated or a concept/theory equally so, it makes sense to give the students the opportunity to present all that they know.
I have come to use a combination of testing formats (multiple choice, completion, matching and essay).
I have found that the essay can be feast or famine among students. If they are truly knowledgable about the materials, that's fine; but sometimes students will elongate their essay responses and it just makes things worse. On the other hand, students have written excellent responses in describing a process or procedure whereas limiting to a multiple choice or short answer stymies them.
When testing my students I have used matching test and multiple choice for information that they need to recognize to perform their skills that they are learning from me. I also use some True and false questions and after going thru this topic I need to restructure this area. I do use completion questions and find this area easier to create.
For quizzes I have the students take the quiz with a green pen that I pass out at the beginning of the class and when they are done with the quiz I have the student raise the pen and I'll exchange it for a red color pen and when everyone is done we correct the quiz together. That way they get an immediate response and feedback. The Final Exam I'll correct and return the next day. The final exam is taken from the quizzes that are rearranged.
That seems to be a very effective process. The bottom line is "Can the student demonstrate the competencies that the course was designed to teach?"
Assessing the knowledge and skills of students is a task that requires careful planning
I prefer to assess actual performance with my students. Some students are able to manipulate machines, but have great difficulty remembering names and exact functions of the buttons. In the real world, the recording client will not care what the name of the button on the upper right corner is, as long as you know how to make their project sound professional. So, I usually give my students a project to complete for their final exam, in lieu of a paper final.
You are right Angela- I know that once you start figuring out what your students' learning styles are and adjusting your instruction to accomodate you will see a great improvement in their sucess.
Well, I have not had to make test but I have given them. They are usually the multiple choice tests. I would have to say that half of them did well but the other half still had trouble. But now that I have a better understanding on teaching with different teaching methods, I think that I will be able to help them more.
I like to think of skill as "applied knowledge". I worked for a college that had engineering technology programs and can recall employers saying that they preferred our grads because they knew how to apply the theoretical knowledge they had gained.
In our line knowledge is important but skills is what gets you the job, so we put more emphasis on those tests.
In photography I prefer essay tests over multiple choice or T&F to find out if my stutents have grasped the info I have covered in the classroom. Essay tests give my students a chance to express their knowledge and opinions about a photographer or time period.
Lee, I'm not sure why you are asking the question. I think that the discussion of this topic so far has been in agreement that using multi-formats in testing is the way to go.
Can someone explain why a multi formatted test is off base? I just must be missing something here.
Are your students made aware of the rubrics that you use? Are your students traditional age for the most part or do you have many adult students?
We follow the constructivist approach of learning and we only allow our professors to give only one exam. The rest of the assessment used to assess students' learning is based on alternative assessments. We assess our students based on groups discussions, projects, problem solving and rubrics that we have created that accompany each of our modules so it is really easy for our professors to use.
