Most of my tests are multiple choice or matching. I also go back over test questions in a review, to make sure the students are understanding the content.
Hi Lisa, Thanks for your post to the forum. You shared a great summary of what we should consider when designing/choosing assessments. Best wishes for continued success in your teaching career.
Susan Polick
A good way to determine the best format for testing is to look at the content and objective. what is it that I want my students to learn? What information do I want them to take away from the course? Once I figure that out I can look at the different formats and pros and cons of each. Picking the best format for testing may not always be the easiest to creat or the easiest to grade but what is the best for student learning.
When writing a test I will use multiple formats to determine how students demonstrate thier knowledge.
Useing multiple choice questions seems to work well or our course. The questions are written so the students have to process the information to come up with the answer, so multiple choice shows us if their processing was partial or complete depending on their answers
I choose a multiple choice format because it assesses a wide range of content material.
First writing a good test question is important. The suggestion of jotting down a few questions right after lecture is a great suggestion. To determine what type of test format to use I can usally tell by after lecturing a few times and seeing how the students learn.
Hi Travis, From your description, you are certainly using a comprehensive approach to assessment! Best wishes for continued success in your teaching career.
Susan Polick
Hi Amy , That is a very methodical approach to assessment for a very complicated course. Thanks for sharing!
Susan Polick
I prefer constant student feedback and instructor input to determine the output. We use every style from multiple choice to essay to research style papers. The culmination of this is touch all aspects in order to enure that we have reached every student and attempted to capture this through multiple methods.
I use multiple choice and typically I design the test before I even begin lecturing the material. I make lecture notes and design a student study guide and exam from that. If students utilize their study guides well, they typically can do very well on tests.
For a class I teach in terminology, I have students create their own words and translate them by combining individual word parts from a list that gives them a couple more terminology choices than must be used. Not only does this require that they know each word part, but that they successfully spell the final word, use proper grammar in doing so, and synthesize a new word that is of their own creation.
Writing questions before a lesson helps me to insure that I cover the material I intended to cover.
I strive to go over material on essential techniques in evaluating patient care.
Sophia, Absolutely, we always need to review our assesments on a regular basis.
Best wishes for continued success in your teaching career. Susan
Susan Polick
Don,
I agree that multiple choice questions can be used in such a way that in order to answer the question the student must not just be able to memorize but understand related material. Furthermore, I agree that it is important that instructors go back & re-visit questions that the students across the board are are experiencing problems with. is it because of how the material was presented / interpreted or is it the way that the question is worded?
Hi Gretchen, Thanks for your post to the forum. Those critical thinking skills are so important in any career! Best wishes for continued success in your teaching career. Susan
Susan Polick
Hi Tim, Thanks for your post to the forum. You are using a good mix of assessments. Best wishes for continued success in your teaching career. Susan
Susan Polick
After I grade the test, I go over the answers with the students. They are usually vocal if a question was fair or not based on the lectures. I use tests in my class as a way encourage students to take notes, since they are open note tests, and to help them to become efficient in finding the correct information that asked. I set up the tests this way because I am a gen ed course at a career college. Students will not be required to have the content from my class committed to memory to do well in their careers but they will have to know how to find answer questions and find the correct information.
I use multiple choice questions for weekly quizzes and the Final Exam. Each week we grade the quizzes in class so I get immediate feedback from the students. I do listen to the students (if they complain about a question) and I review the overall class grades for significant deviations from the normal scores. For the final exam I generally use very similar questions as I did for the Final. The Final Exam scores are usually good, so I've interpreted that to mean students are learning the material and the test format adequately reflects that learning.
I usually use a standard type test in the begining of my course and see how the students test scores are reflected by that type of test and the skills application. If they majority of them do well with that type of test and they reflect that by their knowledge in the skills assesment, then I stick with it. If they do not then I change up my testing styles to see what will work best for that group of students.
