I like take home mid-terms because I feel it helps the student go through the book and read it thoughly. Often students just use the powerpoints professors put out for them to follow.
I like mulitpy choice as a quiz and then let studene correct the wrong answer by looking up nd explaining why thier answer was wrong and the corect answer is corect. Its tests them on what they know and helps them learn what they do not.I give half credit back for each question corrected with explaination.
I use multiple choice for my exams because that's what the style of testing the students will be taking for their licensure. I use this style to help them be use to this style. I also use matching, true/false, short answer, fill in the blank as well for quizzes. If the students know the information inside and out, it shouldn't matter what type of format the testing.
I agree they give many choices and work better with and work better with learning styles.
Hi Traci, Thanks for your post to the forum. Using assessments that mirror a Certification exam is always a good strategy. Best wishes for continued success in your teaching career.
Susan Polick
I don't use a single testing format but choose from a variety based on the material in question. I believe this addresses a variety of learning/testing styles and is not single tracked.
I prefer to develop my test during my instruction of the material that I will be testing on. When I am asking question to the class as we review the material we are covering, I take notes on what types of questions the students seem to understand and can accurately answer to demonstrate what they have learned.
I generally use multiple choice for the majority of my question dealing with objective information. I do find that students tend to do better with short answer when the topics are more abstract in nature.
Many times I use a standardized multiple choice test for students throughout the course. Many of my quizzes are short answer or essay to check their critical thinking and ability to actually understand the information being covered.
We are a standardized school in which we have exams already made up for us to give. We use mainly multiple choice due to the fact that we are getting our students ready to take the Medical Assisting Certification Exam and that is a multiple choice Exam. I find the multiple choice exams seem to be the best option, especially for students whom have difficulty taking exams.
Hi Shirley, Actually I would expect that sentence completion would be more difficult than multiple choice. Best wishes for continued success in your teaching career.
Susan Polick
A nice balance between a variety of testing is a good choice.
When writing tests I first think about the difficulty of the subject matter. The easier the subject matter is, the more likely I am to choose free-response questions. If there is a lot of material to be tested on and it is really difficult material to begin with, I am more likely to choose multiple choice. I almost never have true-false, and occasionally use matching to simplify tougher material. I always like to have at least a few essay questions to really test the knoweldge of my students.
I was using just multiple choice on testsbut decided to use sentence completion and T/F on the last test. The majority of students did not do well. I will have to analyze the test and revisit the material or make modifications to the test.
I like to use short answer tests because students need to understand the concepts to answer the questions. I give partial credit if they can only partially answer the question. The problem with using this type exam, is that it takes longer to grade and evaluate their answer. As the instructor, I need to grade the test, and cannot have someone else, or a machine, evaluate the answer.
I always vary test format on the exam. Short answer and essay are included to determine true understanding and application of the material.
I look at what was covered, how it was covered, and how I can determine if they've mastered it. Sometimes I look for the final answer, other times I am more interested in the process.
Hi JoAnn, It can be a good idea to tailor assessments as you mention, as long as are assessing the competencies we are expecting.
Susan Polick
I determine the type of test with the students I have. I see what ability they have and create the test from that. Every one learn and test differently.
I will use true/false questions on a weekly quiz format, but will use essay questions for tests which cover more material and have heavier weighting.
In my field I need to use a wide variety of tests. For classroom tests I use a lot of T/F and multiple choice to test students on content. We also have labs that I need to have students demonstrate their ability to take what they have learned in class and use them in actual real life applications.
