The criteria I use for selecting testing formats relate to the content that I am teaching. If trying to help students understand vocabulary used in a text, I may have the test be a mix of identifying the definition and applying the terms to sentences. However, if the content involves analyzing (theme of novel, conflicts faced by the protagonist, et cetera), then I move to short answer and/or longer essay formats.
I use many formats for testing and assessing of students and it can be tricky at times. My selections of testing formats is determined by what is intented for the student to learn.
Foundational criteria, key terms, and a synthesis of both foundational and key terms are used for an short answer component.
Hi Jean, Thanks for your post to the forum. You are wise to use frequent quizzes to check for understanding. This is a important strategy that can guide future instruction. Best wishes for continued success in your teaching career.
Susan Polick
It really depends on the content of material and what class I am teaching. Some classes and material lend itself to standardized testing, but there are times that a more in-depth knowledge is needed to demonstrate a deeper grasp of the material so a completion or essay exam would be a better choice. I use more less-weighted quizzes during a course to check understanding of material. If many of the students do poorly on a certain quiz, I can be sure that the material wasn't disseminatedb well enough and that will allow me to go back over that part of the course prior to the student taking a heavily weighted exam. It gives the students a boost of confidence that they have the knowledge to complete the more heavily weighted exam.
I try to assess my students depending on the content area that I will be teaching. Teaching in a content area such as how to install solar panels I prefer to assess their learning by asking them to successfully complete a solar installation. When I am teaching students about how to design a solar system, that assessment requires a very different set of criteria for determining their understanding of the concepts.
Hi Carrie, Thanks for your post to the forum. I agree that when there is a licensure exam at stake, we need to have our assessments mirror that format whenever possible. Best wishes for continued success in your teaching career.
Susan Polick
We select are testing formats so that they coincide with our state law testing.
This makes the student more assured and ready for there state test.
We are required to use standardized testing in order to prepare for state boards. However we do use skills performance in our lab and then in the clinical setting.
Hi James, Thanks for your post to the forum. That is a very practical approach to choosing assessments!
Susan Polick
I am new to teaching but what I like to do right now is to see how much the students join in in class discussions and how they do on the homework and then decide what kind of test is needed.
i also like kinesthetic axam because students apply what the have learn and prove theme self that they laern something and they put it in practice
Multiple choice & matching.Also Labelling Diagrams
I personally am a visual learner, but I have encountered many students who are exactly the opposite of me, and therefore have to make sure to accommodate all learning styles, written, visual and kinesthetic. at the end of the day it makes me stronger as well as my students.
I will simply ask the students and take that into consideration as well as how they learn and what the purpose of the class is to develop, whether intellectual knowledge, dmonstrational knowledge, or more practical knowledge.
I teach dental hygiene in the clinic so I prefer an evaluation of techinical skills.
Hi Daniel, Thanks for your post to the forum. You are using a very comprehensive approach to assessment! Best wishes for continued success in your teaching career.
Susan Polick
unfortunately it seems that every one of our multiple choice tests seems to kind of "break the rules" as far as what I learned in this lesson
Mike
The criteria that I use for selecting testing formats is the material that has been covered in the classroom. This is the reason I will have a large variety of types of tests on the same exam. I have been known to put True/False, Multiple Choice, Completion, and Essays all on the same exam; usually a final exam.
These formats not only allow me to see how students are learning, but also allow students to show me what style of testing best suits them.
Daniel Hassler
I try to put a little of everything into my tests. Some students are stronger with one type of test whereas other students are stronger with other types of tests.
