I have large classes so I use objective evaluations. I get these graded quickly and returned to student shortly after taking the assessment. I wish I could use subjective evaluation in my larger classes, but it takes me too long to grade them.
In my smaller classes, I use subjective evaluations because it assesses whether the student has grasped the concept. In small classes I can grade it and give it back shortly after the students take the exam. I get a better feel of what the students know in this type of evaluation.
Yes, Nicole, I agree with you. Subjective assessment give the students the chance to relate their knowledge and comprehension from their own perspective. Of course rubric is needed.
Coradi
I have used subjective evaluations in my course. They work well if thorough instructions are provided. Students should have an understanding of what they will be graded on. For instance, if points will be provided for grammar in an essay, it should be communicated in advance so students will be aware.
I do not like to use objective evaluations in online learning because they promote guessing especially if the test item is poorly written. For online and my online classes, I prefer to have students develop essays based on simulated issues, problem or actions that assess learning and to allow students to apply learning to the “real world.†Essays also help me provide students with constructive and detailed feedback more than asking them to match items or answer true and false.
I use open ended, subjective evaluations as this causes the students to have to think and apply what they have learned, not simply regurgitate a set of answers.
I teach online humanities courses for Ultimate Medical Academy, and my objective and subjective evaluations are clearly divided.
In terms of objective evaluations, the students are required to take five tests, one per each week of the course. I do not prepare the questions or grade the tests, and the tests are objective in that the same set of questions is asked to each student, and the questions are based upon the weekly reading materials.
In terms of subjective evaluations, the students are required to write five assessment essays, one per each week of the course. I use a rubric to gauge the level of completion for content,organization, following the instructions, grammar, and mechanics. Although the level of completion is up to my own individual evaluation, I try to maintain the same standard for grading from assignment to assignment. For example, I consider a typical fully developed paragraph to be a minimum of 4-5 interconnected sentences in length. I think that a grading criteria, supported by a rubric, can help ensure that students receive the fairest grades possible from the instructor.
I use both in my courses.
I find it very important to ensure that my students are able to respond to open-ended questions in appropriate format. For example, how is their grammar? Did they understand the assignment? Do they understand APA formatting? These types of assessments cannot be completed using objective evaluations.
However, objective evaluations show me where there is an information gap. Often I review the statistics of the objective evaluation to determine where I need more focus or change my presentation.
Cecil,
when I compare the lack of knowledge of my graduate students that are not capable of finding the plural of company, and write companys, whereas at the same time, my granddaughter age 10 practices with me
butterfly butterflies and the rest of the words that end in ly, what can I say?
Dr. Kelly,
Surely you (and Jack) are not serious about using SMS rules for writing a formal paper?
Jack,
Do you think it is time to get "back to basics" and reintroduce the public education systems of the '40s and '50s? Those people who actually graduated from high school during those times knew all of the rules of grammar!
I’ve been teaching at my school for over three years and have only used subjective evaluations because objective evaluations have not been built into my curriculum. Therefore based on my experience I have found that subjective evaluations are wonderful for measuring students’ knowledge. I would however like to use both objective and subjective evaluations as it seems to me it could provide a better rounded evaluation of the student during the entire course.
I have used both objective and subjective (and perhaps combinations of them) for evaluating students in mathematics courses, depending on the course level and course objectives. Evaluations can be developed that determine the students’ knowledge of the processes of mathematics (more likely objective evaluations) and also evaluates the students’ abilities to apply those processes to more complex authentic problem solving (more likely subjective evaluations). A student may be able to factor quadratic expressions with ease, but in order to get benefit from knowing the procedures of factoring, the student must also know how and where to apply those procedures to solve problems that may naturally arise as quadratics.
I find this comment interesting,
"...when teaching statistics the objective results are whether the final mathematical answers are right or wrong..."
I have taught statistics several times, and find that there often is more than one way to accomplish a desired result in an analysis - more than one test might be appropriate. Selection of the correct test is one facet to evaluate. Whether the computations are correct is another. But in statistics for the behavioral sciences, the number arrived at is less important than the interpretation of the result. Perhaps in other statistics domains there is more objectivity, but in social sciences there is very little objectivity and very much subjectivity.
My university does not use objective evaluations, per se. Students write papers that require both reiteration of concepts and application of them. In the assessment and evaluation process, I assess both the grasp of the concepts and their application, providing both formative and summative feedback.
A rubric is a useful tool for reducing the subjectivity of these assessments/evaluations. This is particularly useful with respect to the grasp of concepts, as well as with whether the student did all of the required elements of the assignment. Nevertheless, ultimately, in this format, the final evaluation of each point on the rubric must be subjective.
Thomas,
You make a GREAT point. It is important to let students know WHY they did so poorly. I find that that is the hardest thing to do is to get students to look at the test not just the grade!
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Laura,
So, you use objective evaluations as part of your formative assessments, that is a perfect use of it, particularly if you are using a LMS, you can create quick evaluations that grade themselves.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Marie
I too use both types of question. I also use projects that measure specific objectives also.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Nate,
I agree with you! You need to use the question that best measures the objective! Great answer.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Tammy,
Good point. You have multiple measures for your questions.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Emry,
True! I think you need to choose the type of question that best measures the objective, and give you an adequate snapshot of student knowledge.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
