Essay Questions Essay items, like short-answer, are constructed-response questions. However, essay answers are typically much longer than those of short-answer, ranging from a few paragraphs to several pages. Advantages: Essay questions are the only question type that can effectively assess all six levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy. They allow students to express their thoughts and opinions in writing, granting a clearer picture of the level of student understanding. Finally, as open-ended questions, they assess recall over recognition. Disadvantages: There are two main disadvantages to essay questions: time requirements and grading consistency. Essays are time-consuming for students to complete, and require careful instructions on the part of the test writer. Scoring can be difficult because of the variety of answers, as well as the “halo effect” (students rewarded for strong writing skills as opposed to demonstrated mastery of the content). Most appropriate for: Assessment that cannot be accomplished with other question types. Because essays are the only question types that can effectively assess the highest levels of student mastery, they are the only option if the goal of testing is the assessment of synthesis and evaluation levels. Bloom’s Levels: Knowledge Comprehension Application Analysis Synthesis Evaluation