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Writing Effective Test Questions
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Do You Want the Long Answer or the Short Answer?
Some thoughts on creating test questions that require a written response.
Paul Hagood
LBCC English Dept.
(Return to Tips and Techniques)
How do we know if students have learned what we want them to learn?
Testing thinking and problem-solving skills vs. testing knowledge
The first step is being clear what it is we want them to learn. Do we want them to memorize knowledge? Use knowledge to solve problems? Use knowledge to analyze what's going on in a broken machine, in a painting, in a math problem, in a story? Evaluate something using knowledge they've learned?
Often you'll find that you want your students to learn two things: raw knowledge, and how to use that knowledge in various higher-level thinking situations. You want them to know, to comprehend what they know, to apply their knowledge, to analyze things using their knowledge, to evaluate things, and to use their knowledge to create new things by synthesis - combining what they've learned with the needs of new situations and the insights of their own intelligence.
This progression of critical-thinking skills was articulated by Benjamin Bloom, who created the widely-used "Bloom's Taxonomy" of higher-level thinking skills.
These skills have been described by many writers, so I'll let you visit the links below to read more about them in some detail. As you read them, you'll see that each stage uses different kinds of verbs to describe the thinking skills used in each stage. These verbs are the key to writing your test questions.
Here are a few questions I might use when I want my students to learn the Hero's Journey (Joseph Campbell's term for a universal pattern of plot elements he finds in stories across cultures):
Knowledge:
Define the stages of the Hero's Journey.
Comprehension:
Discuss the significance of each step in terms of the Hero's growth.
Application:
Illustrate these steps by showing how each on is present in Amy Tan's "A Pair of Tickets."
Analysis:
Compare the journey the narrator takes in this story with another story where you feel the character fails to complete his or her Hero's Journey.
Evaluation:
How would you judge the way she confronted her fears in the climax of this story - do you think she succeeded, or not? Why?
Synthesis:
Design a trip that you could take that would put you into the kind of Hero's Journey that the narrator experiences.
I'm sure you can come up with similar questions for your own field. The point is to be deliberate about what thinking skills you want your students to master as you teach them, and then reflect those goals in the questions you write.
Of course, students must master the knowledge and comprehension level material before moving on to higher level thinking, and you'll want to assess their learning at this level too.
How can you accomplish all this in one test?
Answer One: You can't. You have to spread it out.
I'll often give my students lower-level questions in their homework, and then give them higher-level questions in major tests or papers. This way I maximize both the time they spend doing homework, and the time they have for tests. The reason this works is fairly simple: in order to evaluate something, or work with it to create a synthesis, they have to know it, understand it, be able to use it to analyze something, etc.
Answer Two: You can if you blend the kind of test questions carefully.
Give them a test that combines multiple choice or 1-10 word test questions that check for knowledge, multiple choice test questions that test their critical thinking skills, and short written answers that test the more complex thinking and writing skills they need to master.
Answer Three: Maximize class time - have them write at home.
During the class time you have available for testing, give them multiple choice test questions to test knowledge and critical thinking skills. Then give them a longer critical-thinking writing assignment as a take-home test - just write it in such a way that they couldn't copy an answer off the internet! (See our "Avoiding Plagiarism" link for help doing this.)
Here are some resources that will help get you started:
Bloom's taxonomy:
University of Victoria
Longview College
Creating Multiple-Choice Critical Thinking Test Questions:
University of Oregon Teaching Effectiveness Program:
Creating Effecting Writing Assignments (plus many other topics)
Oregon State's Writing Intensive Curriculum Links page
Consulting Service Available: if you'd like help implementing any of these tips or techniques, Paul Hagood is available by phone (917-4570) and email (hagoodp@ml.linnbenton.edu) for consultation. You might even get email assistance at night or on weekends!
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