What happens: Learner
- Hears and reads instructions
- Interprets the question
- Recalls relevant information
- Prepares a response according to the verbal directive,
either mentally or written, either outlined or "mapped",
- Writes response
- Reviews and edits if time permits
Essay tests can evaluate more complex cognitive or thinking skills
assuming that rote memory and recall tasks are assessed more appropriately
through objectives tests as true-false and multiple choice questions. These
cognitive challenges are reflected in the verbs of the questions themselves, from
simple to complex (c.f. lists of verbs in objects...)
- Knowledge: recall, define, arrange, list, label, identify, match,
reproduce
- Comprehension: describe, explain, recognize, restate, review,
translate, classify; give examples; (re)state in own words
- Application: apply, illustrate, interpret, operate, solve, predict,
utilize
- Analysis: analyze, compare, contrast, distinguish, examine,
experiment, diagram; outline
- Synthesis: design, develop, formulate, propose, construct, create,
reorganize, integrate, model, incorporate, plan
- Evaluation: evaluate, argue, assess, compare, contrast,
conclude, defend, judge, support, interpret, justify
(for a complete listing of verbs in these categories, see ....)
Advantages:
- Require students to demonstrate critical thinking
in organizing and producing an answer beyond rote recall and memory
- Empower students to demonstrate their knowledge
within broad limits beyond the restraint of objective tests (true false,
multiple choice)
- Allows learners to demonstrate originality and creativity
- Reduces preparation time in developing,
as well as distributing, a test, especially for small number of students
- Presents more possibilities for diagnosis
Disadvantages:
- Grading is often subjective and not consistent, colored by
preconceptions of student, prior performance, time of day, neatness and
handwriting, spelling and grammar, and where the actual test falls in
- Can be a limited sampling of content
- Good writing requires time to think,
organize, write and revise
- Time consuming to correct
- Advantageous for students with good writing and verbal skills
as opposed to those who have alternative learning styles (visual and
kinesthetic)
- Essay questions are not always properly developed
to assess higher thinking skills (often only test for recall and style)
- Advantageous for students who are quick,
as opposed to those who take time to develop an argument or may suffer
from writers block
Mechanics:
- Clearly state questions
not only to make essay tests easier for students to answer,
but also to make the responses easier to evaluate
- Include a relatively larger number of questions
requiring shorter answers in order to cover more content
- Guard against having too many test items
for the time allowed
- Indicate an appropriate response length
for each question
- Set time limits if necessary
- Note graded weights to questions
Ideal test items:
- Integrate course objectives into the essay items
- Specify and define what mental process you want the students to perform
(e.g., analyze, synthesize, compare, contrast, etc.).
Does not assume learner is practiced with the process
- Start questions with an active verb
such as "compare", "contrast", "explain why";
Offer definitions of the active verb, and even practice beforehand.
- Avoid writing essay questions that require factual knowledge,
as those beginning questions with interrogative pronouns
(who, when, why, where)
- Avoid vague, ambiguous, or non-specific verbs
(consider, examine, discuss, explain)
unless you include specific instructions in developing responses
- Have each student answer all the questions
Do not offer options for questions
- Structure the question to minimize subjective interpretations
Directions:
- Present the assignment both verbally and in writing.
The initial oral plus written presentation to promote and inspire thought;
written for reference within the test
- Provide evaluation criteria
- Focus on the mental activity to avoid rote answers,
and/or repeating examples from the text
- Teach students how to write an essay (test)
explaining definitions of cognitive verbs
- Teach the difference
between presenting a position as opposed to presenting an opinion
- Define requirements clearly
State the number of points each question is worth
- Warn students of possible pitfalls
especially if you have strong ideas of what you do and do not want
- Inform the students about how you evaluate
misspelled words, neatness, handwriting, grammar, irrelevant material
(bluffing)
Correcting:
- Develop a model answer
that contains all necessary points
- Note additional content for extra points
- Conceal or ignore students' names in the correcting process
- Read through the answers to one test item at a time
without interruption
- Sequence best through worst responses
for verification if time permits
- Write comments on the students’ answers,
both affirming and correcting
- Do not give credit for irrelevant material
- Mix or shuffle papers to vary subject's location
before assessing the next test item
See also:
Essay terms and
directives
Constructing an Essay Prompt Bank Using the Partial
Credit Model, Steven Ferrara & Leslie Walker-Bartnick, Maryland State Department
of Education,
http://marces.org/mdarch/pdf%5CM013027.pdf
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