Constructing tests

Designing tests is an important part of assessing students understanding of course content and
their level of competency in applying what they are learning. Whether you use low-stakes and
frequent evaluations–quizzes–or high-stakes and infrequent evaluations–midterm and final–
careful design will help provide more calibrated results.

 Multiple choice exams

 Essay questions
 Assessing your test

Here are a few general guidelines to help you get started:

 Consider your reasons for testing.

o Will this quiz monitor the students’ progress so that you can adjust the pace of the
course?
o Will ongoing quizzes serve to motivate students?
o Will this final provide data for a grade at the end of the quarter?
o Will this mid-term challenge students to apply concepts learned so far?

The reason(s) for giving a test will help you determine features such as length, format, level of
detail required in answers, and the time frame for returning results to the students.

 Maintain consistency between goals for the course, methods of teaching, and the tests
used to measure achievement of goals. If, for example, class time emphasizes review and
recall of information, then so can the test; if class time emphasizes analysis and synthesis,
then the test can also be designed to demonstrate how well students have learned these
things.

 Use testing methods that are appropriate to learning goals. For example, a multiple
choice test might be useful for demonstrating memory and recall, for example, but it may
require an essay or open-ended problem-solving for students to demonstrate more
independent analysis or synthesis.

 Help Students prepare. Most students will assume that the test is designed to measure
what is most important for them to learn in the course. You can help students prepare for
the test by clarifying course goals as well as reviewing material. This will allow the test
to reinforce what you most want students to learn and retain.

 Use consistent language (in stating goals, in talking in class, and in writing test
questions) to describe expected outcomes. If you want to use words like explain or
discuss, be sure that you use them consistently and that students know what you mean
when you use them.
  Design test items that allow students to show a range of learning. That is, students
who have not fully mastered everything in the course should still be able to demonstrate
how much they have learned.

Multiple choice exams

Multiple choice questions can be difficult to write, especially if you want students to go beyond
recall of information, but the exams are easier to grade than essay or short-answer exams. On the
other hand, multiple choice exams provide less opportunity than essay or short-answer exams for
you to determine how well the students can think about the course content or use the language of
the discipline in responding to questions.

If you decide you want to test mostly recall of information or facts and you need to do so in the
most efficient way, then you should consider using multiple choice tests.

The following ideas may be helpful as you begin to plan for a multiple choice exam:

 Since questions can result in misleading wording and misinterpretation, try to have a
colleague answer your test questions before the students do.

 Be sure that the question is clear within the stem so that students do not have to read the
various options to know what the question is asking.

 Avoid writing items that lead students to choose the right answer for the wrong reasons.
For instance, avoid making the correct alternative the longest or most qualified one, or
the only one that is grammatically appropriate to the stem.

 Try to design items that tap students’ overall understanding of the subject. Although you
may want to include some items that only require recognition, avoid the temptation to
write items that are difficult because they are taken from obscure passages (footnotes, for
instance).

 Consider a formal assessment of your multiple-choice questions with what is known as

an “item analysis” of the test.
For example:
o Which questions proved to be the most difficult?
o Were there questions which most of the students with high grades missed?

This information can help you identify areas in which students need further work, and can also
help you assess the test itself: Were the questions worded clearly? Was the level of difficulty
appropriate? If scores are uniformly high, for example, you may be doing everything right, or
have an unusually good class. On the other hand, your test may not have measured what you
intended it to.
Essay questions

“Essay tests let students display their overall understanding of a topic and demonstrate their
ability to think critically, organize their thoughts, and be creative and original. While essay and
short-answer questions are easier to design than multiple-choice tests, they are more difficult and
time-consuming to score. Moreover, essay tests can suffer from unreliable grading; that is,
grades on the same response may vary from reader to reader or from time to time by the same
reader. For this reason, some faculty prefer short-answer items to essay tests. On the other hand,
essay tests are the best measure of students’ skills in higher-order thinking and written
expression.”
(Barbara Gross Davis, Tools for Teaching, 1993, 272)

When are essay exams appropriate?

 When you are measuring students’ ability to analyze, synthesize, or evaluate

 When you have been teaching at these levels (i.e. writing intensive courses, upper-
division undergraduate seminars, graduate courses) or the content lends it self to more
critical analysis as opposed to recalling information

How do you design essay exams?

 Be specific
 Use words and phrases that alert students to the kind of thinking you expect; for example,
identify, compare, or critique
 Indicate with points (or time limits) the approximate amount of time students should
spend on each question and the level of detail expected in their responses
 Be aware of time; practice taking the exam yourself or ask a colleague to look at the
questions

How do you grade essay exams?

 Develop criteria for appropriate responses to each essay question

 Develop a scoring guide that tell what you are looking for in each response and how
much credit you intend to give for each part of the response
 Read all of the responses to question 1, then all of the responses to question 2, and on
through the exam. This will provide a more holistic view of how the class answered the
individual questions

How do you help students succeed on essay exams?

 Use study questions that ask for the same kind of thinking you expect on exams
  During lecture or discussion emphasize examples of thinking that would be appropriate
on essay exams
 Provide practice exams or sample test questions
 Show examples of successful exam answers

Assessing your test

Regardless of the kind of exams you use, you can assess their effectiveness by asking yourself
some basic questions:

 Did I test for what I thought I was testing for?

If you wanted to know whether students could apply a concept to a new situation, but
mostly asked questions determining whether they could label parts or define terms, then
you tested for recall rather than application.
 Did I test what I taught?
For example, your questions may have tested the students’ understanding of surface
features or procedures, while you had been lecturing on causation or relation–not so
much what the names of the bones of the foot are, but how they work together when we
walk.
 Did I test for what I emphasized in class?
Make sure that you have asked most of the questions about the material you feel is the
most important, especially if you have emphasized it in class. Avoid questions on obscure
material that are weighted the same as questions on crucial material.
 Is the material I tested for really what I wanted students to learn?
For example, if you wanted students to use analytical skills such as the ability to
recognize patterns or draw inferences, but only used true-false questions requiring non-
inferential recall, you might try writing more complex true-false or multiple-choice
questions.

http://www.washington.edu/teaching/constructing-tests/
Preparing tests and exams

We generally think of exams as a way to test students’

comprehension of material taught in class. Exams can, however, serve more than one purpose,
and being aware of why we are testing students and what exactly we want to test can help make
students’ experience of exams – as well as our own – a more useful one. The following tips will
gear you towards issues you should think about during the entire exam process – from planning
to reflection. Remember that some exams can be conducted effectively in a secure online
environment in a proctored computer lab or assigned as paper based or online “take home”
exams.

Before you start preparing an exam

Why are you giving an exam to your students?

 To evaluate and grade students. Exams provide a controlled environment for independent work
and so are often used to verify the state of students’ learning.
 To motivate students to study. Students do tend to open their books more often when an
evaluation is coming up. Exams can be great motivators.
 To add variety to student learning. Exams are a form of learning activity. They can enable
students to see the material from a different perspective. They also provide feedback that
students can then use to improve their understanding.
 To identify faults and correct them. Exams enable both students and instructors to identify
which areas of the material taught are not being understood properly. This allows students to
seek help, and instructors to address areas that may need more attention, thus enabling student
progression and improvement.
 To facilitate students’ choices. Certain options sometimes demand that students obtain high
results in specific courses (for example, one may need high grades in math to enter an
engineering program). The pre-requisites often indicate that the particular option will build on
the knowledge obtained in the course. High / poor grades will indicate whether a student should
pursue an option or not.
 To obtain feedback. You can use exams to evaluate your own teaching. Students’ performance
on the exam will pinpoint areas where you should spend more time or change your current
approach.
 To provide statistics for the course or institution. Institutions often want information on how
students are doing. How many are passing and failing, and what is the average achievement in
class? Exams can provide this information.
  To accredit qualified students. Certain professions demand that students demonstrate the
acquisition of certain skills or knowledge. An exam can provide such proof – for example, the
Uniform Final Examination (UFE) serves this purpose in accounting.

What do you want to assess?

This should be related to your learning outcomes for the course.

 Knowledge or how it is used. You can either directly test knowledge or you can gear exam
questions to test students’ application of material taught in class.
 Process or product. You can test students’ reasoning skills and evaluate the process by focusing
the marks and other feedback on the process they follow to arrive at a solution. Alternatively,
you can evaluate the end product.
 The communication of ideas. You can evaluate students’ communication skills their ability to
express themselves - whether this is by writing a cogent argument, or creating an elegant
mathematical proof.
 Convergent thinking or divergent thinking. You can test your students’ ability to draw a single
conclusion from different inputs (convergent thinking). Or you may alternatively want them to
come up with different possible answers (divergent thinking). Do you expect different answers
from students, or do you expect all of them to provide the same answer?
 Absolute or relative standards. Is student success defined by learning a set amount of material
or demonstrating certain skills, or is student success measured by assessing the amount of
progress the students make over the duration of the course?

How do you decide what to test and how to test it?

The overall exam should be consistent with your learning outcomes for the course. There are a
number of ways to review and prioritize the skills and concepts taught in a course. You could:

 Use the topics list provided in your course outline

 Skim through your lecture notes to find key concepts and methods
 Review chapter headings and subheadings in the assigned readings.

What are the qualities of a good / fair exam?

 A good exam gives all students an equal opportunity to fully demonstrate their learning. With
this in mind, you might reflect on the nature and parameters of your exam. For example, could
the exam be administered as a take-home exam? Two students might know the material equally
well, but one of them might not perform well under the pressure of a timed or in-class testing
situation. In such a case, what is it that you really want to assess: how well each student knows
the material, or how well each performs under pressure? Likewise, it might be appropriate to
allow students to bring memory aids to an exam. Again, what is it that you really want to assess:
their ability to memorize a formula or their ability to use and apply a formula?
 Consistency. If you gave the same exam twice to the same students, they should get a similar
grade each time.
 Validity. Make sure your questions address what you want to evaluate.
  Realistic expectations. Your exam should contain questions that match the average student’s
ability level. It should also be possible to respond to all questions in the time allowed. To check
the exam, ask a teaching assistant to take the test – if they can’t completed it in well under the
time permitted then the exam needs to be revised.
 Uses multiple question types. Different students are better at different types of questions. In
order to allow all students to demonstrate their abilities, exams should include a variety of types
of questions (See the tips sheet “Asking Questions: 6 Types”).
 Offer multiple ways to obtain full marks. Exams can be highly stressful and artificial ways to
demonstrate knowledge. In recognition of this, you may want to provide questions that allow
multiple ways to obtain full marks. For example, ask students to list five of the seven benefits of
multiple-choice questions.
 Free of bias. Your students will differ in many ways including language proficiency, socio-
economic background, physical disabilities, etc. When constructing an exam, you should keep
student differences in mind to watch for ways that the exams could create obstacles for some
students. For example, the use of colloquial language could create difficulties for students for
whom English is a first language, and examples easily understood by North American students
may be inaccessible to international students.
 Redeemable. An exam should not be the sole opportunity to obtain marks. There should be
other opportunities as well. Assignments and midterms allow students to practice answering
your types of questions and adapt to your expectations.
 Demanding. An exam that is too easy does not accurately measure students’ understanding of
the material.
 Transparent marking criteria. Students should know what is expected of them. They should be
able to identify the characteristics of a satisfactory answer and understand the relative
importance of those characteristics. This can be achieved in many ways; you can provide
feedback on assignments, describe your expectations in class, or post model solutions on a
course website.
 Timely. Spread exams out over the semester. Giving two exams one week apart doesn’t give
students adequate time to receive and respond to the feedback provided by the first exam.
When possible, plan the exams to fit logically within the flow of the course material. It might be
helpful to place tests at the end of important learning units rather than simply give a midterm
halfway through the semester.
 Accessible. For students with disabilities, exams must be amenable to adaptive technologies
such as screen-readers or screen magnifiers. Exams that have visual content -- such as charts,
maps, and illustrations -- may need to be rendered by Waterloo's AccessAbility Services into a
format that works for a given student.

After the exam is ready

Prepare a marking scheme or rubric

Preparing a marking scheme ahead of time will allow you to review your questions, to verify that
they are really testing the material you want to test, and to think about possible alternative
answers that might come up.

 Look at what others have done. Chances are that you are not the only person who teaches this
course. Look at how others choose to assign grades.
  Make a marking scheme usable by non-experts. Write a model answer and use this as the basis
for a marking scheme usable by non-experts. This ensures that your teaching assistants and your
students can easily understand your marking scheme. It also allows you to have an external
examiner mark the response, if need be. A rubric can be an effective tool to help you -- or
teaching assistants assess quickly and accurately. Sharing the rubric with your students as they
begin to study for the exam is also a good idea.
 Give consequential marks. Generally, marking schemes should not penalize the same error
repeatedly. If an error is made early but carried through the answer, you should only penalize it
once if the rest of the response is sound.
 Review the marking scheme after the exam. Once the exam has been written, read a few
answers and review your key. You may sometimes find that students have interpreted your
question in a way that is different from what you had intended. Students may come up with
excellent answers that may be slightly outside of what was asked. Consider giving these
students partial marks.
 When marking, make notes on exams. These notes should make it clear why you gave a
particular mark. If exams are returned to the students, your notes will help them understand
their mistakes and correct them. They will also help you should students want to review their
exam long after it has been given, or if they appeal their grade.

Inform students of the purpose and parameters of the exam

Clearly communicate with students about what your goals are for any test or exam. Don't
assume that students know what the pedagogical purpose of the test or exam is. Have a
discussion about your goals and desired outcomes, and help students understand how specific
aspects of the test or exam fit these goals. Be open to making some changes if students have
ideas to offer.

Point out the important sections in course plans, textbooks, and readings to guide test and exam
preparation; where possible, provide multiple samples of tests and exam questions and answers.

Although you might not provide students with exam questions in advance, you should be
prepared to answer questions such as:

 What will the exam cover?

 How much emphasis should I put on the textbook / lectures / etc…?
 What material (if any) am I allowed to bring into the exam room?
 When will I get my mark?
 What happens if, for a good reason, I can’t attend the exam? Do I get to re-write?
 Will I be given the chance to choose the topics on which I do questions?
 Will I be told which criteria I am being assessed on?
 If I disagree politically or philosophically with the marker, will I get poor marks?
 Will allowances be made if English is not my first language?

After your students write the exam

Monitor the quality of your exams

Exams provide you with the opportunity to obtain feedback on student learning, your teaching
methods, and the quality of the exam itself.

 Write impressions on your exam and keep them. During the exam and the marking of the
exam, keep track of which questions seem to be well understood, and which questions were
frequently misunderstood.
 Collect numerical data. If you have machine-scorable exams, you can get statistics on your
questions, such as which questions were missed most often or which distracters were most
often chosen. In other cases you can collect an overview of the marks.
 Get student feedback. You can leave space specifically for feedback on exams, or you can obtain
feedback in class after the exam.

Reflect on the gathered information

Reviewing examination results can help you identify concepts and methods that students are
having difficulty with – questions that were missed – as well as concepts and methods that were
well understood – questions generally successfully answered. Or it may highlight well
constructed or poorlyconstructed exam question. Consider using this information to:

 Change how you teach the remainder of the term

 Check for improvement on specific topics or methods over a term
 Redesign the course or the examination for future classes
 Assess your teaching practice – what is working especially well and what can be improved upon

Sources:
 Brown, S., Race, P., & Smith, B. (1996). 500 Tips on Assessment. London, UK: Kogan Page.
 Brown, S., & Smith, B. (1997). Getting to Grips with Assessment. Birmingham, UK: staff and
Educational Development Association.

https://uwaterloo.ca/centre-for-teaching-excellence/teaching-resources/teaching-tips/developing-
assignments/exams/exam-preparation
Constructing multiple choice tests
What happens: Learner
 Reads an incomplete statement or a question, also called the "stem"
 Reads three to five alternatives, including
the incorrect options, also called the "distractors"
the correct option, also called the "keyed response"
 Marks his or her choice

How to develop:
 Outline the core content that the test will cover
 Identify and prioritize key points, tasks
 Write out a series of stems
(The question format is generally is less ambiguous than the completion format)
 Write keyed responses in a clear, grammatical sentence
that follows the format of the stems
 Develop alternatives or distractors that follow the grammatical style,
are consistent in length, and avoid quoting the content of the course

When/how to use:
 Appropriate for all levels of cognitive ability
 Objective
 Useful for automated scoring
 Useful for item analysis, internal and over time

Ideal test items and stems:

 Use simple, direct language to present direct, core information for analysis, comparison,
evaluation, etc.
(avoid cleverness, trickery, and verbal complexity)
 Include as much of the item as possible in the stem
(avoids repeated information and briefer alternatives)
 Present unique content
Do not build upon other questions
Do not supply answers to other questions
 Avoid negative stems
IF negatives are necessary, they are emphasized with underlined, bolded,
CAPITALIZED, italicized, and/or colored indicators
 Use either the "correct answer" or "best answer" format
Correct answer: key response is clearly right and distractors are clearly wrong
 Best answer: while distractors can be relatively viable, the key response is clearly
demonstrated to fulfill all conditions of the test item. Best answer should avoid "none of
the above," "both a. and e. above," "all of the above," options.
 Avoid "All of the following are true, except . . ."
unless testing for exceptions to rules
 Paraphrase, and do not directly quote, course content to avoid burdening students with
detailed verbal analyses, to maintain focus on differentiating, as well as to avoid
copyright issues
 Qualify significant information at the beginning of the stem:
Background, opinions, etc,: "According to...., ...."
 Do not introduce unfamiliar vocabulary and concepts in the test unless there is a relevant
stated purpose in the test directions

Alternatives:
 Avoid generalizations that are open to interpretation
 Use the number of alternatives appropriate to a test item throughout the test, generally
three to five (no necessity to use a consistent number throughout the test)
 Sequence alternatives in logical or numerical order;
Should there be no order, randomly assign correct answers in the sequence
 List alternatives on separate lines, indent, separate by blank line, use letters vs. numbers
for alternative answers
 Pay attention to grammatical consistency of all alternatives

Keyed (correct) responses

 Vary position in sequence of alternatives

Distractors
 Include common misconceptions as distractors
 Include plausible content or viable cues in each distractor
Consider optional testing formats if distractors are difficult to develop
Avoid meaningless, even humorous distractors
 Re-use key words from the correct alternative to make distractors more viable
 Avoid "All of the above"
One incorrect distractor eliminates it; two correct distractors identify it
 Use "None of the above" as an effective option for factual information (historical dates,
math, etc.) to make a question more challenging
 Do not use with a negative stem since it becomes a double-negative
 Do not use "None of the above" in a "best answer" question

Avoiding cheating:
  Develop a pool of questions
 Generate several optional tests
 Distribute randomly

Types of Multiple-choice questions:

Base questions upon, and preceded by, a statement, image, map, chart, etc.
Can accommodate alternative learning styles

Use the Roman Type for comparisons and contrasts

Test stem includes two options, each preceded by a (Roman) numeral.
Alternatives present optional combinations:

Example:

Which of the following is (are) accurate about...?

I. First option
II. Second option
A. I only
B. II only
C. Both I and II.
D. Neither I nor II.

http://www.studygs.net/teaching/tsttak3a.htm
Constructing true/false tests
What happens: Learner
 Analyzes a statement
 Assesses whether true or false
 Marks an answer

When/how to use:
 Appropriate for all levels of cognitive ability
 Objective
 Efficient in testing recall and comprehension of a broader content area relative to other
testing strategies
 Well suited to test recall, comprehension of simple logic or understanding, as with "if-
then" "causal/because" statements
 Not appropriate to test the ability to read or interpret complex sentences or understand
complex thoughts
 Sufficiently reliable and valid instrument:
Its ability to include the most test items in a time frame increases its reliability.
True false tests are less reliable than multiple choice tests unless relatively more test
items are used
 Useful for automated scoring
 Useful for item analysis, internal and over time

Ideal test items

Critical content should be readily apparent and identified for analysis, avoiding cleverness,
trickery, and verbal complexity

 Use simple, direct language in declarative sentences

 Present the correct part of the statement first,
and vary the truth or falsity of the second part if the statement expresses a relationship
(cause, effect--if, then)
 Statements must be absolute without qualification,
subject to the true/false dichotomy without exceptions
 Every part of a true sentence must be "true"
If any one part of the sentence is false,
the whole sentence is false despite many other true statements.
 Paraphrase, and do not directly quote,
course content to avoid burdening students with detailed verbal analyses, maintain focus
on differentiating, as well as avoid copyright issues
 Include background, qualifications, and context as necesary:
"According to...., ...."
  In developing a question with a qualifier, negative or absolute word,
substitute or experiment with variations to find the best phrase and assessment

Avoid
 Unfamiliar vocabulary and concepts
 Long strings of statements
 Ambiguous statements and generalizations
that are open to interpretation
 Indefinite or subjective terms
that are open to interpretation
"a very large part" "a long time ago" "most"
 Negative words and phrases: they can be confusing
IF negatives are necessary, they are emphasized with underlined, bolded,
CAPITALIZED, italicized, and/or colored indicators
e.g.: "no" "not" "cannot"
Drop the negative and read what remains to test your item
 Absolute words restrict possibilities.
These imply the statement must be true 100% of the time and usually cue a "false"
answer
e.g.: "No" "never" "none" "always" "every" "entirely" "only"
 Relative and qualifying words restrict or open up general statements.
They make modest claims, are more likely to reflect reality, and usually cue a "true"
answer.
e.g. "usually" "often" "seldom" "sometimes" "often" "frequently" "ordinarily" "generally"
 Pay close attention to
negatives, qualifiers, absolutes, and long strings of statements

Variations in answers:
 Base questions upon introductory material,
as graphs, images, descriptions, problems, mediated objects, etc. to
Enhance assessment value
Accommodate and empower those with alternative learning styles
Evoke higher level thinking, analysis, or problem solving
 Add an option to "True" "False" possibility, as "Opinion"
 Ask for an elaboration on the answer, as
"True" "False"
If so, Why?
 Ask for a correction to false statements

Test instructions:
 Before the test, give clear, proactive instructions
on what content is covered,
 level of detail, and what type of questions will be asked:
Encourage comprehension: cause and effect, if/then, sequences,
Avoid memorization
 Detail exactly what must be exactly memorized:
dates, locations, proper names, sequences
 Be consistent in test administration over time
 Have students indicate their answers by circling
complete words of "true" "false" (not "t" "f")
Do not have students write their response of t/f or true/false to (avoids
distinguishing/problems of hand writing and sloppiness)
Avoid plus or minus signs "+" of "-"
 Indicate how the test is scored:
total right, or total right minus wrong?

How to develop a true/false test:

1. Write out essential content statements
2. Convert half to false, though not negative, statements
3. Make true and false statements equal in length
4. Group questions by content
5. Build up to difficulty
(encourage with simpler questions first)
6. Randomize sequences of T/F responses
Avoid a discernable pattern
7. Vary the quantity of true/false statements from test to test
recognizing that "true" is marked more often in guessing, and
that assessing false statements tends to be more challenging

Limitations:
 Scoring tends to be high
since guessing yields a 50-50 score (half right half wrong) as a base. i.e. if there are 100
items, and the student knows the correct answer to 50, and guesses on the other half, the
score will be 75 knowing only half the material.
 Since the stem can cue a correct answer,
guessing is enhanced without really understanding the question
 The format does not provide diagnostic information
on why a student got it wrong
 It may be easy to cheat
 Content can be simplistic and/or trivial

http://www.studygs.net/teaching/tsttak2a.htm
Constructing Essay Exams
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...)

1. Knowledge: recall, define, arrange, list, label, identify, match, reproduce

2. Comprehension: describe, explain, recognize, restate, review, translate, classify; give
examples; (re)state in own words
3. Application: apply, illustrate, interpret, operate, solve, predict, utilize
4. Analysis: analyze, compare, contrast, distinguish, examine, experiment, diagram; outline
5. Synthesis: design, develop, formulate, propose, construct, create, reorganize, integrate,
model, incorporate, plan
6. Evaluation: evaluate, argue, assess, compare, contrast, conclude, defend, judge, support,
interpret, justify

(for a complete listing of verbs in these categories, see Essay terms and directives)

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

http://www.studygs.net/teaching/tsttak4a.htm