Xref: utzoo comp.sources.wanted:9399 comp.edu:2629 Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!uwm.edu!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!pdn!dinsdale!reggie From: reggie@dinsdale.nm.paradyne.com (George W. Leach) Newsgroups: comp.sources.wanted,comp.edu Subject: Re: Multiple choice test shell needed Keywords: Interactive test environment, IBM PC or MAC Message-ID: <6741@pdn.paradyne.com> Date: 13 Nov 89 13:45:57 GMT References: Sender: usenet@pdn.paradyne.com Reply-To: reggie@dinsdale.paradyne.com (George W. Leach) Distribution: usa Organization: AT&T Suncoast Division, Largo FL Lines: 72 In article koeneman@trex.rutgers.edu (Juergen Koenemann) writes: >I am looking for faculty member for some software which has the >following functionality: >Randomly selects a number of multiple choice questions from a test >bank [Other stuff, which could cause other discussions on security, etc.... have been deleted] Well this is refreshing! Normally we don't see these kinds of requests in the middle of a semester :-) How many times over the past several years have we seen similar requests that end up generating a rather lengthy debate over the validity of such an approach to testing what students have learned? I have refrained from joining into the debates for several years now. However, I feel compelled to jump in this time. Multiple choice tests are easy to administer, easy to take, and easy to grade. Perhaps they are even a fair means of comparitively judging student test scores. Why? Because there is no ambiguity. Something is either right or wrong (assuming there are no choices that are misleading). There is no judgement on the part of the grader as to how many points should be taken off or awarded for various aspects of an answer to a question. However, it is my feeling that these types of questions are not a good means of testing exactly what students do and do not know. Nor are they helpful in the process of showing students exactly where they went wrong with their answers. Remeber tests can be used to aid in the learning process, not just to evaluate. Some of the most valuable lessons that I have learned in my life have come from mistakes I made in formulating solutions to problems on test. If the work was not on the test when they were handed back when we went over the test, I may not have learned those lesson. I may not have saved my work or remembered how I approached the problem. Learning from our mistakes is a very powerful tool. I'll take this even further. I always give open book tests. I try to come up with problems that will make people think and apply what they have learned to solve problems. I do not want them to simply repeat back To me something that has been memorized. So on a programming problem I will put the emphasis on evaluating the problem, formulating a solution, and expressing that solution in the programming language that is being learned. I do not use simple questions that test a student's knowledge of syntax. That is not important. Syntactic knowledge can be looked up in a book. Also, as one uses a language more frequently, the syntax becomes second nature. However, the problem solving skills that are required to do something with the syntax is what students need to learn. They can be applied to many situations and with many languages. This does involve more work on the part of the instructor to formulate a test, set up the grading criteria (partial credit is difficult to decide upon and often is difficult to keep objective across all students' work), and actually grade the tests. It is also a bit more difficult on the students who must take the test. However, in my opinion it is all worth it. Students will learn more in the long run. George George W. Leach AT&T Paradyne (uunet|att)!pdn!reggie Mail stop LG-133 Phone: 1-813-530-2376 P.O. Box 2826 FAX: 1-813-530-8224 Largo, FL 34649-2826 USA