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From: sullivan@aqdata.uucp (Michael T. Sullivan)
Newsgroups: comp.sources.wanted,comp.edu
Subject: Re: Multiple choice test shell needed
Message-ID: <1989Nov14.161530.6224@aqdata.uucp>
Date: 14 Nov 89 16:15:30 GMT
References: <6741@pdn.paradyne.com>
Distribution: usa
Organization: aQdata, Inc.  Western Region -- San Dimas, CA
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From article <6741@pdn.paradyne.com>, by reggie@dinsdale.nm.paradyne.com (George W. Leach):
> 
>        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

I don't know.  I had a GE class where the multiple choice test was HARD
and I felt it did test what I knew.  Multiple choice tests are like anything
else, they're just a tool that can be properly used or abused.

>        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.

This is fine if you aren't teaching a large GE class with hundreds of students.
In cases like that, it makes sense to give multiple choice tests because they
are easier and objective.  A student in Psych. 1 doesn't need the attention
to detail that a student in an upper-level CS course does.

...

> 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

This is just a separate note on the above.  In some classes, tests count
too much to learn from them.  What I mean is that missing 30% of the
questions and learning from the corrections on your test _is_ a great
learning experience.  Problem is, if that test was worth 40% of your
grade for the quarter it's not much help in the grade department.  Another
reason I disliked school so much.
-- 
Michael Sullivan          uunet!jarthur.uucp!aqdata!sullivan
aQdata, Inc.
San Dimas, CA