Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!lll-winken!ames!xanth!mcnc!rutgers!njin!princeton!njsmu!mccc!pjh From: pjh@mccc.UUCP (Pete Holsberg) Newsgroups: comp.edu Subject: Re: Student and Course Integrity Keywords: losers, responsibility, 90%, crap, 98% Message-ID: <560@mccc.UUCP> Date: 8 Jan 89 21:27:13 GMT References: <4550@homxc.UUCP> <4847@phoenix.Princeton.EDU> <542@mccc.UUCP> <548@mccc.UUCP> <9286@ut-emx.UUCP> Reply-To: pjh@mccc.UUCP (Pete Holsberg) Distribution: na Organization: The College On The Other Side of U. S. Route 1 Lines: 37 In article <9286@ut-emx.UUCP> nather@ut-emx.UUCP (Ed Nather) writes: =In article <548@mccc.UUCP>, pjh@mccc.UUCP (Pete Holsberg) writes: => => =I won't get started on multiple-choice testing ... => => It's possible to write good MC tests. The benefit is that they are easy => to grade. But it's probably harder to make up good ones. When I have a => good one, I collect it from the students after returning it for => discussion. That way, I can use it again in the future. = =OK, you've got me started. = =In my view, there are NO good multiple-choice tests -- the very format =precludes its use as a sensitive probe of a student's understanding. I guess I could show you a couple that refute your statement, but I guess that you'd still not agree, considering your starting point. =When I was in college I found I could usually pass any MC test, even =if I knew nothing of the subject. (We bet bottles of beer in those Agreed: there are lots of lousy MC tests. =Multiple-choice tests can have a harmful effect as well. On the =first test of a recent semester I graded a test in which the student =had written "shawod" for "shadow." I asked her if she was familiar =with the term "dyslexia"; she was not. After some investigation she Statistically meaningless. Stomp on her elementary school system for that. Pete -- Pete Holsberg UUCP: {...!rutgers!}princeton!mccc!pjh Mercer College CompuServe: 70240,334 1200 Old Trenton Road GEnie: PJHOLSBERG Trenton, NJ 08690 Voice: 1-609-586-4800