Essay type questions, By Pooja Godiyal

Types, How to construct, advantages, Disadvantages, Suggestions, Bluffing

1. ESSAY TYPE
QUESTIONS

2. •"Atestitemwhichrequiresaresponsecomposedbythe
examinee,usuallyintheformofoneormoresentences,of
anaturethatnosingleresponseorpatternofresponses
canbelistedascorrect,andtheaccuracyandqualityof
whichcanbejudgedsubjectivelyonlybyoneskilledor
informedinthesubject."
Stalnaker, 1951
7/26/2021 2MRS. POOJA GODIYAL

3. •Essaytestisatestthatrequiresthestudenttostructurea
longwrittenresponseuptoseveralparagraphs.
William W and Stephen G J,1990
•Anessaytestpresentsoneormorequestionsorothertasks
thatrequireextendedwrittenresponsesfromtheperson
beingtested.
Robert LE and David AF
7/26/2021 3MRS. POOJA GODIYAL

4. When to use Essay type questions ?
•Toassessstudent’sunderstandingofsubject’scontent
•Toassessstudent’sabilitytoreasonwiththeirknowledge
ofasubject
7/26/2021 4MRS. POOJA GODIYAL

5. •Tomeasurestudents’abilitytoselect;organize;integrate;relate;
andevaluaterelatedideasasawhole,anddemonstratecomplete
understandingofcomplexlearningobjectivesbyapplyingfactsand
principlesorinterpretingcause-effectrelationships.
7/26/2021 5MRS. POOJA GODIYAL

6. •Essayquestionsaredividedintotwo
majortypes,dependinguponthe
amountoffreedomgiventostudent
toorganizehisideasandwrite
answers
1)Extendedresponse
2)RestrictedResponse
7/26/2021 6MRS. POOJA GODIYAL

7. 7/26/2021 MRS. POOJA GODIYAL 7

8. Extended response
•Norestrictionisplacedonthestudentastothepointsheor
shewilldiscussandthetypeoforganizationthestudentwill
use.
Example
a)DescribethehealthstatusofIndiasuggestedbydifferent
healthcommitteesconstitutedfromtimetotimeinIndia?
b)Explaintheroleofnurseinthehealthcareteam?
7/26/2021 8MRS. POOJA GODIYAL

9. Extended response
•Extendedresponseitemspavethewayformore
organization,creativityanddepthofknowledge.
•Theycanbeusedtoassesshigher-levelsofBloom’s
taxonomysuchasindescribingapplicationofasetof
principles,explainingcauseandeffectrelationships,
formulatingconclusions,ortoproduce,organize,and
expressideas
7/26/2021 9MRS. POOJA GODIYAL

10. Extended response
Anextendedresponseofessaytypequestionspermitsthe
studenttodemonstratetheabilityto
•Recallfactualknowledge
•Evaluatetheirfactualknowledge
•Organizetheirideas
•Presenttheirideasinalogical,coherentfashion.
7/26/2021 10MRS. POOJA GODIYAL

11. Restricted Response
•Inrestrictedresponsethestudentismorelimitedandrestrictedand
studentwillhavelessscopebecausethestudentisspecificallytold
contextinwhichhis/heransweristobemade.
•Eg;Describeinnotmorethan100words,therecommendationmade
bythehealthsurveyanddevelopmentcommitteewithregardto
improvementofhealthcaredeliverysysteminIndia?
•Thistypeofquestiontendtobemoreobjectivewhiletheextended
typequestionstendtobemoresubjective.
7/26/2021 11MRS. POOJA GODIYAL

12. •Restrictedresponse,alsoreferredtoasshortanswerquestions,are
organizedinamannerthatspecifiesorlimitsstudentresponses.
•TheytypicallyassesslearningobjectivesatthelowerlevelsofBloom’s
taxonomyandrequirestudentstolist,define,ordescribe
•Therestrictedresponsequestionusuallylimitsboththecontentand
theresponse
7/26/2021 12MRS. POOJA GODIYAL

13. Key terms and types of essays
Key term
List
Arrange
Select
Describe
Discuss
Explain
Compare
Outline
Interpret
Criticize
Formulate new problemsor
procedures
Type Essay
Restrictive
Restrictive
Restrictive
Both
Extended
Both
Both
Restrictive
Extended
Extended
Extended
7/26/2021 13MRS. POOJA GODIYAL

14. How should these Questions be constructed
1.Questionsshouldbeclear&specific&exactlimitshouldbeset
2.Avoid:--Whatdoyouthink?
-Whatisinyouropinion?
-Discuss?
3.Insteaduse:-Enlist,EnumerateorDefine,
•-Compare&Contrast,
•-Stateyourreasons,
•-Describe(acceptable)
4.Matchthequestiontospecificlearningobjective.Communicateclearlytothe
studentswhatisexpected.
7/26/2021 14MRS. POOJA GODIYAL

15. How should these Questions be constructed
5.Usesimple,clearandstraightforwardlanguage
6.Nooptions-andbettercomparison,ifoptionstheyshouldbefrom
sametopicandshouldmatchthedifficultylevel.
7.In"Writebriefly..."typeofquestionsqualifyhowbrieflyintonumber
ofwordsorlinesofstandardparagraphs.
8.Scoringsystem:Splitthetotalmarksallottedtoeachpartofthe
questiontopic.Maybeindicatedinthepaper(e.g).
9.Considerusingseveralnarrowlyfocuseditemsratherthanonebroad
item
7/26/2021 15MRS. POOJA GODIYAL

16. Traditional Unstructured Essay type
Question
•Discuss Pathology of Thalassemias. (10 marks)
7/26/2021 16MRS. POOJA GODIYAL

17. Structured Essay type Questions
•Differfromunstructuredessayquestionsinthefreedomregarding
scopeandnatureofanswer.
•Framedinsuchawaythatthestudentisprovidedconsiderable
guidanceregardingpointstobeincludedintheanswer.
7/26/2021 17MRS. POOJA GODIYAL

18. TraditionalUnstructuredEssaytypeQuestion
•DiscussPathologyofThalassemias.(10marks)
StructuredEssaytypeQuestions
•WriteanessayonThalassemias,focusingonitsclassification,
molecularbasis,clinicalmanifestationsandlaboratorydiagnosis
(2+2+3+3)
7/26/2021 18MRS. POOJA GODIYAL

19. Advantages
•Teststheabilitytocommunicateinwriting;depthofknowledgeand
understanding.
•Itisrelativelyeasiertoprepareandadminister.
•Itemphasisesontheintegrationandapplicationofthinkingand
problemsolvingskills.
•Thestudentcanhavefreetocommunicate,his/herabilityfor
independentthinking.
•Itcanimprovewritingskills.
•Itrequiresshorttimefortheteachertopreparethetestand
administer.
7/26/2021 19MRS. POOJA GODIYAL

20. Advantages
•Thestudentcandemonstrateherabilitytoorganizeideasandexpress
themeffectivelyinalogicalandcoherentfashion.
•Itismoreeconomicaltouseessaytypeteststhanobjectivetype.
•Itcanbesuccessfullyemployedforalltheschoolsubjects.
•Thementalprocesseslikelogicalthinking,criticalreasoning,
systematicpresentationcanbebestdeveloped.
7/26/2021 20MRS. POOJA GODIYAL

21. Disadvantages
•Essay type possesses relatively low validity and reliability because of the factors like:
1. Contaminated by extraneous factors like spelling, good handwriting,coloured writing, neatness,
grammar, and length of the answer.
2. Biased judgment by previous impressions.
3. Mood of examiner
4. First impression
5. Improper comparison of answer of different students (Bright and dull).
6. Ambiguous wording of questions may be misinterpreted results in guessing and bluffing on the part of
the students.
•Lack of objectivity.
•Provides little useful feedback.
•Takes long-time to score.
•Subjectivity of scoring.
7/26/2021 21MRS. POOJA GODIYAL

22. Modified Essay Question (MEQ)
•Problem solving type of essay question.
•A short history is given to the student, based on which questions are
asked.
•Requires the student to apply what he has learnt, in the context of a
given situation.
•The format has questions closely resembling a series of short answer
questions than an essay question.
7/26/2021 22MRS. POOJA GODIYAL

23. Modified Essay Question (MEQ)
•A 4 year old child presents with H/o lethargy, lack of play for 2 months
, bouts of fever for last 15 days. On physical examination , his axillary
and inguinal lymph nodes were found enlarged. He had mild
hepatosplenomegaly.
Q1. What are possible causes of this type of presentation?
Q2. Which investigation would you advise first and why?
Q3. What investigations will you order to arrive at the diagnosis ?
Q4. If the diagnosis is confirmed what shall be the management
options ?
(2+2+2+2)
7/26/2021 23MRS. POOJA GODIYAL

24. Principles of Preparing Essay type test
•Donotgivetoomanylengthyquestions.
•Thelimitsofareasandthebehaviourwhichyouwantshouldbe
clearlymentioned.
•Wordsshouldbesimple,unambiguousandcarefullyselected.
•Accordingtothelevelofstudent,difficultyandcomplexityitemshas
tobeselected.
•Avoidphrasese.g.‘Discussbriefly’
7/26/2021 24MRS. POOJA GODIYAL

25. Grading
•Essay is a performance based test, there are several components to
consider including the initial taskitself constructed by the writer,
submitted by the examinee, and then graded by the rater(s), using a
rating/gradingsystem
•The first step in grading is selecting a grading system which may be
predeterminedduring test item construction.
•Grading essays falls into two types: holistic/global and analytic
grading.
7/26/2021 25MRS. POOJA GODIYAL

26. RUBRIC
•Arubricisanassessmenttoolthatclearlyindicatesachievement
criteriaacrossallthecomponentsofanykindofstudentwork,from
writtentooraltovisual.
•TheRubricisyouridealanswerforwhatanEssayorpapershouldbe
like
•TheRubricmakesyourexpectationscleartothestudents
•Helpsstudentsevaluatethequalityoftheirownwork.
•Improvestheconsistencyandspeedofgrading
•Itcanbeusedformarkingassignments,classparticipation,oroverall
grades.
•Therearetwotypesofrubrics:holisticandanalytical.
7/26/2021 26MRS. POOJA GODIYAL

27. Holistic Rubrics
•Theraterwillreadforanoverallimpression,forboththecontentas
wellasthequalityofthewriting,andthentranslatehisorher
impressionsintoascoreorlettergrade
•Withaholisticrubrictheraterassignsasinglescore(usuallyona1to
4or1to6pointscale)basedonanoveralljudgmentofthestudent
work.
•Manyresearchershavearguedthatholisticgradingfocusesontoo
muchonwhatthewriterdoeswellratherthanonareasofweakness,
andthereforedoesnotprovidefordiagnosticinformation.
7/26/2021 27MRS. POOJA GODIYAL

28. Analytic scoring
•Methodofgradingthatrequiresaseparatescoreforeachofa
numberofaspectsofataskorsubcategories,suchasgrammatical
accuracy,vocabulary,idiomaticexpression,organization,relevance,
coherence.
•Thegraderbreakseachquestiondowntoitsdifferentpartsand
identifiesthemajorpointscoveredbythestudentsansweras
indicatedonpredeterminedcriteria.
•Thegraderwillthenassignpointstoeachsectiondependingonthe
valuetheyfeeleachdeserves.
7/26/2021 28MRS. POOJA GODIYAL

29. Suggestions for the essay test
•Restricttheuseofessayquestionstothoselearningoutcomesthat
cannotbesatisfactorilymeasuredbyobjectiveitems.
•Formulatequestionsthatwillcallforththebehaviourspecifiedinthe
learningoutcomes.E.g.Comparethefollowingtwomethods……..
Statethequestionclearlyandpreciselyandmakeclearwhat
informationtheanswershouldcontain.
•Indicatetheapproximatetimelimitforeachquestion.
7/26/2021 29MRS. POOJA GODIYAL

30. •Thequestionshouldclearlyindicatethesignificanceofeachpartso
thatstudentsmaydeterminethetimetobedevotedtoeachpart:
Thiscanbedonebydividingthequestionintocomponentpartsand
offeringmarksaccordingtothesignificance.
Eg;a15marksessayquestiononnursingmanagementofcirrhosisof
livercanbestatedas,
I.Definecirrhosisofliver(2m)
II.Brieflyexplainthemedicalmanagement(5m)
III.Explainthenursingmanagementofapatientwithcirrhosisof
liver(8m).
•Avoidtheuseofoptionalquestions.Ifstudentsanswerdifferent
questionsitisobviousthattheyaretakingdifferenttestsandsothe
commonbasisforevaluatingtheirachievementislost.
7/26/2021 30MRS. POOJA GODIYAL

31. Suggestions for scoring an essay answer
•Prepareanoutlineoftheexpectedanswerinadvance-Thisscoring
includescharacteristicsofanswertobeevaluatedandtheamountof
markstobeallottedtoeach.(preparingascoringkey).
•Usethescoringmethodwhichismoreappropriate(pointmethodor
theratingmethod)-therearetwocommonmethodsofscoringessay
questions.
•Withthepointmethodeachansweriscomparedwiththeideal
answerinthescoringkeyandagivennumberofpointsisassigned
accordingtotheadequacyoftheanswer.
•Withratingmethodeachpaperisplacedinoneofanumberofpileas
theanswerisread.Thesepilesrepresentsthedegreeofqualityand
determinethemarksassignedtoeachanswer.
7/26/2021 31MRS. POOJA GODIYAL

32. •Decidehowtohandlefactorsthatareirrelevanttothelearningoutcomes
beingmeasured:
Severalfactorsinfluencetheevaluationofanswerstoquestionsinclude
handwriting,spelling,sentencestructure,punctuationandneatness.
•Weshouldmakeanefforttokeepsuchfactorsfrominfluencingour
judgementandmakeaseparatescoreforwrittenexpressionorforthe
specificfactors.
•Evaluatealltheanswerstoonequestionbeforegoingtothenextone:
Onewaytominimizethisistoscoreallanswerstothefirstquestion,shuffle
thepapersthenscoreallanswerstothenextquestion.
•Evaluatetheanswerswithoutlookingatthestudentsname:Ifimportant
decisionsaretobebasedontheresultsobtaintwoormoreindependent
ratings:
7/26/2021 32MRS. POOJA GODIYAL

33. Bluffing: A common Scoring Problem
•Itispossibleforstudentstoobtainhigherscoresinessayquestions
thantheydeservebythemeanofcleverbluffing.
•Thisisusuallyacombinationofwritingskill,generalknowledgeand
useofcommontrickslike;Writesomethingforeveryquestion.
Stressingimportanceoftopic.
•Namedropping.(Theaboveviewpointsaresupportedbytheview
pointsofFlorencenightingale)
•Agreeingwithteachersopinion.
•Writeonarelatedtopicand“makeitfit”.
•Writingingeneraltermsthatfitmanysituation.
7/26/2021 33MRS. POOJA GODIYAL

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