In response to your question I'm not sure how those skills could be evaluated.
Personally fill in the blank and essay questions on an exam are necessary to measure where the student is at in their thinking.
I use a combination of grading in class as a group and grading each assignment myself individually. Some assignments can be graded as a group. Each student grades their own and then I breifly skim it to be sure that it is correct. It seems to work well. Then instead of grading 30 assignments over and over I grade one but end uo with 30 grades :D
I do use a variety of exam styles such as matching, true/false, multiple choice and essays. Utilizing essay questions in all my exams helps the theoretical understanding of the objective. I also do have an outline in addition to the syllabus, where the outline does give the student more guidance on major assignment dates.
I often administered essay exams that are focused on applied learning. I think it's a great idea to have students underline or bold the important parts of their answers and will do this moving forward!
I will format your exams and homework assignements differently in the future by utilizing the techniques learned. I will research materials via author and publisher to see if there are other materials that I can utilize to teach a class on a subject I am not familiar with.
I will continue to use multiple choice and true false questions for exams. They can be graded easily with scantron. In order to promote critical thinking, I require written responses to pertinent questions for homework assignments.
Mary, That sounds like a well rounded approach. It's nice to be able to use some efficient grading techniques and also some that more deeply test knowledge.
Dr. Melissa Read
I've worked with the students in developing a format for homework to make the grading process much faster. Also, our tests are done on scantron for the most part, which has saved us a lot of time grading.
My school is totally electronic so I don't need to manually grade exams and homework. Since we have gone electronic I am amazed at how much time I have to do all those required administrative tasks!
More often than not, I give multiple-choice exams. Much easier to grade and thus, less time-consuming. I find that if I absolutely have to give an essay exam, it is usually in a course like Ethics where the answers are not necessarily right or wrong, but rather opinionated. This makes it easier for me to grade since I'll assess it on how well-formulated the answer is, not if it's correct.
What I have implemented recently is doing exams online therefore they are easier to grade. The exams are automatically graded after the students finish taking them.
I HAVE to join those of you who have embraced the 21st century and incorporate this new technology into my testing methods. this course just might be the motivation I need, and I have "bookmarked" the sites provided in this course so that I can go back and enroll. It's time I "got with it"!!!
I am a overt-the-road truck driver instructor and my students must past a State exam, so i use their guide lines to see how my students are doing.
I too avoid essay questions. Fortunately, in a nursing program, there are many other ways to evaluate students with alternate format questions.
I use scantrons and love them. We also have textbooks that have a lot of online resources, including: test banks, Power Points, and activities. This makes it so much easier to create each teaching session and add some variety.
I tend to be an organized person, so I am already employing many of the suggestions included in this course.
On day one I cover the testing process with the students, outlining the number of tests and the type of multiple choice questions our school uses, and that they are graded by a scanner. Before each test I review the grading and testing process with the class so their are no misunderstandings as to the final results.
I will format my exams and homework assignments differently in the future by utilizing a clearer pattern of organization during grading.
My assessments are mainly multiple choice for easy grading, plus that is the format their certification exam will be in. I also add a few short answer questions at the end of the test that I can skim quickly to make sure they understand, rather than simply memorize. It makes for quick grading.
Jerome, It sounds like you are doing a wonderful job of managing expectations. This is great to hear. It can save you and your students a lot of heartache if everyone is clear on goals and process from the start.
Dr. Melissa Read
Sherice, Sounds like a great approach. I'm curious to hear more about what specific method you will use to make things more clear.
Dr. Melissa Read
I teach culinary lab classes. I have multiple choice, fill in the blank, matching and short essay. I need the wide array of choices so that I can gauge the level of the students knowledge and if they understand the techniques and theories being taught.
