Sheila,
You need to build the rubric based on your objectives you are measuring then use it to measure your subjective assessment. Your rubric should reflect what they need to learn based on your course or unit objectives.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
We use a combination of both objectives and subjective evaluations. Students prefer objective evaluations. Essay is not always easy.
Paula,
What does essays aren't always easy? I don't know if I would agree with students preferring objective evaluations. I think they think they are are easier because they have choices.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Hello Dr. Kelly,
I think it all depends on the type of program. If the program is more hands and skills base, I believe all should be implemented. My preference is multiple choices because the questions help the students with critical thinking. I teach in a billing and coding program; which has a certification exam at the end of the program. The exam is timed; which give the students 2 minutes per question on a 150 question exam. Interesting, students that pass the exam were given multiple choice quizzes.
Marie
Hello Nicole,
I agree with you that as long as the instructor provides a well written rubric so that student can better understand the objective. I too use a little bit of both when preparing my test, but my preference is multiple choice. I think multiple choices help the students with critical thinking.
Marie
Jared,
I agree with you that both objective and subjective evaluation can be very effective if done properly. I like your idea about having the students complete the evaluation and review the answers. By doing this you can see if the students comprehend the materials. Great idea; which I will implement in my classroom.
Thanks,
Marie
MARIE,
You are right and and the "type" of question is dependent on those pesky course outcomes. You also have a certification exam and it is your responsibility to prepare students for that.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
MARIE,
Good post! It is amazing many people think that multiple choice questions are easier than essay but the opposite can be true. You can certainly create multiple choice questions that make students use their critical thinking skills.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
MARIE,
It is also a way for you to review your questions to see if you need to cover certain material in a different manner or if you need to rewrite questions. It is evaluation in is holistic sense.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Objective evaluations are used in in our LMS system because the tests are directly correlated with the text. Essays are also used and are a terrific enhancement of student learning capability--in my experience essay scores are a proportional reflection of test scores. It's a rare occurrence to read a terribly written assignment on all levels who simultaneously performs extremely well on an assessment.
Roland,
You make a great point. Essays are time consuming but are good indicators of learning if the question is written well. There are now software that will grade essays for you.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Generally I use objective evaluations to assess a student's knowledge of terminology, basic concepts, calculations. I use subjective evaluations to determine if the student understand the material well enough to effectively apply it in a case. For example, I teach courses in financial accounting, where the learning objective is for the student to be able to read and interpret a corporate annual report. The subjective assessment entails them selecting an annual report from a publicly traded company and, using all the ratios and comparator tools we discussed over the quarter, determine whether the company is financially stable, decline or growing, by interpreting the data they have gathered. It is effective in determining if a student really understanding the material. My issue with objective assessments is that some students are simply 'good test takers' and memorize well. It is the objective assessment that enables me to determine if they really understand the material.
I believe that would depend on the subject and also the level of the course. Some topics such as filling out a cash flow statement in accounting would favor an objective approach. Questions related to management would be better in an essay or case format. In both cases there should be a mix but also a tendency toward a certain approach as discussed above.
In general...higher level courses may be best with a subjective approach...such as case studies. Any thoughts to share?
I personally do not like multiple choice. In some cases it is good for the test guessing type...but for those that think more deeply about the topic...it may be a hurdle. Any thoughts to share?
Sharon,
These are great strategies to assess your students' learning. You want to test them beyond the test, you want to know what they have learned. Using tools for evaluating annual report is such an important skill and there are tools that business students must know such as the rations. This is really application and that is so important.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
John,
I agree with you. It really depends on the objectives of the course and/or the unit. You want to make sure your evaluation can evaluate your students to make sure your objectives are met.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
John,
It is really dependent on how well the question is written. I have seen true and false questions be the hardest questions to ever answer just by the way they were written and presented. Yes, there can be an element guessing but when you have a well written question with good choices it will require ability and/or knowledge to answer it.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
In an objective evaluation, the evaluator does not make any judgments about the performance of the person being evaluated. An example of an objective evaluation is a multiple-choice test of the related knowledge. This is a completely objective evaluation method, because the evaluator does not make a judgment call about whether the answer is right or wrong; there is an objective, correct answer that the student is evaluated against. A subjective evaluation requires the evaluator to make judgment calls about the performance of the person being evaluated. For instance, rather than looking at whether or not a student attained an objective goal, the evaluator might look at how well the student completed the assignment. Although subjective evaluations may be influenced by objective facts, in the end, the evaluator must evaluate the student’s performance according to her personal perspective. The key benefit of an objective evaluation is that the evaluator's views and biases do not affect the evaluation. It is even possible, often, to have the evaluation performed by a computer, which is completely objective in its interpretation of data. The benefit of subjective evaluations is that it allows Evaluators to place emphasis on what they think is most important, thereby shaping the evaluation to fit the needs of the department or company. While objective evaluations may be fair and free of biases, they can be overly simple, and do not provide instructors with an opportunity to have their own input on the employee's performance. They may, therefore, provide limited value for evaluators. Subjective evaluations are open to interpretation, so one evaluator may be very different from another. This can be unfair to students, who may be evaluated more harshly based on an individual's personal perspective.
I actually try to avoid objective evaluations as much as I can. I don't think those provide as much opportunity for the students to actually prove what they have learned. In most of my courses, I will have the students submit essays or take exams with open-ended questions. I often have students take weekly quizzes that are objective--multiple choice. My main goal there is to try and get them to actually open the book to find answers. For the more important and heavily-weighted points in the course, I try to stick to the subjective assessments.
Vimlarani,
How would you keep the balance in your evaluating subjective questions? Would this be where you would incorporate rubrics?
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
