What alternatives are there to multiple-choice tests?
• Many instructors include some writing component on their exams, from an occasional essay question that can be answered correctly in many different ways to partial credit, one-line explanations of multiple-choice answers. • One teacher estimates that 80 TA hours are needed to evaluate 360 essay exams. To streamline the process, essay exams should have clearly delineated questions, and all responses to one question should be evaluated by the same TA for fairness. Of course, if no TA support is available, essays are not a practical means of evaluating the largest classes. • Some instructors also have students work in groups. The same grade can be assigned to all members of the group, or the grades can be assigned to individuals on the basis of some combination of anonymous self-evaluation of individual contributions and instructor evaluation of the group product. Students who work together can also be tested individually and assigned an average of individual scores or (in one extreme ca
