Objectives
At the end of this learning unit, you will be able to
- Define assessment
- State the purpose of assessment
- Describe the characteristics of the types of assessment items
- Identify common problems in Multiple-Choice questions
- Design assessment for given content and objective
So lets assume that I have created the learning objectives, classified the content, thought about the strategies to motivate the learner to visit my learning portal. What’s next?
Okay. So what if you create some great learning objectives and include amazing content in your learning portal. At the end of the day, how do you ensure that your learners have learned the skills/tasks efficiently? How do you know that they will be able to apply these skills in their job roles?
Yes, these are interesting and important questions.
And the answer to these questions is “Creating effective assessments that map to your learning objectives.” Let us see what are the different types of assessments that you can create.
Assessment
Assessment is used to measure all that has been learned as a result of instruction on specific objectives. Probably the most challenging component of instructional design is designing authentic assessment items.
Assessment is needed for various reasons. For learners, assessment reinforces learning, removes misconceptions, communicates the self-evaluation information to the learner, motivates the learner, and builds confidence. For an author of an instructional material, the purpose is simple yet critical; to evaluate the effectiveness of the instructional program.
Assessment can be broadly classified into three main categories:
When creating assessment items, it is important that you assess the key content taught towards meeting the objective. Often, authors are tempted to assess uncritical or trivial information. Doing this renders the most powerful aspect of instructional design powerless.
The rule of thumb to avoid this is to use the same words in the assessment questions as the objective itself. For example, if the objective is “Identify the Bloom levels of objectives”, the assessment should begin with the same words. In brief, a good assessment item is one that is meaningful, challenging and mapped to the objective.
Depending on the skill or knowledge being assessed, you can use various types of assessment items.
- Multiple-Choice
- Match
- Fill-in-the-Blanks
- Sequence
- Short Answers
- Open ended
- Simulation
Multiple-Choice (MC) questions
Example
Which activity is carried out during the Implementation phase?
- Presenting classroom instruction
- Creating assessment items
- Developing the instruction
- Taking feedback
Guidelines
- The stem should be clear and concise.
- The stem should not be “Which is true/false”.
- The stem should not be negative.
- There should be at least four options.
- The distracters should be meaningful and plausible.
- The distracters should test on misconceptions.
- The distracters should be parallel in idea, length, and language
- The distracters should not be “All of the above” or “None of the above”.
- The distracters should not be giveaways (or easy to guess).
Advantages
- MC questions can be easily scored accurately and quickly.
- MC questions can be set to assess content at various Bloom levels, ranging from Knowledge to Evaluation.
- MC questions can be designed to detect misconceptions, thereby providing feedback on the effectiveness of instruction.
Disadvantages
- The construction of good MC questions requires effort and time.
- Creativity cannot be tested using MC questions. For testing creativity, open-ended or essay-type questions should be used.
Match questions
Example Match the objective with the appropriate Bloom Level.
- Organizing parts
- Identifying examples
- Assessing value of theories
- Using old ideas to create new ones
Guidelines
- The stem should be clear and concise.
- The stem should not be negative.
- There should be at least four options.
- The distracters should test on misconceptions.
- The distracters should be parallel in idea, length, and language.
- The distracters should not be giveaways (or easy to guess). This is the key problem with Match questions, since each distracter is true for one of the options on the left.
Advantages
- Match questions are easier to create than MC questions because the distracters are actually correct answers for related concepts or facts.
- Match questions can be easily scored accurately and quickly.
- Match questions can be set to assess content at various Bloom levels.
- Match questions can be designed to detect misconceptions in closely related content
Disadvantages
- Match questions tend to be giveaways.
- Creativity cannot be tested using Match questions. For testing creativity, open-ended or essay-type questions should be used.
Sequence questions
Example
Sequence the various layers of the atmosphere in the order of their distance from the Earth.
- Mesosphere
- Ionosphere
- Hydrosphere
- Stratosphere
Guidelines
- The stem should be clear and concise.
- There should be at least four options.
- The distracters should be parallel in idea, length, and language.
- The distracters should not be giveaways (or easy to guess).
Advantages
- Sequence questions can be easily scored accurately and quickly.
- Sequence questions can be designed to detect misconceptions about a sequence of events, stages, or phases.
Disadvantages
- Sequence often questions tend to be giveaways. Use them only when the sequence is not easy to guess.
- Creativity cannot be tested using Match questions. For testing creativity, open-ended or essay-type questions should be used.
Summary
In this learning unit, you learned to:
- Define assessment
- State the purpose of assessment
- Describe the characteristics of the types of assessment items
- Identify common problems in Multiple-Choice questions
- Design assessment for given content and objective
This was quite informative and useful Martin. What is coming up next?
Stay tuned for some insights on technical writing and how to write effectively to create resourceful and engaging content.
5 Minutes