
This is a general discussion forum for the following learning topic:
Effective and Efficient Instructional Strategies --> Measuring Student Mastery
Post what you've learned about this topic and how you intend to apply it. Feel free to post questions and comments too.
I already use most of these question types but now I understand the significance of them and what they are actually able to access.
I learned about the advantages and disadvantages of using various types of questions. How you can make them more at the application or higher thinking level was interesting. This section reassures me that the use of some question types still serve a purpose in assessing the student's knowledge. Using a variety of question types rather than 100% multiple choice is supported.
Lot's of things to consider, that will hopefully start coming together once I actually start teaching. This is all new to me, so I feel like I am watching a game from the stands right now rather than playing the game.
Comment on Michael Howe's post: I appreciate the comments you have made throughout this module. As a new instructor this is all new to me, so having someone with experience such as yourself make such detailed comments help identify the importance on each topic.
Essay questions may be the most challenging but most indicative that the student has understood the material. However, it is often disliked as it is subjective and will require rubrics to ensure expectations are clear. Completion questions on the other hand are the easiest to answer. However, there are still some issues with these types of questions since some correct answers may not be what the teacher was looking for. It is good to have a mixture of different types of questions and ensure there is a balance.
I work in a prison school and we have a standardized test all teachers use, but it does include T/F, multiple choice, and matching answers. I think the system can handle other types like completing the sentence but you have to add in several possible answers for it to score.
During evaluating students mastery of the course keep in mind the students ability to know, understand, and apply the key facts.
Reading all essay questions and answers before assigning grade can reduce bias when grading.
I appreciated the tips for each type of assessment question. The details about language comprehension is also a key to knowing the students in the class.
I appreciated the idea of defining why something is true or false to increase the level of thinking and decrease the answer to be of chance
I learned what each technique is used to measure levels of mastery of information with your students.
I learned about the structure of different questions for test and when and how to use them better.
It was an interesting fact that guessers tend to pick "True" 50% of the time. By not only changing the wording, but also requiring the students to provide a quick explanation as to why they picked either True or False, I will be able to better check for mastery and can provide more tailored feedback to their answers.
I believe multiple choice questions and True / False questions are the most commonly used test taking strategies in nursing schools. These could be of different levels of difficulty. These type of questions help to evaluate the mastery level of the students.
Measuring student mastery involves assessing how well students have learned and can apply the knowledge and skills intended by the lesson or course objectives.
Effective lesson plans, quizzes and tests are key to our students learning process and will help them apply these new knowledge skills in their chosen fields. Also following the lecture, Q and A, tests, quiz's and anything else in the classroom will be demonstrated as projects in the lab.
Questions really come from instructor knowledge and experience; however, AI has and is proving to be quite helpful. Using AI can greatly improve verbiage and options is assessments.
A key take-away from this module is asking specific questions to make sure you are getting valid results. Some tests are very subjective and some students are unable to pass due to that. True/False questions should be used intentionally. A good way to determine mastery is having students explain why the answer is false. When you assign students an essay question, it is important to give the students the questions ahead of time. This gives them time to process the question and formulate a response.