Search
Close this search box.

Improving the Quality of Machine-Gradable Questions

Credit: iStock.com/Radila Radilova
Credit: iStock.com/Radila Radilova
Tests provide one measure of our students’ learning according to the standards of the instructor and the field. But tests also affect our students socially, emotionally, and financially and influence their science-minded identities for years to come. We owe it to students to create fair tests with transparent expectations, clear guidelines for studying, and questions that adhere to scholarly practices. Our goal at the 2020 Teaching Professor Conference was to provide a road map to improving the quality of the machine gradable test items. We emphasized crafting and aligning learning objectives with test items and provided an item-writing checklist to help instructors critique and improve their test items.

To continue reading, you must be a Teaching Professor Subscriber. Please log in or sign up for full access.

One Response

  1. I particularly appreciated your comments that, “They should construct tests that minimize excessive or unnecessary reading.” This is an issue whenever a new textbook is adopted. I noticed a test quality challenge recently when my department made the well-meaning leap to an open source textbook. While the new content was as good as the old, the old test bank did not match. Each author used a slightly different voice to describe even basic concepts. If multiple choice quiz questions don’t match in voice, wording, or definitions, this can unfairly confuse students and drive them to “Google” the answers. This is a serious problem with online teaching. Students who have done the required reading deserve quiz questions that test concepts using the same wording. In fairness to students, whenever a new textbook is adopted, a new test bank should be written to match.

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Related Articles

I have two loves: teaching and learning. Although I love them for different reasons, I’ve been passionate about...
One of the courses I am teaching this semester is a senior-level course titled Autonomic Nervous System Regulation....
Are you still lecturing? If so, you are like most faculty. The lecture continues to be the most...
Simple and inexpensive software has made it easy for students and teachers to create video and audio for...
Do people learn in the same way or different ways? According to cognitive science, the answer is the...
When watching a movie, you might use the first few minutes to decide whether you will like it...
Instructors in face-to-face courses can roughly gauge how well students understand the material by facial expressions and audience...

Are you signed up for free weekly Teaching Professor updates?

You'll get notified of the newest articles.