|
|
- What are Short Answer Questions?
- Structure of Short Answer Questions
- Advantages of Short Answer Questions
- Disadvantages of Short Answer Questions
- More on Short Answer Questions - Download the full pdf
WHAT ARE SHORT ANSWER QUESTIONS?
Short-answer questions are open-ended questions that require students to create an answer. They are commonly used in examinations to assess the basic knowledge and understanding (low cognitive levels) of a topic before more in-depth assessment questions are asked on the topic.
STRUCTURE OF SHORT ANSWER QUESTIONS
Short Answer Questions do not have a generic structure. Questions may require answers such as complete the sentence, supply the missing word, short descriptive or qualitative answers, diagrams with explanations etc. The answer is usually short from one word to a few lines, often students may answer in bullet form.
ADVANTAGES OF SHORT ANSWER QUESTIONS
- Short Answer Questions are relatively fast to mark and can be mark by different assessors, as long as the questions are set in such a way that all alternative answers can be considered by the assessors.
- Short Answer Questions are also relatively easy to set compared to many assessment methods.
- Short Answer Questions can be used as part of a formative and summative assessments, as the structure of short answer questions are very similar to examination questions, students are more familiar with the practice and feel less anxious.
- Unlike MCQs, there is no guessing on answers, students must supply an answer.
DISADVANTAGES OF POSTERS
- It is important for the assessors to state the assessment criteria explicitly, the students need to know if the content of the material is part of the criteria and/or the method of presenting the poster is part of the criteria. If students are to be assessed on different aspects (such as the creativity skills or presentation skills on the posters) other than the content, they should be given the opportunity to learn about those aspects and practice them before being assessed on them.
- Students may overspend their time on the visual effects, and not on the actual content. Tutor and peer assessors may also be affected by these effects and overlook the meaningful ideas behind the topic.
Back to Top
|
