A few years back I used what was then called "criterion based" testing. It
kind of epitomizes the ultimate untimed test. I gave 2 take home tests per
semester each of which consisted of 50-80 short answer questions. Students
would take a day, turn in the test, and I would grade each question as
right or wrong. If wrong I would give feedback in the form of a
clarification or additional information question. If they wanted to
students could then reanswer the questions they missed and again turn the
test. This cycle would continue until each student had achieved a grade
with which they were satisfied. Grading criteria were: A = 100% correct, B
= 90 - 99% correct, C = 80 - 89% correct, < 80% = incomplete. This meant
students had to answer enough questions to achieve at least a C. In this
format almost all students received a course grade of A. The major problem
with this format was that some students formed exam groups each member of
which would answer some of the questions and then they would pool their
answers. Some of the students did do the tests entirely on their own.
Bill Ghiselli
Department of Psychology
University of Missouri at Kansas City
"One man's fish is another man's poisson"
