In a message dated 3/28/2001 1:10:02 PM Pacific Standard Time,
[EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
Good multiple choice
questions can require fairly high levels of thinking and reasoning. My
concern about essays and such is reliability. I do not think that anyone
can
be objective in scoring an essay unless they confine themselves to scaning
for certain key words, which makes them a form of multiple choice
I believe that that is true. My chief objections to scantrons is that that
they are impersonal and distancing, and that I cannot offer my students a
chance to explain their answers. Sometimes students misunderstand the
question, or I don't ask it as well as I might.
I prefer to offer a test that is approximately half MC and half essay. I feel
strongly that a college education should include training in written
expression including planning and executing essays and term papers on broad
themes introduced in the course. I grade everything by hand.
Nancy Melucci
ELAC
