Exploring Selected-Response Assessments

What Are They

Traditional forms of assessment include tests with selected-response questions such as multiple-choice, true-false, short answer, ordering, matching, and fill-in-the-blank.

Why Use Them

Selected-response tests are probably best used when you want to measure whether students have met objectives from the lowest levels of cognitive skills from Bloom’s taxonomy - remembering and understanding. You can also build questions that call for applying, analyzing, and evaluating, but keep in mind that students may not actually be demonstrating true learning; they might just guess their way through an exam.

Our learning management system, Canvas, automatically grades selected-response questions, so your main investment of time is in creating the test.

Best Ways to Use Them

We recommend using selected-response tests for low-stakes assessment, simply to check for understanding, as we do with the exercises in each module of the seminar. Selected-response tests are also appropriate if your course objectives (the ones that grew out of your hopes and dreams for the students’ learning) center on recall and comprehension, such as in a medical terminology course.

Examples of Selected Response Assessments

Sample Test Directions

• This exam is worth 100 points.

• The focus is Chapters 3 and 4 of the Bennett text. You will be able to use your textbook, but do not rely on the idea that you will be able to find all the answers while you take the test! 

• You must work alone.

• The exam will open on Wednesday, February 13, at 7:00 a.m. Mountain Time and will close on Friday, February 15, at 7:00 p.m. Mountain Time. The exam will be timed, so you will have 50 minutes from the time you open the exam. This means that you must start the exam no later than 6:00 p.m. Mountain Time on Friday. You will have one attempt.

• The exam includes 20 multiple choice questions, 20 true-false questions, 5 matching, and 5 ordering questions. Each is worth 2 points. The questions will appear one at a time, and you will not be able to backtrack to previous questions.

• I suggest that you visit How do I take a quiz? on the Canvas Student Guide before you begin the test. If you need technical assistance during the exam, contact the Boise State help desk at helpdesk@boisestate.edu or 208-426-4357.

Chapter Quiz Activity Directions

Chapter 1 Quiz

Time: 3-5 minutes

We will have a timed chapter quiz each week. Like all other quizzes, you may not collaborate or ask the assistance of any person in completing it.  You should know the material well before you attempt each quiz. This quiz consists of multiple-choice, true-false, and/or matching questions based on the content from the graded homework activity. If you have completed the activities in the order suggested for this topic and prepared notes using the PowerPoint provided, I am confident that you will do well on the quiz. The quizzes are hosted on the publisher's website. Please allow up to 12 hours for quiz scores to be updated in the course site.

You will have access to your submitted answers and the correct answers after the quiz is submitted.

1. Use this link to log in to Connect

2. Click Assignments.

3. Select the assigned Quiz.

4. Complete all questions and submit.

Designing a Selected Response Assessment

Planning Selected-Response Assessments

Similar to creating a course design map that outlines the alignment between and among your objectives, assessments, and activities, you can create a Test Design Blueprint to help you ensure that the test matches the learning objectives as closely as possible. A Test Design Blueprint (or TDB) is a table that relates each test item to the corresponding cognitive level of each learning objective. In other words, the verbs used in the learning objectives match to the types of verbs used in Bloom's Taxonomy. Richlin (2006, p.95) provides the following recap of the type of verbs used at each level of Bloom's original taxonomy:

• Remember - ask students to recognize, identify, recall, list or retrieve

• Understand - ask students to illustrate, distinguish, categorize, compare, or map

• Apply - ask students to solve a problem, such as calculate a mathematical problem or apply a concept to a particular case

• Analyze - ask students questions that require to distinguish between items, select appropriate evidence, or integrate elements

• Evaluate - ask students questions that require critique based on criteria, and to judge using particular methods

• Create - ask students to compose, design, or construct

Designing Selected-Response Assessments

PLEASE CHOOSE: Visit one or more of these resources for tips on writing selected-response tests:

• Creating Better Multiple-Choice Tests for Online Courses

  • An article by Patti Shank, offering some good points to consider when creating selected-response tests

• Improving Your Test Questions

  • A thorough resource created by the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign’s Center for Teaching Excellence

• Writing Selected Response Assessments

  • A site developed at the University of South Florida

• Multiple Choice Question

  • A practice activity comparing good/poor multiple-choice questions

References

Florida Center for Instructional Technology. (n.d.) Writing selected response assessment items.

Richlin, L. (2006). Blueprint for learning: Constructing college courses to facilitate, assess, and document learning. Sterling, VA: Stylus.

Shank, P. ( 2009). Creating better multiple-choice tests for online courses. Retrieved from

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. (2009). Improving your test questions.

University of Texas. (2011). Activity: Good/Poor multiple-choice questions.

Using a Test Blueprint to Design a Test

Here we present two steps for creating a selected-response assessment using Bloom’s taxonomy:

1. Create a test design blueprint

2. Write the questions

Richlin (2006, p.95-97) created a test design blueprint about WWII and we revised as follows. This blueprint covers a variety of themes within the course topic and clues potential assessment types and questioning options.

Test Design Blueprint

(Table Source: Revised from Richlin, 2006, p. 96)

To view the printable PDF document of the table above, access the Test Design Blueprint.

Ideally, the percentage of test items per cognitive level should reflect the importance of, and amount of time spent on, each content area and cognitive level. In addition, any essay questions included in the test design blueprint should be accompanied with specific grading criteria or a rubric, which are covered later in this module.

Based on the test design blueprint above, we present two examples of selected-response questions.

Sample Question for Remember Level of Bloom's Taxonomy

Q1: During what years did the United States join WWII?

1. 1938 - 1944

2. 1941 - 1945

3. 1940 - 1949

4. 1939 - 1942

Answer key: 2

Sample Question for Understand Level of Bloom's Taxonomy

Q2: Which of the following were the causes of WWII? Check all that apply.

1. Unsolved problems with the Treaty of Versailles

2. The side effect of Great Depression

3. The competition of petroleum in Middle East

4. The rise of Nationalism in Germany

Answer key: 1, 2, 4