Exams and quizzes are designed to assess student understanding of course material, particularly material from lectures. Quizzes are sporadic and occasional, are introduced for a specific purpose, and are not always graded. Exams usually come twice a semester, as a midterm and final.
Exam questions take a variety of formats, depending on the skill or content they are designed to evaluate. Typical tests include a mixture of multiple choice, multiple answer, short answer, short-medium answer, and essay questions.
Multiple choice and multiple answer questions typically assess studentsâ ability to apply concepts and definitions correctly. Students have generally not seen the specific examples listed in the various options. So they have to apply a general concept or definition to novel situations, which tests mastery of the concept or definition in question.
Short answer questions, on the other hand, typically assess ability to recall concepts or definitions from class. I donât expect students to memorize all concepts and definitions from class. A study sheet and review session conducted before exams helps students focus their energy on learning and understanding specific key concepts that are necessary for success in the class.
Short-medium answer questions typically test student understanding of major arguments or theories or distinctions discussed in class.
Essay questions test studentsâ ability to synthesize major topics discussed in class and creatively apply it. In Health Care Ethics, I might ask students to analyze a short case and explain how they think it should be resolved. In order to accomplish this successfully, they need to understand a variety of concepts discussed in class (such as the criteria for decision making capacity, or various principles of health care ethics); but they also need to develop their own arguments in order to successfully defend their answer. In Ethics (PHIL 2103), I may ask students to defend a theory of normative ethics they think most plausible, which requires knowing the basic features of the theory, understanding the arguments for and objections to the theory, and being able to explain in their own voice and using their own reasons why that theory is superior to competing theories.
