Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/56065
Sample Questions Good questions are clearly worded, test what stu- dents are supposed to be learning, and define what the answer should include. They also assess what the school or professor values. Here are two sample questions—one that works, and one that doesn't. Poor What is the name of the company saved by public relations activities after product tampering of Extra- Strength Tylenol with cyanide led to the deaths of seven people? A student doesn't need to know anything about the product tampering to give the correct answer; the test taker just might know who makes Tylenol. A teacher should expect students to do more than simply be able to recall the name of the company. Better Discuss the need for a clear business philosophy, using as examples at least four decisions made by Johnson & Johnson in response to Tylenol tampering in the early 1980s. This question taps skill of a higher order and clearly defines the expected response. To answer the question correctly, students must connect a concept with concrete examples—explaining the "why," not just naming the "what." well, but those questions are harder to write and generally aren't found in abundance in test banks. 7. Ask the right questions. Tests should require students to use their problem-solving and reasoning skills. Faculty should avoid simple recall questions such as what or when; instead, they should pose thought-provoking questions built around why, how, and what if. Such questions require students to work more actively with the material—which is a form of practice. As such, it leads to better retention. 8. Assess frequently. Frequent testing enhances both short-term and long-term learn- ing and encourages students to study continuously throughout the semester. Assessments come in many forms, including quiz- zes, class presentations, and critiques. As previously mentioned, cumulative content tests—exams that include what has been mastered along with new material—are more effective than non-overlapping assessments of separate content. 9. Provide timely feedback. Frequent assessments not only measure how much students are learning, but also reveal precisely what they are learn- ing. If testing shows that there are portions of the material that students haven't learned—or haven't learned well— those portions can be retaught, perhaps in a different way. Professors can correct misunderstood material before it has become ingrained in a student's mind. If repeated testing is used as feedback, it can lead to better teaching. Sometimes "erroneous learning" is a side effect of the testing, since testing can lead to long-term retention of mis- conceptions. On open-ended questions, the constructed response that appears to be reasonable tends to be remem- bered. On a multiple-choice test, the incorrect answers can be learned instead of the correct ones. This side effect also can be reduced with timely, relevant feedback. It's an enormous mistake to give students their corrected tests and allow them to glance at their results only briefly before turning the papers back in. Students should be able to keep these assessments so they can review their past errors— and retain the right answers over the long term. Use It, It's Yours Dale Carnegie taught us that if we want to remember names, we can't simply hear them repeated; we must say them often. Mark Twain taught us how to expand our vocabularies: "Use a new word correctly three times, and it's yours." Similarly, it's a generally held belief that people learn a language more easily if they immerse themselves in it and speak it daily, instead of just reading a textbook. Testing has the same effect—it encourages long-term retention of information. Unfortunately, in many classroom situations, testing often is viewed as a nuisance to both faculty and students that takes away from instruction time. The typical college paradigm promotes minimal testing—usually just a midterm and a final—and students often put off studying until the last minute. They obtain better grades than they would have if they hadn't studied at all, and they feel confident that they've mastered the subject matter. However, these are superficial, short-term gains, and they come at the expense of long-term learning and retention. For true learning, it's better for professors to test early, test often—and test everything. As the term progresses, fac- ulty should treat each test like a practice final. For students, that kind of active practice will make them letter-perfect. ■ z Lawrence M. Rudner is vice president for research at the Graduate Management Admission Council in McLean, Virginia, and a visiting professor teaching statistics for EMBA students at the Goethe School of Business in Frankfurt, Germany. BizEd MARCH/APRIL 2010 33