it is very helpful in nursing education and CET subject.

1. ESSAY TYPE QUESTION
By: MR.JG SAMBAD
IKDRC COLLEGE OF NURSING

2. OBJECTIVE
• Student will be able to demonstrate their
knowledge of how to create effective eassy
question that will accurately assess their
students achievements.

3. INTRODUCTION
• Education choose essay question over other forms of
assessment because essay items challenge students to
create a response rather than to simply select a response.
• Some educators use them because essay have the potential
to reveal students abilities to reason, create, analyse,
synthesize and evaluate.
• In short ,essay items are used for the advantages they offer.
Despite the advantages associated with essay question
there are numerous disadvantages also. However , easy
type questions are the most frequently used method of
evaluation in most frequently used method of evaluation
in most Indian universities, colleges, and schools.

4. Definition
• Essay question are defined as a test item which require a
response composed by the examinee, usually in the form
of one or more sentences , of a nature that no single
response or pattern of response can be listed as correct ,
and the accuracy and quality of which can be judged
subjectively only by one skilled or informed in the subject.
- john M. stalnkar
• An essay type test presents or more questions or other
tasks that require extended written responses from the
person being tested. - Robert L.E & David A.F

6. Based on Stalnaker's definition, an essay
question should meet the following
criteria:
1.Requires examinees to compose rather than select their
response
2.Elicits student responses that must consist of more than
one sentence
3.Allows different or original responses or pattern of
responses
4.Requires subjective judgment by a competent specialist
to judge the accuracy and quality of responses

7. Features of essay type question
• Questions are should both as formative and summative
assessments.
• They require a great deal of thought and planning.
• Students prepare their own answers.
• They evaluate knowledge areas alone.
• Students handwriting, spelling, neatness, organization and way of
expressing ideas may be considered while scoring the items.
• No single answer is permitted freedom of response.
• The examinee is permitted freedom of response.
• Answer vary in their degree of quality or corrections.

8. Purpose Of Essay Type Question
• Essay type questions are subjected to criticism by
educationists but still used in university exams
across the globe.
• Once might wonder if there are so many loopholes,
why they are consistently being used for evaluation
in nursing.
• This is because essay type question serve distinct
purpose which cannot be accomplished by any other
type of questions.
• These purpose are discussed below:

9. 1. Students get a chance to express own views
• It provides students with an opportunity to
express their views o particular phenomena.

10. 2. To assess factual recall of knowledge
• Sometimes teachers might be interested in
knowledge how well students can recall the
facts they have learned.
• This can be fulfilled by having essay type
questions in the test paper.

11. 3.Analysis and explanation of relationships
• When the teacher is interested in knowledge
how well the students can explain the
relationship between two or more concepts
essay type questions are used based no other
from of question can serve this purpose.

12. 4.Assessment of non- content attributes of students
• Creativity, writing style, organization, neatness
and cleanliness are some other attribute that
can be more appropriately assessed through
essay type of question.

13. Principles/criteria for Construction
Of Essay Type Question
• The following guidelines must be followed for the
construction of essay type questions:
• The learning objective supposed to be evaluated by an essay
type question should be clearly defined in simple words.
1. Survey the landscape. When you first get the test, look over
the whole thing. Figure out what the tasks are, paying special
attention to how many essays you're asked to write (be sure
to note any choices offered) and, most important, how much
time you're supposed to devote to each. You'd be amazed at
how many students make a mistake about the basic
instructions.

14. • 2. Budget your time. Craft each essay around the time you
have available. Professors who allot one hour expect longer
and more detailed essays than ones who ask you to write for
20 minutes. Don't have a one-size-fits-all approach to essay
questions. (By the way, it wouldn't hurt to take a working
watch to the exam. Not all professors want to track the time
for you.)

15. 3. Scan (in your mind) all the resources. Before you start
writing your answer, think through what elements of the
course might be relevant for your answer. Most students are
primed to think first about the lectures that bear on the topic.
But if you can bring in materials from the reading or
discussion sections, and if they're relevant, your answer is
likely to be stronger.

16. 4. Don't waste time. Some students begin an essay exam by
writing elaborate outlines—so elaborate that they run out of
time after writing a sentence or two of the actual answer. If
you need to jot down a few notes before you start, that's fine,
but you need to spend most of your time writing the answer,
not preparing to write it.

17. 5. Don't introduce. Essay exams are not the time to give
lengthy introductions or "setups" to the topic. Usually the
time is budgeted tightly, and there's not time for this. Begin
your answer in the very first sentence. Nailing the main point
down right up front puts your essay on track for an A.

18. • 6. Don't gesture. Some students think the answer is so
obvious—and the professor knows it, after all—that they only
need to wave their hands at the answer (rather than wasting
all that ink to spell it out). But the prof is looking for you to
demonstrate your knowledge and understanding of the
material, which can only be done if you take the time to make
explicit your points. Be sure your answers can be understood
by a reasonably intelligent person, not one who is previously
familiar with the material (like the professor).

19. 8. Write quickly and neatly. More detail equals a better
grade (usually). Legible handwriting equals a better grade
(usually).
9. Keep it real. Answer in simple, clear language. Avoid fillers,
and eliminate irrelevant material. When an instructor is
reading 70 essays on the same topic, information not related
to the topic really stands out like a sore thumb. Some graders
just ignore it, but others take off for it.

20. 9. Don't be afraid to go back. It's OK to go back to a previous
essay to fill in some important point you just thought of. Just
draw an arrow to the margin or to the top of the paper and
add in your latest brainstorm.

21. Constructing Essay Exams
• What happens: Learner
• Hears and reads instructions
• Interprets the question
• Recalls relevant information
• Prepares a response according to the verbal
directive,
either mentally or written, either outlined or
"mapped",
• Writes response
• Reviews and edits if time permits

22. Essay tests can evaluate more complex
cognitive or thinking skills
• Assuming that rote memory and recall tasks are assessed more
appropriately through objectives tests as true-false and multiple
choice questions. These cognitive challenges are reflected in the
verbs of the questions themselves, from simple to complex (c.f. lists
of verbs in objects...)
• Knowledge: recall, define, arrange, list, label, identify, match,
reproduce
• Comprehension: describe, explain, recognize, restate, review,
translate, classify; give examples; (re)state in own words
• Application: apply, illustrate, interpret, operate, solve, predict,
utilize
• Analysis: analyze, compare, contrast, distinguish, examine,
experiment, diagram; outline
• Synthesis: design, develop, formulate, propose, construct, create,
reorganize, integrate, model, incorporate, plan
• Evaluation: evaluate, argue, assess, compare, contrast, conclude,
defend, judge, support, interpret, justify

23. Characteristics of Essay Test
The distinctive feature of essay type test is
the “freedom of response”. Pupils are free
to select, relate and present ideas in their
own words.

24. Uses of Essay Test
1. Assess the ability to recall, organize, and integrate
ideas.
2. Assess the ability to express oneself in writing.
3. Ability to supply information.
4. Assess student understanding of subject matter.
5. Measure the knowledge of factual information.

26. Types /Form of Essay Test
• Restricted Response/ Controlled Response.
• Extended Response/Uncontrolled Response.
Restricted Response Extended Response

27. Restricted Response Essay Questions
Restricted response usually limits both the
content and the response by restricting the
scope of the topic to be discussed.
Useful for measuring learning outcomes
requiring interpretation and application of
data in a specific area.

29. Advantages of Restricted Response Questions
• Restricted response question is more structured.
• Measure specific learning outcomes.
• Restricted response provide for more ease of
assessment.
• Any outcomes measured by an objective
interpretive exercise can be measured by a
restricted response essay question.

30. Limitations of Restricted Response Questions
Restricted response question restricts the
scope of the topic to be discussed and
indicating the nature of the desired response
which limits student opportunity to
demonstrate these behavior.

31. Extended Response Essay Questions
Extended response question allows student to select
information that they think is pertinent, to organize
the answer in accordance with their best judgment,
and to integrate and evaluate ideas as they think
suitable.
They do not set limits on the length or exact content
to be discussed.

33. Advantages of Extended Response Questions
• This type of essay item is mostly useful in measuring
learning outcomes at the higher cognitive levels of
educational objectives such as analysis, synthesis
and evaluation levels.
• They expose the individual differences in attitudes,
values and creative ability.

34. Limitations of Extended Response Questions
• They are insufficient for measuring knowledge of
factual materials because they call for extensive
details in selected content area at a time.
• Scoring such type of responses is usually difficult
and unreliable since the examinees have free will in
the array of factual information of varying degree of
correctness, coherence and expression.

35. Advantages Of Essay Questions
• The freedom of response allows the student to express
himself in his own words.
• It measures complex learning outcomes that cannot be
measured by other means.
• Essay tests promotes the development of problem-solving
skills.
• It helps students to improve their writing skills such as writing
speed.
• It encourages creativity by allowing their own
unique way.

36. Advantages Of Essay Questions
• It is easy and economical to administer.
• It encourages good study habits in students.
• Essay item is easy to construct and does not take much
time
• It can be used to measure in-depth knowledge especially in
a restricted subject matter area.
• It does not encourage guessing and cheating during
testing.

37. Disadvantages of Essay Questions
• Scoring is not reliable because different examiners
can grade the score answer differently. In fact, the
same examiner can grade the same question
differently at different times.
• Grading of essay tests is time-consuming.
• Subjective scoring of essay questions.
• Essay questions do not cover the course content
and the objectives as comprehensively as possible.

38. Disadvantages of Essay Questions
• Evaluating essay questions without adequate
attention to the learning outcomes is just like
“three blind men appraising an elephant” .
One teacher stresses factual content, one
organization of ideas, and another writing
skill.

39. Suggestion For Scoring Essay Question
• Score the responses question-by-
question rather than student-by-
student.
• Disassociate the identity of
students from their responses
during the grading process.
• Determine in advance what
aspects of the response will or
will not be judged in scoring.

40. Analytical scoring
• This scoring method requires that the instructor
develop an ideal response and create a scoring key or
guide. The scoring key provides an absolute standard
for determining the total points awarded for a
response. Student responses are compared to the
scoring standard and not to the responses of their
classmates.

41. Holistic Scoring:
• The reader forms an impression of the overall quality
of a response and then transforms that impression
into a score or grade. The score represents the
quality of a response in relation to a relative standard
such as other students in the class.

44. SUMMARY