The document discusses essay tests and their characteristics. It defines essay tests as tests that require students to compose lengthy responses of several paragraphs. Essay tests assess higher-level thinking by measuring skills like analysis, synthesis, and evaluation. They give students freedom of response by allowing them to express ideas in their own words. Essay tests can assess abilities like recalling, organizing ideas and expressing oneself in writing. They come in restricted or extended response formats. The document also provides guidelines for constructing and scoring essay questions.

2. Subjective (Essay) test
• Consists of questions to which students
answered/ respond in one or more
sentences to a specific question or
problem
• assesses the student’s ability to
produce, integrate, and express ideas,
and allow the student to be original, and
creative.

3. Definition
Essay test is a test
that requires the
student to compose
responses, usually
lengthy up to several
paragraphs.

4. Essay test measure Higher Level
Thinking
Questions
that test
higher level
processes
such as
• Analysis
• Synthesis
• Evaluation
• Creativity

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

6. 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.

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

8. General Types of Essay Test
2. Restricted/Controlled response
– The examinee is required to provide
limited response based on a
specified criterion for answering the
question.
Examples:
– Explain the causes and effect of EDSA
1
General Types of Essay Test

9. 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.

10. 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.

11. 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.

12. 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.

13. General Types of Essay Test
1. Extended/ Unrestricted/
Uncontrolled response
– Allows for an in-depth answers of a
student’s knowledge, thinking processes,
and problem solving behavior relative to a
specific topic
– A free-response essay
– The student has to recall specific
information and organize, evaluate, and
write intelligible composition

14. • Examples:
–Explain the issue about climate
change
–Discuss classroom assessment
General Types of Essay Test

15. 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.

16. 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.

17. Major Difference
• Objective Interpretive- select
• Restricted Response Essay- supply
• Extended-Response Essay- write

18. 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.

19. 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.

20. 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.

21. 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.

22. Learning Outcomes that can be
measured effectively with essay items:
• Abilities to:
1. Explain cause-effect
relationships
2. Describe application of
principles
3. Present relevant arguments
4. Formulate tenable hypotheses
5. State necessary assumptions

23. Learning Outcomes that can be
measured effectively with essay items:
• Abilities to:
6. Describe the limitations of data
7. Explain methods and procedures
8. Produce, organize, and express
ideas
9. Integrate learning in different areas
10.Create original forms
11.Evaluate the worth of ideas

24. Types of Essay Questions
by Bloom’s Taxonomy
1. KNOWLEDGE
– remembering; memorizing; recognizing;
– recalling identification and recall of
information
• Who, what, when, where, how ...?
• Describe
– Examples:
• Explain how Egypt came to be called the
gift of the Nile.
• State the formula for the area of a circle.

25. 2. COMPREHENSION
– interpreting;
– translating from one medium to another;
– describing in one's own words;
– organization and selection of facts and ideas
• Retell...
• Examples:
• What is meant when a person says, “I had
just crossed the bridge”?
• Given the mathematical formula for the area
of a circle, paraphrase it using your own
words.
Types of Essay
Questions
by Bloom’s Taxonomy

26. 3. APPLICATION
– problem solving;
– applying information to produce some
result;
– use of facts, rules and principles
• How is...an example of...?
• How is...related to...?
• Why is...significant?
• Examples:
• Give at least 3 examples of how the law
of supply operates in our economy
today.
• Compute the area of actual circles.
Types of Essay
Questions
by Bloom’s Taxonomy

27. 4. ANALYSIS
– subdividing something to show how it is put together;
– finding the underlying structure of a communication;
– identifying motives;
– separation of a whole into component parts
• What are the parts or features of...?
• Classify...according to...
• Outline/diagram...
• How does...compare/contrast with...?
• What evidence can you list for...?
• Examples:
• Explain the causes and effects the EDSA 1 on the
political and social life of the Filipino people
• Given a math word problem, determine the strategies
that would be necessary to solve it.
Types of Essay
Questions
by Bloom’s Taxonomy

28. 5. SYNTHESIS
– creating a unique, original product that may be in
verbal form or may be a physical object;
– combination of ideas to form a new whole
• What would you predict/infer from...?
• What ideas can you add to...?
• How would you create/design a new...?
• What might happen if you combined...?
• What solutions would you suggest for...?
• Examples:
• Describe the origin and significance of the
celebration of Christmas the world over.
• Apply and integrate several different
strategies to solve a mathematical problem.
Types of Essay
Questions
by Bloom’s Taxonomy

29. 6. EVALUATION
– making value decisions about issues;
– resolving controversies or differences of opinion;
– development of opinions, judgements or decisions
• Do you agree...?
• What do you think about...?
• What is the most important...?
• Place the following in order of priority...
• How would you decide about...?
• What criteria would you use to assess...?
• Example:
• When you have finished solving a problem
determine the degree to which that problem
was solved as efficiently as possible.
Types of Essay
Questions
by Bloom’s Taxonomy

30. Types of Essay Questions
(From Garcia, 2008)
1.Recall
 Simple recall
 What is the chemical formula for sodium
bicarbonate?
 Selective recall in which a basis for
evaluation/judgment is suggested
 Who among the Greek philosophers
affected your thinking as student?

31. 2.Understanding
 Comparison of 2 phenomena on a single
designated basis
 Compare 19th
century and present-day
Filipino writers with respect to their
involvement in societal affairs
 Comparison of two phenomena in general
 Compare the Phil. Revolution of 1896
with that of People’s Power Revolution
of 1986
Types of Essay Questions
(From Garcia, 2008)

32. 2. Understanding
 Explanation of the use of exact meaning of a
phrase/statement
 Explain this statement “............”
 Summary of a text or some portion of it
 What is the central idea of communism as an
economic system?
 Statement of an artist’s purpose in the
selection or organization of material
 Why did Hemingway describe in detail the
episode in which Gordon, lying wounded,
engages the economy enemy?
Types of Essay Questions
(From Garcia, 2008)

33. 3. Application
 Causes and effects
 Why does frequent dependence on penicillin for
treatment of minor ailment result in its reduced
effectiveness against major invasion of body tissues
by infectious bacteria?
 Analysis
 Why was Hamlet torn by conflicting desires?
 Statement of relationship
 A researcher reported that teaching styles
correlates with student achievement at about 0.75.
What does this correlation mean
Types of Essay Questions
(From Garcia, 2008)

34. 3. Application
 Illustrations or examples of principles
 Identify 3 examples of the uses of the hammer in a
typical Filipino home.
 application of rules or principles in specified
situation.
 Would you weigh more or less on the moon? Why or
why not?
 Reorganization of facts
 Some radical Filipino historians assert that the Filipino
revolution against Spain was a revolution from the top
not from below. Using the same observation, what
other conclusion is possible.
Types of Essay Questions
(From Garcia, 2008)

35. 4. Judgment
 Decision for or against
 Should members of the communist party
of the Phils. Be allowed to teach in
colleges and universities? Why or why
not?
 Discussion
 Trace the events that led to the downfall of
the dictatorial regime of Ferdinand
Marcos.
Types of Essay Questions
(From Garcia, 2008)

36. 4. Judgment
 Criticism of the adequacy, correctness or
relevant of a statement
 Former President Joseph Estrada was convicted for
the case of plunder by the Sandiganbayan. Comment
on the adequacy of the evidence by the said tribunal
in reaching a decision on the case filed against the
former chief executive of the country.
 Formulation of new questions
 What questions should parents ask their children in
order to determine the reasons why they join
fraternities and sororities?
Types of Essay Questions
(From Garcia, 2008)

37. Guidelines for constructing
essay questions
1. Give adequate time and thought to the
preparation of essay questions
2. The question should be written so that
it will elicit (draw out) the type of
behavior you want to measure.
3. A well-constructed essay question
should establish a framework within
which the student operates

38. 4. Decide in advance what factors will be
considered in evaluating an essay
response.
5. Do not provide optional questions in an
essay test
6. Use relatively large number of
questions requiring short answers
(about ½ page) rather than just a few
questions involving long answers (2-3
Guidelines for constructing
essay questions

39. 7. Don’t start essay questions with such
words as “list, who, what, whether”
8. Adapt the length of the responses and
the complexity of the question and
answer to the maturity of the student
9. Use the novel type of question
wherever feasible
10.Prepare a scoring key
Guidelines for constructing
essay questions

40. • Prepare blue print for the test.
• Give appropriate wiightage to each
domain
1.Knowledge 50%
2.Skill 30%
3.Attitude 20%

41. Suggestions for
grading /scoring essay
test
1. Check your scoring key against actual
responses
2. Be consistent in your grading. Use
criteria/rubric
3. Grade only one question at a time for
all papers
4. Grade the responses anonymously

42. 5. The mechanics of expression should be
judged separately from what the student
writes.
6. Try to score all responses to a particular
question without interruption.
7. If possible, have two independent
readings of the test and use the average
as the final score.
8. Provide comments and correct errors.
Suggestions for grading
/scoring essay test

43. Suggestion For Scoring Essay
Question
• Chose either the analytical or holistic
(global-quality) method.
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.

44. Suggestion For Scoring Essay
Question
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.

45. A combined approach
• Involves both type of scoring.
• First scoring all the responses holistically
then recording them analytically.

46. Bluffing-A Special scoring
Problem
It is possible for students to obtain higher scores
in essay questions than they deserve by the
mean of clever bluffing. This is usually a
combination of writing skill, general knowledge
and use of common tricks like;
– Respond to every question.
– Stressing importance of topic.
– Agreeing with teachers opinion.
– Name dropping.
– Write on a related topic and “make it fit”.
– Writing in general terms that fit many situation.