Short answer questions can assess deep understanding and reasoning skills by requiring students to provide brief responses to questions. They have advantages like targeting specific objectives and avoiding cueing students to answers, but disadvantages like fragmenting content and limiting elaboration. To construct effective short answer questions for deep reasoning, educators should identify the specific thinking skill to assess, make questions precise, and use direct questions over incomplete statements when possible.

1. Short Answer Assesses deep understanding and reasoning skills when students are required to supply a brief response to a question or situation that can only be understood by the use of the targeted thinking skill.

2. A large proportion of assessment items make use of short answer questions of some form (in assignments, quizzes, examinations, laboratory tests).

3. Short Answer Response Formats one word, several lines, or over a page

4. complete the sentence, supply the missing line

5. short descriptive or qualitative answers, diagrams with explanation

6. Short Answer Advantages Question can be addressed towards the testing of a specific objective or thinking skill.

7. Avoids cueing by requiring students to supply an answer, rather than selecting or guessing from options supplied.