ERIC Number: ED507802
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 2009-Sep
Pages: 8
Abstractor: ERIC
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Constructed-Response Test Questions: Why We Use Them; How We Score Them. R&D Connections. Number 11
Livingston, Samuel A.
Educational Testing Service
To many people, standardized testing means multiple-choice testing. However, some tests contain questions that require the test taker to produce the answer, rather than simply choosing it from a list. The required response can be as simple as the writing of a single word as complex as the design of a laboratory experiment to test a scientific hypothesis. These types of test questions, taken together, are referred to as "constructed-response" questions. This issue of "ETS R&D Connections" discusses the following: (1) the kind of information that can be obtained from constructed-response questions that cannot be obtained from multiple-choice questions; (2) how test-takers' responses are translated into numerical scores; and (3) the limitations of constructed-response questions, and how the recent technological developments are helping some of those limitations.
Descriptors: Testing, Standardized Tests, Multiple Choice Tests, Laboratory Experiments, Questioning Techniques, Feedback (Response), Scoring Rubrics, Task Analysis, Measurement Objectives, Gender Differences, Responses, Information Technology
Educational Testing Service. Rosedale Road Mailstop 19R, Princeton, NJ 08541-0001. Tel: 609-921-9000; Fax: 609-734-5410; Web site: http://www.ets.org
Publication Type: Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: Educational Testing Service
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A