Rubrics

The Academy of Art University has a discussion of rubrics for Authentic Assessment.

Washington State University has created a critical thinking rubric.

Test Construction

The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga-Teaching Resource Center outlines the advantages and disadvantages of various test questions.

Cheung and Bucat present a good discussion of the construction of multiple-choice items.

Brigham Young University offers more good information for multiple-choice item writers as well a more general discussion of how to prepare better tests.

The IDEA paper by William Cashin contains information about strengths and weaknesses of essay tests.

DO'S:

• Write the test items simply and clearly
• If an item represents a particular opinion, identify the author of the opinion.
• Write clear and unambiguous directions for the test as a whole and for each specific section of the test.
• Assemble items into a test according to some systematic plan, e.g., similar item-types grouped together.
• Devise a system to facilitate scoring the test (e.g., a separate answer sheet and an answer key in the same format).

DON'TS:

• Don't lift a statement verbatim from a textbook.
• Don't provide clues in one item for answers to other items.
• Don't intersperse item-types on the test.
• Avoid writing interdependent items such that the answer to one item is necessary to respond to the next item.
• Avoid items dealing with trivia.
• Avoid trick questions.
• Avoid ambiguity in items.