ISABELA STATE UNIVERSITYRoxas Campus

Almarie Santiago MallaboBSE III Filipino Major

Non-objective tests, allow for the assessment of higher order thinking skills.In essay test, the students are the one who supplies rather than selects the correct answer.

Non-objective tests, allow for the assessment of higher order thinking skills.In essay test, the students are the one who supplies rather than selects the correct answer.

• The accuracy and quality of such a response can often be judged only by a person skilled and informed in the subject area being tested.

• Should measure complex cognitive skills or process.Like objective test item, essay items may be well constructed or poorly constructed.

Example: Write an essay about the first EDSA revolution.

• May require only recall of information• Not even let the student know what is

required for a satisfactory response.

Example: Write an essay about the first EDSA revolution giving focus on the main characters of the revolution and their respective roles.

• Aims to test complex cognitive skills by requiring the students to organize, integrate and synthesize knowledge.

1. GENERAL STATEMENT - a few sentences about your subject that catches the attention of your reader.

2. THESIS STATEMENT – one sentence that tells your reader the main points of your topic and states the over all “plan” of your essay.

• It develops the main idea of your essay. Body consists of a topic sentence and several supporting paragraph.

• It summarizes or restates the main idea of the essay. You must leave the reader with a sense that your essay is complete.

• Essay items can vary from very lengthy open-ended-of-semester term papers or take home tests that have flexible page limits (e.g., 10-12 pages, no more than 20 pages etc.) to essays with responses limited or restricted to one page or less. The former are referred to EXTENDED RESPONSE ESSAY and the later are referred to RESTRICTED RESPONSE ESSAY.

Example: Identify as many different ways to generate

electricity as you can. Give the advantages and disadvantages of each and how each might be used to meet the electrical power requirements of a medium-sized city. Your response will be graded on its accuracy and your evaluation of how practical each source of electricity would be, if implemented. Your response should be 12-15 pages in length and will be evaluated based on the scoring criteria distributed in class. For maximum credit be sure that your response addresses each of the scoring criteria components.

Example: Imagine that you and your

friend found a magic wand. Write a story about an adventure that you and your friend had with that magic wand.

Example: Imagine that you and your

friend found a magic wand. Write a story about an adventure that you and your friend had with that magic wand.

• An essay item that limits the ways in which you will permit the students to answer.

• Excellent for knowledge, comprehension, application levels

Examples:List the major political similarities

and differences between U.S. participation in the Korean War and World War II. Limit your answer to one page. Your score will depend on accuracy, organization and brevity.

Examples:What is recycling and what are items that can be recycled?

Describe two situations that demonstrate the application of the law of supply and demand.

Definition Essay• It should attempt to explain why the term is

defined as such. It could define the term directly, giving no information other than the explanation of the term.

Example: Define the meaning of an abstract concept, love;

Descriptive Essay• Provides details about how something looks,

feels, tastes, smells, makes one feel, or sounds. It can also describe what something is, or how something happened. These essays generally use a lot of sensory details.

Example: Describe a tree on your background

Compare/Contrast Essay• Discusses the similarities and differences between

two things, people, concepts, places, etc. The essay could be an unbiased discussion, or an attempt to convince the reader of the benefits of one thing, person, or concept.

Example: Compare the two man in your life. Your future husband and your ex-boyfriend.

Cause/Effect Essay

• are concerned with why things happen (causes) and what happens as a result (effects).

Example: Write an essay why a volcano erupts, and what happens afterwards;

Narrative Essay• It can also be called a "short story." Generally

the narrative essay is conversational in style, and tells of a personal experience. It is most commonly written in the first person (uses I). This essay could tell of a single, life-shaping event, or simply a mundane daily experience.

Process Essay

• Describes how something is done. It generally explains actions that should be performed in a series. It can explain in detail how to accomplish a specific task.

Example: How to bake an apple pie.

Argumentative Essay

• One that attempts to persuade the reader to the writer's point of view. The writer can either be serious or funny, but always tries to convince the reader of the validity of his or her opinion.

Example: Use public transportation instead of driving.

Critical Essay

• Analyzes the strengths, weaknesses and methods of someone else's work.

Example: Analyze how Shakespeare presents the character, Othello, in his play, Othello;

14 TYPES of

ABILITIESthat can be measured by

essays items

STECKLEIN (1955)

1. Comparison between two or more things2. The development and defense of an

opinion3. Questions of cause and effect4. Explanation of meanings5. Summarizing of information in a

designated area

6. Analysis7. Knowledge of relationships8.Illustrations of rules, principles, procedures,

and applications9.Applications of rules, laws, and principles to

new situations10. Criticisms of the adequacy, relevance, or

correctness of a concept, idea or information

11. Formulation of new questions and problems

12. Reorganization of facts13. Discriminations between objects,

concepts, or events14. Inferential thinking

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ADVANTAGES

1. Most effective in assessing complex learning outcomes

2. Relatively easy to construct3. Emphasize essential communication

skills in complex academic disciplines4. Guessing is eliminated

DISADVANTAGES

1. Difficult to score2. Scores are unreliable3. Limited sample of total instructional

content4. Bluffing

RULES OF THUMB

which facilitate the grading of essay papers:

Rule 1: Phrase the direction in such way that students are guided on the key concepts to be included.

Example: Write an essay on the topic: “Plant Photosynthesis” using the following keywords and phrases: chlorophyll, sunlight, water, carbon dioxide, oxygen, by-product, stomata.

Note that the students are properly guided in terms of the keywords that the teacher is looking for in this essay examination. An essay such as the one given below will get a score of zero (0). Why?

Plant Photosynthesis

Nature has its own way of ensuring the balance between food producers and consumers. Plants are considered producers of food for animals. Plants produce food for animals through a process called photosynthesis. It is a complex process that combines various natural elements on earth into the final product which animals can consume in order to survive. Naturally, we all need to protect plant so that we will continue to have food on our table. We should discourage burning of grasses, cutting of trees and illegal logging. If leaves of plants are destroyed, they cannot perform photosynthesis and animals will also perish.

Rule 2: Inform the students on the criteria to be used for grading their essays.

Write an essay on the topic: “Plant Photosynthesis” using the keyword indicated. You will be graded according to the following criteria:

a. Coherence

b. Accuracy of statement

c. Use of keywordsd. Claritye. Extra points for innovative presentation of ideas

Establish reasonable time and page limits for each essay question to help the student complete the question.

Rule 3: Put a limit on the essay test.

When writing essay item, simultaneously develop a scoring guide or rubric to ensure that each question clearly targets the designated learning objectives.

Rule 4: Decide on your essay grading system prior to getting the essay of your students.

Rule 5: Evaluate all of the students’ answers to one question before proceeding to the next question.

Scoring and grading essay tests question by question, rather than student by student, makes it possible to maintain a more uniform standard for judging the answers to each question. This procedure also helps offset the halo effect in grading.

This is another attempt to control personal bias during scoring. Answers to essay questions should be evaluated in terms of what is written, not in terms of what is known about the writers from other contacts with them.

Rule 6: Evaluate answers to essay questions without knowing the identity of the writer.

Obtaining two or more independent ratings becomes especially vital where the results are to be used for important and irreversible decisions, such as in the selection of students for further training or for special awards.

Rule 7: Whenever possible, have two or more persons grade each answer.

• Some teachers use cumulative criteria i.e. adding the weights given to each criterion, as basis for grading while others use the reverse. In the latter method, each student begins with a score of 100. Points are then deducted every time a teacher encounters a mistake or when a criterion is missed by the student in his essay.

SCORING ESSAY TEST

1. ANALYTIC METHOD The teacher prepares an ideal

answer in which the major components are defined and assigned point. You compare the students answers with the model answer.

Two ways of scoring essay test

2. HOLISTIC METHODInvolves considering the

students’ answer as a whole and judging the total quality of the answer in comparison to other student responses or the total quality of the answer based on certain criteria that you develop.

Distractors in scoring essay test

1.Handwriting2. Style3. Grammar4. Knowledge of the students5. Neatness

Thank you for

listening!!!GOD BLESS US!