This innovation proposes an alternative to the traditional exam/test model. Many faculty members have likely struggled with the need to objectively assess their students and the push back they get from students in administering such assessments. The current article outlines a win-win solution that allows professors to objectively assess student…

Writing multiple-choice test items to measure student learning in higher education is a challenge. Based on extensive scholarly research and experience, the author describes various item formats, offers guidelines for creating these items, and provides many examples of both good and bad test items. He also suggests some shortcuts for developing…

This paper discusses how modifying the true-or-false (T/F) test, by requiring written explanations, reveals major weaknesses and hazards of the simple (unexplained) T/F tests popular among teachers. But, more important, the modification transforms the test into a very efficient formative assessment tool. It opens a window that allows a teacher to…