Metacognition has increasingly been recognized as essential for learning. This paper defines metacognition, discusses its importance, and specifies how faculty can nurture it in students to promote positive learning outcomes. The paper then offers extensive examples based on two formats: (1) activities offered before, during, and after lessons or…

The adoption of active learning instructional practices in college science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) courses has been shown to result in improvements in student learning, contribute to increased retention rates, and reduce the achievement gap among different student populations. Descriptions of active learning strategies…

While today's curriculum is largely driven by standards, many teachers find the lack of specificity in the standards to be confounding and even intimidating. Now this practical book provides middle and high school teachers with explicit guidance on designing specific objectives and developing appropriate formative and summative assessments to…

The author states that by neglecting to give essay tests, teachers not only eliminate the motivation to read and write but also fail to test for a deep understanding of the material. The author presents guidelines for designing essay questions. (CT)

Essay questions have been a stable fixture of teacher assessment activity for decades. Assessment reforms of the early 90's encouraged the development and use of "newer" forms of assessment including portfolios, performance tasks, and authentic assessments. As of late, however, there appears to be a regressive emphasis toward the use of…

The decision of whether to use essay tests or multiple choice tests depends on several qualifiers related to the different characteristics of the tests and the needs of the situation. The most important qualifier involves matching the type of test to the instructional objectives being tested, with multiple choice tests being used to measure a…

Types of questions that will stimulate student participation in French literature classes are discussed. After a summary of ineffective approaches, factors influencing development of effective questions are assessed: preparation, reformulation, and progression. Examples are included. (Contains nine references.) (LB)

Developed by instructors from the Los Angeles Community College District, this guidebook provides materials to aid community college instructors teaching in a variety of subject areas to integrate writing and student learning in their classrooms. Chapter 1 addresses a number of common concerns that instructors have about using writing in their…

Tells how to improve in-class essay exams by viewing them as a rough draft of a yet-to-be completed essay on which the teacher will make specific corrections, comments, and suggestions about how to improve it. Describes the grading of such exams and class discussion dealing with all aspects of the essay. (EL)

Discusses the dearth of material concerning how A-level boards assess British students' economics essays. Describes the practices of the Joint Matriculation Board (JMB) in grading papers on various subjects. Reveals how the London Board grades advanced level economics papers. Includes a chart showing London Board grading criteria. (SG)

Based on the classic test-wiseness principles of J. Millman, C. H. Bishop, and R. Ebel, the STAR strategy streamlines the taking of timed tests. Before explaining the strategy to students, the instructor can convince students of the advantages of the strategy by administering a short test to determine students' test-wiseness. The STAR strategy…

Students dislike writing essay examinations as much as teachers dislike reading them. Perhaps no alternatives to the essay exam exist, but certainly the task can be lessened by altering the format of the essay exam. In an education class at a California university, students select in advance one essay question from a list of several, and field…

The Alberta Canada Social Studies examination for grade 12 contains 70 multiple choice questions and two essay questions. The multiple choice questions cover political ideologies, economics, world geography, world history, and current events. The questions are often related to political cartoons, charts, maps or a series of quotations reproduced…

In this practical, easy-to-use guide, suggestions are made for setting educational objectives and preparing a teacher-made test. Specific suggestions are made for selecting items for essay tests, multiple choice tests, completion tests, matching tests, and true-false tests. (BW)

This book helps educators improve students' ability to write clear, coherent essays in response to on-demand writing prompts. While it focuses on students' abilities to succeed at on-demand writing, it also promotes the teaching of writing as an expression of art and self. For grades 4-12, it provides examples of responses to narrative and…