States that final exams can best motivate students if the exams are counted substantially toward the final course grade. Proposes a weighting system in which a performance on the final which exceeds the student's average would be weighed more heavily than a poor performance. (CP)

Two multiple-choice scoring schemes--a partial credit scheme and a dichotomous approach--were compared analyzing means, variances, and reliabilities on alternate measures and student reactions. Students preferred the partial-credit approach, which is recommended if rewarding for partial knowledge is an important concern. (Editor/JT)

The recent psycholinguistic-sociolinguistic trend in foreign language teaching indicates a shift of interest away from quantitative data towards qualitative information of different kinds. Validity and relevance are stressed and so new test formats are demanded, as well as new methods of dealing with student answers. Item analysis techniques used…

The effects of corrective testing and how such feedback might affect high- and low-test-anxious students differently are indicated. Subjects were 286 college students in three classes--one using mastery testing and two using multiple choice tests. (Author/PN)

Seven formulas for scoring test items with two options (true-false or multiple choice with only two choices) were investigated. Several conditions, such as varying directions for guessing and whether testees had prior knowledge of the proportions of false items on the test were also investigated. (Author/JKS)

The reported data provide a basis for evaluating the formula-scoring versus rights-scoring issue and for assessing the effects of directions on the reliability and parallelism of scores for sophisticated examinees taking professionally developed tests. Results support the invariance hypothesis rather than the differential effects hypothesis.…

The benefits of using essay tests rather than objective tests in professional education programs are discussed. Essay tests offer practice in writing, creativity and formal communications. Guidelines for using and scoring a sample essay test in biology are presented. (BH)

A 15-stage pyramidal test and a 40-item two-stage test were constructed and administered by computer to 111 college undergraduates. The two-stage test was found to utilize a smaller proportion of its potential score range than the pyramidal test. Score distributions for both tests were positively skewed but not significantly different from the…