FIAE Chapter 6

This chapter discussed writing good test questions for assessments. I think one of the most important points that this chapter made was that test questions are not meant to trick students. You’re not trying to see if they can pick out that small detail you messed with, you’re suppose to be checking to see if they have mastered the subject. As this chapter essentially says, you should make your assessments short, clear, and concise. Another thing that stuck out to me was the timed tests section. Assessment expert, Ken O’ Connor, says himself that “timed tests are great underminers...no one professionally would ever try to collapse their knowledge into one hour of intense performance.” I was never one to be great at timed tests, so this really hit home for me. I definitely think that it’s a good skill to be able to complete something in a timely manner, but I think timed tests take too much priority in schools. One other thing that found interesting is when the author said, “we may want to consider how we sequence test items. Some of us prefer to start with relatively easy questions early in the testing sequence.” I think that sequencing your questions is definitely important, your sequence should be clear. However, I also think that students are going to the question in whatever order they want regardless of the way you sequence it. Overall, I found this chapter very informative. I know that I will have to keep my assessments short, clear, and concise, and that I should not put too much pressure on time. The way I see it if a student needs to come back after school, or during an empty block to finish up, that’s fine with me.