Short Answer Questions
Short-answer questions are open-ended questions that require students to supply their answer.
They are commonly used in examinations to assess the basic knowledge and understanding
(low cognitive levels) of a topic before more in-depth assessment questions are asked on the
topic.
This is a supply type item where the student is given a clear direction to restrict the answer to
2 or 3 sentences. Questions must be such that answers are possible within the limits of specified
lengths.
Example;
Define Poisson's ratio
List three important uses of poor conductors
What is normalization in database?
Construction
• The question must be simple, clear and unambiguous
• Scope of answer must be limited by the use of words such as 'List 'give reasons', 'define'
etc,.
• Questions must be interpretable in the same way by all students.
Advantages of Short Answer Questions
• Short Answer Questions are relatively fast to mark and can be marked by different
assessors, as long as the questions are set in such a way that all alternative answers can
be considered by the assessors.
• Short Answer Questions are also relatively easy to set compared to many assessment
methods.
• Short Answer Questions can be used as part of a formative and summative assessment,
as the structure of short answer questions are very similar to examination questions,
students are more familiar with the practice and feel less anxious.
• Unlike MCQs, there is no guessing on answers, students must supply an answer.
Limitations of Short Answer Questions
• Short Answer Questions are only suitable for questions that can be answered with short
responses. It is very important that the assessor is very clear on the type of answers
expected when setting the questions, because Short Answer Questions is an open-ended
questions, students are free to answer any way they choose, short-answer questions can
lead to difficulties in grading if the question is not worded carefully.
• Short Answer Questions are typically used for assessing knowledge only, students may
often memorize Short Answer Questions with rote learning. If assessors wish to use
Short Answer Questions to assess deeper learning, careful attention on appropriate
questions are required.
• Accuracy of assessment may be influenced by handwriting/spelling skills
• There can be time management issues when answering Short Answer Questions
How to design a good Short Answer Question?
1. Design short answer items which are appropriate assessment of the learning objective
2. Make sure the content of the short answer question measures knowledge appropriate to
the desired learning goal
3. Express the questions with clear wordings and language which are appropriate to the
student population
4. Ensure there is only one clearly correct answer in each question
5. Ensure that the item clearly specifies how the question should be answered (e.g. Student
should answer it briefly and concisely using a single word or short phrase? Is the
question given a specific number of blanks for students to answer?
6. Consider whether the positioning of the item blank promote efficient scoring
7. Write the instructions clearly so as to specify the desired knowledge and specificity of
response
8. Set the questions explicitly and precisely.
9. Direct questions are better than those which require completing the sentences.
10. For numerical answers, let the students know if they will receive marks for showing
partial work (process based) or only the results (product based), also indicated the
importance of the units.
11. Let the students know what your marking style is like, is bullet point format acceptable,
or does it have to be an essay format?
12. Prepare a structured marking sheet; allocate marks or part-marks for acceptable
answer(s).
13. Be prepared to accept other equally acceptable answers, some of which you may not
have predicted