Defence Degree College for
women
Name: Iqra Aurangzaib
Class: BS IT (F19)
Subject: Assessment in Education
Submitted to: Miss Aneela
Short Answer Items
Definition:
Short answers items require the examinee to respond to the item with a
word, short phrase, number or a symbol.
Classification:
Short-answer Items are open-ended Items that require students to create
an 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 Items are asked on the topic.
Short Answer Items do not have a generic structure. Items may require
answers such as complete the sentence, supply the missing word, short
descriptive or qualitative answers, diagrams with explanations etc. The
answer is usually short, from one word to a few lines. Often students
may answer in bullet form.
They are commonly used in examinations to assess the basic knowledge
and understanding of a topic before more in-depth assessment Items are
asked.
Example:
Q 1) MHz measures the _________________ of the computer.
Q 2) List the different types of plastic surgery procedures.
Q 3) In economics, state Gresham�s Law.
Characteristics:
The test has supply response rather than select or identify
In the form question or incomplete statement
The test can be answered by a word, a phrase, a number or symbol.
Forms of Short Answers Items
Question form
Identification or association form
Completion form
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 SAQs measures knowledge
appropriate to the desired learning goal.
3) Make the questions clear and easy to understand with
wordings and language appropriate to the student
population.
4) Set the questions explicitly and precisely with clear
instructions to test the desired knowledge and get the
specific response.
5) Ensure that the item clearly specifies how the question
should be answered.
Example
Family planning methods most appropriate for adolescents
are:
a._______________, b. _______________
6) Instructions and teacher’s expectations about filling in blanks
should be made clear.
7) Direct questions are better than those which require
completing the sentences.
Example:
Poor: Wellington defeated Napoleon in _____ ?
Better: In what year did Wellington defeat
Napoleon at Waterloo?
8) Prepare a structured marking sheet.
9) Make the marking sheet easy to understand so that other
teachers can use it if necessary.
10) Ensure there is only one clearly correct answer in each
question.
Advantages of Short Answer Items
SAQs are relatively easy to set compared to
many assessment methods.
They are relatively fast to mark and can be
marked by different assessors, as long as the Items are set in
such a way that all alternative answers can be considered by
the assessors.
Better content coverage as compared to long essay question.
Improved objectivity as the marking scheme can be
structured and predetermined.
Higher chance for assessment of clinical reasoning.
Disadvantages of Short Answer
items
SAQs are only suitable for questions
that can be answered with short
responses.
There can be difficulties in grading if the question is
not worded carefully.
As they are typically used for assessing
knowledge only, students may often memorize
SAQs with rote learning.
If assessors wish to use SAQs to assess deeper learning,
careful attention (and many practices) on appropriate
questions are required.
Also, if a large amount of knowledge needs to be tested, it is
more efficient to use MCQs.
There can be time management issues as SAQs are not as
easy to complete or score as MCQ or true-false questions.