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Abstract & Synthesis
Tyler Brookings

Test taking can be a great way to evaluate each students progress. For many students however, test taking is a struggle. [|Creating and designing] a test which will satisfy not only the needs of the teacher but the needs of the student as well can be an exceptionally tough challenge. Generally, the issues do not stem from the material which is presented on the test but rather from the set-up or form of the test. The aim of creating any test should not be to trick the student into getting the answer wrong, or wording a question so that the student thinks about, and spends more time reading the question than actually actually answering it. How a student learns can great affect their ability to take any sort of test. Such as, students who are more abstract thinkers might like to have tests that give multiple options for the essay portion, or simply multiple choice questions. Concrete thinkers on the other hand may prefer just a single essay prompt to follow or short answers. Knowing this, a teacher must realize that each student is different in the way they learn, so why wouldn't they be different in the way they test.

The main goal of this chapter was too give readers the perspective on how to and idea of how to create tests which can effectively show that the students know and understand the material but not make the test design the source of the anxiety. The difficulty for teachers is to create a test which balances multiple choice, true/false, and fill in the blank questions with essays, short answer, diagrams etc. In other words, balancing [|traditional] and [|non-traditional tests]. Some of the other things that this chapter touched on were about creating the tests with some humor in them and also giving the students adequate time to finish the test. Putting to short of a time constraint on a test can add unnecessary stress to the on top of their anxiety. Also, this chapter frowns on creating tests which are to long. Tests that are too long can have empty or useless details which do not adequately evaluate the students knowledge.

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Olivia Wandelear
Chapter six reveals the proper to way to design and create test questions. I learned that a teacher should never be sneaky or tricky with their tests by creating questions that are difficult to answer based on funky wording that really only measures a student’s ability to properly read a question. Tests should be about what was learned, not what the teacher thinks. I found it very useful and comforting that the chapter offered ways to use both traditional and non-traditional questions on a test. “Forced choice” items like multiple choice, fill-in-the-blank and true/false questions are fine in moderation, but should definitely be paired with “constructed response” items like essays, short answers, diagrams, and drawings. These allow students to truly show the teacher whether or not they know the material enough to produce it on their own, instead of just showcasing their expertise on guessing. I really embrace the idea of adding humor and puns on the test to relax students and encourage them to be just as creative. I definitely plan on using this tool in my classroom in order send the message to my students to apply creativity and wit in their responses. I would never want to turn my students into robots, especially by forcing them to provide dry and unimaginative answers.

Courtney Burns
There are several steps I can take as a teacher to make tests/prompts a more accurate indication my student’s mastery. Some of the methods suggested in the books include creating a balance between multiple choice (traditional) and constructed responses (nontraditional), making questions efficient to answer and correct, verb substitution, and making the test questions/expectations clear. It will also be helpful to students for me to give them timely feedback (easier to do with efficient tests) so that they can see what they need to work on and what they’ve done right. Tests that are fun and interesting for the students never hurt either and can help to relieve some stress and anxiety. For my science class, I think it would be useful for me to use a test question that is impossible for student to answer because it will allow me see how they support their responses. Making students aware that this type of question will be on the test will be important to demonstrate fairness.

Erika Tingley
Tests can be an important assessment tool, but they must be produced well in order to effectively evaluate student understanding. This chapter focused on test producing techniques, and gave examples of good and bad questions. What stood out to me was the necessity to make tests clear, and to give the students all the tools they need to succeed in them. It is important that students know what to expect in their exams and not to be confused by the way the questions are presented. As a teacher, I want to know what my students understood and what they need to improve on. If I make complicated exams, the results will not provide me with the information I need. It is critical that the wording in tests and the material covered is not confusing to the students.

Dylan Stefani
Chapter six discusses the best ways that a test can be made up. The main points of a test that this chapter talked about are the length, time frame, and material on the test. They said that the short the test the better because it would be easier for a teacher to grade and a shorter test can cover the major topics rather than the useless details. It is always good for a teacher to give the students enough time for them to comfortably finish the test without worrying whether they will finish it or not. Having questions, such as multiple choice, true or false, and short response questions, that make the student think about the subject are the best ways to test their understanding. Having the questions clear and concise makes the test less stressful for a student to take as well.

Andy Shorey
This chapter is discussing how to create good test questions. It is important for teachers to be straight forward with what they are asking and to vary there types of test questions by using both traditional forms and non traditional types of questions. It is important to be efficient while giving the test make it easy and clear for the students to fill out the test and it is also a good idea for students to have a copy of the test with their answers so they can go over it on their own or with a partner while you are grading it. It is also good to keep the test short and maybe not timed test it is important for the students to have as much time as necessary to show their knowledge. You also want to make it a little bit fun for both the students and yourself however you need to make sure you asking the students to do what you want to assess. I think that this was a very helpful chapter and something that I will use in the classrooms as i make my tests.

Josh
This chapter of //Fair Isn’t Always Equal// addresses different types of test questions and offers advice of what formats work the best. It offers ideas like creating a question that is impossible to answer or not asking questions that are worded in a manner that makes it easy to misinterpret. There are many little tips that will be helpful in my class when I am creating a math test. I am against true and false questions because they can usually fall into the category of confusing wording. If a student only reads the end of the question and misses the “not” wording they have just missed a question that they probably knew. The overall message from this chapter is an important one; do not make confusing, unnecessary tests. I could not agree more.

Timothy Grivois
Testing is one of those concepts that everyone at some point or another struggles with. Students struggle with difficulty and relevancy. Teachers struggle with fair structure, adequate preparation, and the balance between required context and workable curricula. For these reasons creating tests that are both engaging and clear is very important. Test questions should be varied enough that students feel as though the test is not too repetitive, but consistent enough that the material does not seem overwhelming. To protect teachers, questions should be constructed clear enough that correct answers can be identified easily, while incorrect answers stand out like a sore thumb. Giving students too much room for interpretation may seem helpful at first until certain students use the freedom to cheat the system and avoid mastery. Tests should also be given under specific regulations and with clear parameters; changing time limits and different constrains add stress to the testing experience and the most authentic results may not be procured. Using humor to loosen up a test environment or even on a test itself can be helpful if it subtle enough that it does not cause distraction.

Dan Horne
This chapter talks about how to properly construct test questions. It talks about how teachers shouldn’t create tricky questions with fancy wording to try and test students on how well they read questions. It also talks about creating varied tests, in that you have multiple types of questions: multiple choice, true/false, essays, diagrams, and fill in the blanks. It also talks about using what the students know rather then what the teacher thinks they know. I feel like another good way of making tests would be to have the students write a few and put the best ones on the test so that the students feel like they have some control over what is going to be on the test. And also administering pre-tests to see what the students know best and not so well so you know what to test them on.

Shila Cook
In chapter 6 //Creating Good Test Questions// was talking about different ways to make tests easier for students, not in content, but in the way the test is designed. The main point is to mix lots of different types of questions such as forced choice and constructed response. When doing true and false question I think it is a good idea if there is a T and F for true and false questions so there is no confusion as to whether they have written a t or f (which I have discovered is a problem in tests). The other idea that I really liked was the double recording of test responses. There have been many times when I’ve taken a quiz of some kind and had to turn in the answers when we went over it. This double recording would solve that issue for the kids while still getting the accurate answers to grade.

Heath
Effective test creation is the focus of chapter six. As with most of the material we’ve covered so far, a variety of styles should be used in writing tests such as multiple choice, short answer or true and false. The questions should be clear and not contain tricky language. We as teachers should have a good idea of who our students are and how they learn by the time we are designing exams, and we should use this knowledge to create as comprehensive a test as we can.

Caitlin Alexander
Chapter six of //Fair Isn’t Always Equal// deals with testing, and what types of questions provided on tests are effective, fair, and assess the learning of the students best. It suggests using a variety of questioning techniques and question formats to allow for variation and to test the understanding of the knowledge in different ways. The chapter also discourages actions such as over-testing for knowledge (asking too many questions to check for understanding), and asking questions that don’t assess whether or not the students have learned the proper skills. I believe that the most effective questions mentioned in the book are “Constructed Response” questions, which require that students provide the information themselves to answer the questions, and even sometimes allow students to create their own questions. I feel that this method is the best because it requires the students to provide the information themselves, and does not lend itself lightly to guesswork. One method that I feel is both useful and somewhat tedious would be the “Double Record” method, which has students copy down their answers on a sheet of paper during the test and allows them to check their answers immediately after the test is done. I think that it is useful because it gives students instant feedback, but I am concerned that some students might be more concerned with getting that instant feedback than with taking the time to think about their answers, or they might waste precious time during the test by copying down answers and possibly neglecting the rest of the test. = =

Kasey Darnell
This chapter discussed the appropriate ways to formulate test questions that effectively assess student knowledge and mastery of the material. Armstrong noted that teachers should use a mix of traditional questions (matching, true/false, multiple choice) and less traditional questions (diagrams, critiques, analogies). By providing a variety of questions, students will be better able to demonstrate what they are learning. Test should be set up efficiently so as to minimize students’ mistakes in how to circle, fill in blanks etc. Additionally, teachers should try to avoid confusing language, because it ultimately detracts from the goal of assessing student knowledge. Kids can get easily tripped up in the wording of a question and get it wrong, even if they did possess that knowledge. When giving prompts for a short essay or response, it should be clear and give the student a specific direction. If it is too vague, students might not be able to focus and demonstrate their knowledge about the topic. These are all strategies that I would like to use when I am in the classroom. I want my students to be challenged intellectually, but not get sidelined by assessments that are unclear or ineffective.

Kay Sue Collins
This chapter made lots of sense to me. I have taken tests where the question was asking me to read the teacher’s mind. It was very frustrating. The same thing applies in class discussions. Playing ‘what am I thinking?’ wastes time and doesn’t assess what the students really know. I liked that there was a lot of emphasis on matching the questions to what you really want to assess. Also, the tips on avoiding ambiguity will be very useful. I also liked the admonishment to put some fun into the test. I knew that I always enjoyed tests with puns and outrageous scenarios, but I hadn’t thought about their strategic value of helping relieve test anxiety in order to assess the student’s true level of mastery.

Kyle Rines
This chapter shows us the many examples of making test within our classrooms. The chapter gives us many tips on what is a good test to give and what are good examples of questions that should be asked. They refer to not giving the impossible question to answer and not making the test all one style either. By style I mean multiple choice or short answer. I believe that this style is always true within an English classroom. Any tests that are taken in English usually have to be short answer or written response. The only time when multiple choice or another similar style is when vocabulary is being inserted in the assessment. But not only the type of questions make the assessment important, the length and quality of the test and questions are important as well. Making sure that the test is interesting and is formed around actual class material is essential to creating a good testing environment and being 'doable' for your students.

Ben Villeneuve
===Chapter six of //Fair Isn’t Always Equal// makes its content very narrow, yet very useful. Today’s classrooms are very test-focused, as this is a relatively quick way of getting a read on how well somebody knows material. This chapter gives a number of tips on how to craft effective, fair test questions. This is a chapter that I will keep open next to me as I put together a test, because the things it advocates are clearly and undeniably beneficial and the things it warns against are things that I myself remember disliking when I was in school. For example, I remember very well taking tests where the questions were badly written and didn’t connect well to what we had learned. I will never put my students in a tough spot like that.

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Tyler Brookings
Chapter 6 of //Fair Isn't Always Equal// discusses the craft of test making. The main focus of the chapter was not based on creating a test based on its content, rather how to create a test to benefit your students based on the set-up of the test. Such as leading away from more formal questions such as essays, diagrams etc. and move more towards multiple choice, True/False, and Matching questions. This chapter really hit home simply because I enjoy taking tests with Multiple Choice and True/False rather than writing short answer or essay questions. Although there are benefits to writing essays and short answer, incorporating these along with multiple choice and T/F will allow teachers to meet all the learning abilities of their students. This will definitely be useful when I am in my classroom simply because I excel at tests which incorporate all aspects, and I feel I will be able to create a test which best incorporates each one of these testing styles.