Types of examination questions

Examination:

•      Examination are a very common assessment and evaluation tool in and there a seven types of examination questions,

1) Multiple choices,

 2) true/false,

 3) Matching,

 4) Short answer,

5) Essay,

 6) Oral, and

7) Computational

Multiple choice

•      Multiple choice questions are composed of one question (stem) with multiple possible answers (choices), including the correct answer and several incorrect answers (distracters).

•      Typically, students select the correct answer by circling the associated number or letter, or filling in the associated circle on the machine-readable response sheet.

True/false

•      True/false questions are only composed of a statement. Students respond to the questions by indicating whether the statement is true or false. For example: True/false questions have only two possible answers (Answer: True).

Matching

•      Students respond to matching questions by pairing each of a set of stems (e.g., definitions) with one of the choices provided on the exam.

•       These questions are often used to assess recognition and recall and so are most often used in courses where acquisition of detailed knowledge is an important goal.

Short answer

•      Short answer questions are typically composed of a brief prompt that demands a written answer that varies in length from one or two words to a few sentences.

•      They are most often used to test basic knowledge of key facts and terms.

Essays

•      Essay questions provide a complex prompt that requires written responses, which can vary in length from a couple of paragraphs to many page

Oral Exams

•      Oral examinations allow students to respond directly to the instructor’s questions and/or to present prepared statements.

•       These exams are especially popular in language courses that demand ‘speaking’ but they can be used to assess understanding in almost any course by following the guidelines for the composition of short answer questions

•      Computational

•      Computational questions require that students perform calculations in order to solve for an answer.

•       Computational questions can be used to assess student’s memory of solution techniques and their ability to apply those techniques to solve both questions