Disadvantages

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• Texts say multiple-choice questions test "usually only recall of facts"
  
  
• not necessarily the case --> higher level thinking can be obtained from objective questions
  
  
• most people don't have the know-how to make objective itmes which go beyond mere recall of facts
  
  
  ---> even those who know how, often lack the time to build good ones
  
  a higher order multiple-choice can take 3 to 4 hours per question to write --> not worth the trouble unless you know you will be teaching this for 20 years
  
  

  ---> consequently, often low level recall only

  
  
• if there is an over-reliance on objective testing students will not have the opportunity to practice and demonstrate writing skills
  
  
  - before provincial exams were implimented I had a university student who did not know that a sentence started with a capitla and ended with a period. When I asked him how he got through high school, he said he only had to write four papers in three years; he failed those, but was brilliant on everything else... now we don't get that problem because teachers have to use essays to prepare students for provincial exams and the problem is fixed before they reach university
  
  
  - objective items should therefore be balanced with other forms of evaluation
  
  
  --> why there are written response questions on Diploma Exams
  
  -multiple-choice good enough to predict student ability, but need to include to enforce writing on teachers
  
  
• objective items often test things other than what the teacher intended
  
  
  e.g.--> cause and effect relationships, when teacher thought it was straight recall
  
  
• similarily, while student spends little time writing, spends a lot of time reading and thinking --> often becomes straight reading test if time limited
• inappropriate for Grades 1-3; grade 4 is iffy
  
  
  --> requires too much reading comprehension and abstract thinking
  
  "Piaget says 'No'"
  
  - matching, multiple-choice definitely beyond them; maybe short answer
  
  -MAYBE true/false if careful about reading level
  
  
  --> better to use non-test instruments for these grades
• because only one specific, predetermined answer is acceptabel, wording is crucial
  
  
  -->easy to become "guess what I am thinking" question
• are VERY time consuming to write
  
  
• since time consuming to write, you'll want to reuse them -->item banking is ok, but reusin the same tests over and over again is problematic
  
  
  -suggests that you're not doing diagnostic teaching because you should be custom making exam to current group...
  
  -means that a "leak" can be devastating
  
  
  - case at UofA where student wrote to her old campus to get copy of old exams to "study"
  
  
• promotes guessing (get 25% for choosing all 'a's; 50% on T/F)
  
  
• test-wiseness means can get right answer without really knowing
  
  
• not suitable for language skills
  
  
  whatever test salesmen try to tell you
  
  
• does not show thinking process
  
  
• - in math, for example, want to see WHERE child went wrong as well as if got right answer
  
  
• -if students can't display higher thinking, teahcer's cannot observe it, so limited diagnostic information available
  
  
• often fail to provide a learning experience for students because only deal with recall
  
  
• over-reliance onobjective item tests will encourage rote memorization
  
  
  again, danger of sabotaging neat things you are doing in your classroom if students learn that noe of that higher thinking class discussion counts and all you are testing for is names and dates
  
  
  "in what year did Picasso begin his blue period"

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