TIPS ON FAIR BUT STANDARD WAYS OF SETTING TESTS AND

EXAMINATION QUESTIONS

Akinyemi M. L. (PhD)

Department of Physics, Covenant University, Ota

PRESENTED ATEXECUTIVE ADVANCE 2015

Effective Teaching and Learning Cycle

Assessment is one of the four stages in • Teaching and Learning Cycle • which is 30% of Ranking Parameter

Effective teaching and learning cycle

The cycle has no start or end point, with each step informing the next

Data and reflection determine where in the cycle one needs to be operating in per time.

Assessment for relax & lighter mood: Case Study_PHY 111

What did Archimedes discover when he ran out of bathtub naked shouting “EUREKA”, I have found it?

(PBL _ riddles & jokes: Effective TLC move from experiential / everyday to abstract / technical

Teaching and learning cycle: PHY 111 - PLAN

PHY111 - COURSE OUTLINE

1. UNITS AND DIMENSION ANALYSIS2. SCALAR AND VECTOR QUANTITIES3. PARTICLE KINEMATICS4. MOTION IN TWO AND THREE

DIMENSIONS5. DYNAMICS6. MECHANICAL WORK AND ENERGY7. IMPULSE AND MOMENTUM8. FLUID AT REST9. FLUID DYNAMICS

GRADE AND ASSESMENT PLAN

• TEST/CONTINUOS ASSESMENT = 30%

• ALPHA SEMESTER EXAMINATION = 70%

• TOTAL = 100%

Teaching and learning cycle: PHY 111 - PLAN

N0 ROOM FOR DISTRACTION

(For 100L freshmen)CGPA: 4.48, 3.48 could be avoided

THE RACE HAS BEGUN!Teaching and learning cycle: Inspiration

You require longer time and patient to chew the chicken than you need to gulp down your custard. Is the chicken more DIFFICULT because it requires extra time? Likewise Physics requires more time!

Teaching and learning cycle: Inspiration

Another word for examination is assessment

What is assessment?Assessment is the process of identifying, gathering and interpreting information about students' learning

Purpose

To provide information on student achievement and progress.

To assess how much each student has learned compared to fellow students in the same course or learning situation

Introduction

5 Forms of Assessment include:

1. Formal and informal observation

(Good attendance and active participation in class)

2. Formal assessment tasks(assignments, term paper, tests

etc)

3. Summative assessment at key points

(End of Semester Examination)

4. Comparing evidence of achievement with other students

(General performance of students in the course)

5. Comparing evidence of achievement against standards

(Marking Guide)*** 

5 Forms of Assessment include:

Summative assessment (End of semester examination)

1.Selected response itemsa)Multiple choiceb)True/falsec)Matching

2.Short answera)Fill in the blank/ German Objective

Questionsb)One or two sentence response

3.Extended written response4.Performance assessment (Laboratory

Practical)

Cumulative versus Summativeassessment

End of Semester and Continuous Assessment

CA includes attendance, participation, assignments, term paper, tests …

Comparing evidence of achievement with other students

An ideal situation and students willingness 85 – 95% pass

Comparing evidence of achievement with other students

Less than 65% pass generates issue at the board of examiners’

High Failure Rate =High Attrition RateAnti world-class university practice

Fairness and Rigour in Setting Examination •Lectures should be packaged into modules

•There should be clear indication of beginning and end of each module

Units

Suggested Number of Modules

Expected Number of Questions to be set

Expected Number to be answered bystudents

1 3 3 or 4 22 5 5 33 3 or 6 6 4

Module coverage: Example 2 unit course

At least three out of the five modules must have been thoroughly revised in the class, with sufficient tutorial questions solved before mid- semester.

Just as Olympians need great coaching and time to reach their highest potential, our students need the same. 

Module coverage: Question distribution

Questions should be well distributed across the modules

It will not be fair on the students if three out of five questions are based on the most difficult module, which majority of the class hardly grasped.

By mid-semester enough is done in lecture delivery, PBL, Tutorials, worked examples etc. for average students to score a “C” grade and brilliant ones a good “B” in the final examination

WHY?An average student cannot cope with volume, and needs more time to revise the much he has learnt up to that point.

Module coverage: Time consciousness

Fairness and rigour in setting examinationShuffle and arrange the questions

as you please

As long as each module carries the required number of questions

Question 1 based on module 3, question 2 on module 1,

question 3 on module 5 …

There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle. -- Albert Einstein