Defination:

A test item which requires a response composed by the examinee, usually in the form of one or more sentences, of
a nature that no single response or pattern of responses can be listed as correct, and the accuracy and quality of
which can be judged subjectively only by one skilled or informed in the subject(John M. Stalnaker, 1951). Based
on Stalnaker's definition, an essay question should meet the following criteria:
1. Requires examinees to compose rather than select their response. 2. Elicits student responses that must consist
of more than one sentence.
3 Allows different or original responses or pattern of responses. 4 Requires subjective judgment by a competent
specialist to judge the accuracy and quality of responses.

An effective essay question will align with each of the four criteria given in Stalnakers definition and provide
students with an indication of the types of thinking and content to use in responding to the essay question.
Example
Explain in what ways a person’s failure to apply step 5 of the seven-step path for making ethical decisions will
impact his or her ability to make ethical decisions. Provide an example that illustrates this impact.
Feature of essay type questions:
Questions are should both formative and summative assessment
They require a great deal of thought and planning.
Students prepare their own answers
They evaluate knowledge area alone
Answer vary in their degree of quality or correction.

Forms of essay questions:

 Restricted Response - These essay questions limit what the student will discuss in the essay based on
the wording of the question.. Restricted response items limit student responses based on the wording of
the question” (Kelly, 2019).Restricted response, also referred to as short answer questions, are organized
in a manner that specifies or limits student responses. They typically assess learning objectives at the
lower levels of Bloom’s taxonomy and require students to list, define, or describe (Reynolds., 2006).
 Useful for measuring learning outcomes requiring interpretation and application of data in a specific area
 Places strict limits on answers to be given as defined
 Boundaries of subject matter can narrowly defined by the problem and specific form of answers

Example

Describe the relative merits of selection type items and essay question for measuring learning outcome at the
understanding level. Confine your ans on one page.

Advantages:

Restricted response questions are more structured

Measure specific learning outcome.

Restricted response provide for more ease of assessment.

Any outcome measured by an objective interpretive exercise can be measured by a restricted response
question.

Limitattion:

Rsq restrict the scope of the topic to be discussed and indicating the nature of the desired response which
limits students opportunity to demonstrate these behavior.

 Extended Response - allows students to select information that they think is pertinent to organize the
answer in accordance with their best judgement and to integrate and evaluates ideas as they think
 suitable.Extended responses place no limits on student response where they are “free to use their own
judgement and integrate outside information to help support their opinion” (Kelly, 2019).
 Extended response items pave the way for more organization, creativity and depth of knowledge. They
can be used to assess higher-levels of Bloom’s taxonomy such as in describing application of a set of
principles, explaining cause and effect relationships, formulating conclusions, or to produce, organize,
and express idea. Reynolds,(2006), extended response type items additionally can be used as a way to
assess grammar and writing skills as these types of items require coherent writing skills.
 They donot set limit on the length or exact content to be discussed.
 These allow students to select what they wish to include in order to answer the question.

Example "Discuss the role of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation in student learning. Analyze how teachers can
cultivate intrinsic motivation in the classroom and the potential impact on student engagement and academic
performance. Additionally, explore the potential drawbacks of relying solely on extrinsic motivators. Support
your arguments with relevant research findings and real-world examples?

Advantages

 Useful for measuring learning outcome at the higher cognitive level of educational objective such as
analysis synthesis and evaluation level

Disadvantages

Time consuming grading

Subjectivity

Potential for irrelevance.

Differences:.

Structure and Format: Restricted response questions have more specific guidelines, while extended response
questions offer greater flexibility.
Depth of Response: Restricted response questions typically focus on specific details, while extended response
questions require more comprehensive and in-depth answers.
Creativity and Originality: Extended response questions often provide an opportunity for students to showcase
creativity and original thinking, while restricted response questions may limit this aspect.

Advantages of essay type questions:

1. Assess higher-order or critical thinking skills.
Essay questions provide an effective way of assessing complex learning outcomes that cannot be effectively
assessed by other commonly used paper-and-pencil assessment procedures. In fact, some of the most complicated
thinking processes can only be assessed through essay questions, when a paper-and-pencil test is necessary (e.g.,
assessing students’ ability to make judgments that are well thought through and that are justifiable).
2. Evaluate student thinking and reasoning.
Essay questions require students to demonstrate their reasoning and thinking skills, which gives teachers the
opportunity to detect problems students may have with their reasoning processes. When educators detect problems
in students’ thinking, they can help them overcome those problems.
Provide authentic experience.
Constructed responses are closer to real life than selected responses. Problem solving and decision-making are
vital life competencies. In most cases these skills require the ability to construct a solution or decision rather than
select a solution or decision from a limited set of possibilities.
Limitations
1. Assess a limited sample of the range of content.
Due to the time it takes for students to respond to essay questions and for graders to score responses, the number
of essay questions that can be included in a test is limited. Thus, essay questions necessitate testing a limited
sample of the subject matter, thereby reducing content validity. A test of 80 multiple-choice questions will most
likely cover a wider range of content than a test of 3-4 essay questions
. 2. Are difficult and time consuming to grade.
 Answers to essay questions are likely to be graded less reliably than other types of test questions and take
considerable time to grade. One of the advantages of essay questions is that they allow students some latitude in
formulating their responses. However, this advantage comes at the cost of time spent scoring and reliability in
scoring. Different readers may vary in their grading of the same or similar responses (interscorer reliability) and
one reader can vary significantly in his grading consistency depending on many factors (intrascorer reliability).
Therefore, essay answers of similar quality may receive notably different scores. Gender and ethnic bias, the
length and legibility of the response, and the personal preferences of the grader with regards to the content and
structure of the response are some of the factors that can lead to unreliable grading.
2. Provide practice in poor or unpolished writing. The way in which students construct their responses to essay
questions differs in several ways from real-world writing tasks. Ebel and Frisbie (1986) point out that "the practice
that essay tests give in writing may be practice in bad writing—hasty, ill considered, and unpolished

Scoring essay items

One of the downfalls of essay tests is that they lack in reliability. Even when teachers grade essays with a well-
constructed rubric, subjective decisions are made. Therefore, it is important to try and be as reliable as possible
when scoring your essay items. Here are a few tips to help improve reliability in grading:

. Determine whether you will use a holistic or analytic scoring system before you write your rubric. With
the holistic grading system, you evaluate the answer as a whole, rating papers against each other. With
the analytic system, you list specific pieces of information and award points for their inclusion.
. Prepare the essay rubric in advance. Determine what you are looking for and how many points you will
be assigning for each aspect of the question.
. Avoid looking at names. Some teachers have students put numbers on their essays to try and help with
this.
. Score one item at a time. This helps ensure that you use the same thinking and standards for all students.
. Avoid interruptions when scoring a specific question. Again, consistency will be increased if you grade
the same item on all the papers in one sitting.
. If an important decision like an award or scholarship is based on the score for the essay, obtain two or
more independent readers.
. Beware of negative influences that can affect essay scoring. These include handwriting and writing style
bias, the length of the response, and the inclusion of irrelevant material.
. Review papers that are on the borderline a second time before assigning a final grade.
.

Uses of essay type questions]

Assessment of Understanding: Essay questions are commonly used to assess a student's comprehension and
understanding of a particular topic or concept.\

Application of Knowledge: Essay-type questions are effective in testing a student's ability to apply theoretical
knowledge to real-world situations or problems.

Critical Thinking Evaluation: These questions are designed to evaluate a student's critical thinking skills by
requiring them to analyze, interpret, and evaluate information.
Conceptual Mastery: Essays allow instructors to assess the depth of a student's mastery over key concepts and
principles within a subject.
Synthesis of Information: Essay questions are useful for assessing a student's ability to synthesize information
from various sources and present a coherent and well-organized response.
Argument Development: Students can demonstrate their ability to construct and articulate arguments,
supportingtheir ideas with evidence and reasoning.
Creativity and Originality: Essay-type questions provide a platform for students to showcase their creativity and
original thinking, particularly in subjects that allow for diverse perspectives.
Communication Skills: These questions help evaluate a student's written communication skills, including clarity,
coherence, and the ability to express ideas effectively.
Problem-Solving Assessment: Essay questions that present problems or scenarios require students to engage in
problem-solving and decision-making processes.
Reflection and Self-Expression: Essays allow students to reflect on their learning experiences, express their
opinions, and communicate their thoughts on a given topic
Preparation for Higher Education and Careers: The skills developed through essay-type questions, such as
critical thinking, communication, and problem-solving, are valuable in higher education and professional settings.
Individualized Assessment: Essays provide a personalized assessment, allowing instructors to understand each
student's unique perspective and level of understanding.
Long-Term Retention: Engaging with essay questions often involves deeper cognitive processing, contributing to
better long-term retention of information.Preparation for Writing Proficiency: Essay-type questions prepare
students for tasks that require proficient writing skills, which are often crucial in academic and professional
environments.

Essay construction:
As with all types of assessments, constructing essay items should always start with the behavioral objectives
(Mager, 1975; Gagne, & Briggs, 1979) and Table of Specifications (Notar, et al., 2004). The objectives and table
will ensure test creation will cover the main topics, concepts, and skills teachers taught during the time preceding
the test. Essay items also need to cover appropriate amounts of material (Salend, 2009), and are void of vague
terms such as for example, frequently, usually (Brookhart & Nitko, 2008; Elliott et al., 2010)

Piontek (2008) provides a simple list of six guidelines for developing essay items as compiled from previous
research:
1. Restrict the use of essay questions to educational outcomes that are difficult to measure using other formats.
2. Construct the item to elicit skills and knowledge in the educational outcomes.
3. Write the item so that students clearly understand the specific task.
4. Indicate the amount of time and effort students should spend on each essay item.
5. Avoid giving students options as to which essay questions they will answer.

6. Consider using several narrowly focused items rather than one broad item.

GRADING
Kelly (2019) provides a few tips to help improve reliability in grading:
1. Prepare the essay rubric in advance.
2. Avoid looking at names
3. Score one item at a timE.
4. Avoid interruptions when scoring a specific question.
5. If an important decision like an award or scholarship is based on the score for the essay, obtain two or more
independent readers.
6. Beware of negative influences that can affect essay scoring. These include handwriting and writing style bias,
the length of the response, and the inclusion of irrelevant material.
7. Review papers that are on the borderline a second time before assigning a final grade