Use true-false examinations with immediate self-correction and public display of scores as a time-saving teaching and assessment routine¶

Strategy · All strategies
Evidence · 5 claims (3 for, 2 mixed) · 1 study (1 associational), q2 · 1 of 1 report an effect size · 5 claims rest on one study

Description¶

The article recommends a true-false examination routine in which students check 30 or more statements as true or false, correct their own papers as the instructor rereads each question with the proper answer, and see scores displayed on the board. The authors report that "It saves an enormous amount of time" and that the examination "is really an excellent teaching instrument" because immediate correction reveals haziness, misunderstandings and ignorance of facts and principles.

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• A period of 50 minutes is sufficient to give, score, tabulate and discuss the results of a test of 40 questions, using the article's generous time allowances of about one minute per question.

Constraints¶

• The listed advantages are explicitly not derived from objective data but are accumulations of opinions generally voiced by those who have given or taken such tests.

Target Learners¶

• undergraduate and graduate students in content courses such as educational psychology

Target Learning Goals¶

• measuring and giving feedback on mastery of course content, including application of facts and principles

Claims¶

• A single true-false test correlates with an essay examination (.33) about as highly as essay examinations correlate with each other [~W]
• Case studies of sharp test disagreements suggest the better the criterion of achievement, the greater the predictive value of true-false compared with essay examinations [+W]
• A single true-false test correlates with the criterion of achievement (.65) more highly than an essay examination (.56) or written work (.39) [+W]
• True-false tests correlate with intelligence ratings (.406) more highly than essays (.344) or written work (.255), and combining true-false tests raises the intelligence correlation while combining essays does not [+W]
• No method of presenting true-false questions (oral, oral-and-visual, or visual) shows superiority in criterion correlation [~W]

Related Strategies¶

• Use frequent, low-stakes, cumulative tests in varied formats, including pretests, and encourage student self-testing

Examples¶

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Key Sources¶

• Arthur I. Gates, Teachers College, Columbia University. (1920). The True-False Test as a Measure of Achievement in College Courses. The Journal of Educational Psychology. https://eric.ed.gov/?q=true-false+test+as+a+measure+of+achievement+in+college+courses+gates