In terms of preparation for an exam it is much quicker for me to write an
free response (FR) exam than a MC exam. Since I don't keep a test bank and
make each exam mostly from scratch, I find I would rather spend more time
grading exams and less time writing them. On the other hand, I am usually
rushed to grade the final so I often make it (at least in part) a MC exam.
While I do agree that there has been a good correlation between scores on
MC exams and FR exams for me, it is not a perfect correlation (I'm not sure
I know how to spell correlation so forgive me if I goofed).
My main concern is evaluation of the students' needs. On a MC exam I
cannot watch for patterns in thinking while on a FR exam I can sometimes
find patterns of invalid reasoning and provide the student with appropriate
feedback. I also like to have the students respond to the exam themselves
looking for patterns of errors and that is difficult if they didn't record
their work in an orderly fashion.
I guess my main point is that I don't get to know the students well enough
to really help them if all I give are MC exams. The correlation is good
between MC and FR for me and so I don't mind giving a MC for the final
because I have no chance to provide feedback to the students after the
final anyway.
Murphy Waggoner
---------------------
M. E. "Murphy" Waggoner
Assistant Professor of Mathematics
Simpson College
701 North C Street
Indianola, IA 50125
waggoner@storm.simpson.edu
www.simpson.edu/~math
---------------------
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