HOW TO ASSESS- ESSAY QUESTIONS

MEASUREMENT AND
EVALUATION IN
EDUCATION
Topic 4
HOW TO ASSESS-ESSAY
QUESTIONS
1

HOW TO ASSESS- ESSAY QUESTIONS

HOW TO ASSESS- ESSAY QUESTIONS

1.0

STRUCTURE

INTRODUCTION

4.1 WHAT IS AN ESSAY QUESTION

4.1.1Essay Questions- Important Points
4.2 TYPES OF ESSAY
4.2.1 Restricted Response Essay Question
4.2.2 Extended Response Essay Questions
4.3 WHY ARE ESSAY QUESTIONS USED?
4.3.1 Uses Of Restricted And Extended Response Essay Questions
4.4 DECIDING WHETHER TO USE OBJECTIVE OR ESSAY QUESTIONS
4.5 LIMITATION OF ESSAY QUESTIONS
4.6 SOME MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT ESSAYS
4.7 GUIDELINES FOR CONSTRUCTING ESSAY QUESTIONS
4.8 COMMON VERBS USED IN ESSAY QUESTIONS
4.9 MARKING OR SCORING ESSAY QUESTIONS
4.9.1 Scoring Rubrics For Restricted Response Essay Questions
4.9.2 Scoring Rubrics For Extended Response Essay Questions
4.9.3 Suggestions for Scoring Essay Questions
A) Analytical Scoring
B) Holistic Scoring
4.10 SUMMARY

HOW TO ASSESS- ESSAY QUESTIONS

LEARNING OUTCOMES

Upon completion of this topic, you should be

able to:
1.Define Essay questions
2.Describe the types of essay questions
3.Explain the advantages and limitations
of essay questions
4.Illustrate how to construct essay
questions
5.Explain the scoring and various ways of
scoring essay questions

INTRODUCTIO N

Educational assessment should be comprehensive in nature.

It should test an individual so as to get a thorough analysis of his personality.

Merely measuring one on the basis of his understanding and comprehensive skills is
not enough. A teacher must outline the learning outcomes he expects from the
students.
Depending on whether the students need to be tested for simple linear behaviour of
understanding and the likes or for the complex higher order processes like analysing,
creating, developing ideas, a teacher should determine which tests the students should
be put through.

In this chapter, we take a step by step understanding of how essential is essay type
questions and the various aspects of essay type questions.

4.1

WHAT IS AN ESSAY QUESTION

Objective tests are useful in measuring the cause-effect relationship, the

knowledge about factual information and also some of the problem solving
abilities in mathematics and science, in a single structured format.
To achieve more flexibility and to have more range, let us understand the necessity
and the use of extended response which are interpretive exercises and essay
questions.
Complex achievement learning outcomes are those which require a higher level of
thinking processes like thinking ability, problem solving ability and writing
ability.
E.g., Application of principles to practice, recognition of relationships,
evaluation of arguments, formulation of conclusions, recognition and
constructing problem statement are some of the examples of complex achievement
learning.
These activities have roots in abilities like critical reasoning, scientific thinking,
creative thinking etc.
A range of assessment methods, strategies and techniques are required to measure
the higher order thinking abilities. Interpretive exercise is one of the tools of
higher order thinking.

The other way to measure complex achievement learning outcome is essay

questions.

Essay questions are those open ended type of questions where students are
checked on complex achievement learning outcomes.

4.1.1

ESSAY QUESTIONS - IMPORTANT POINTS

Measuring Complex Achievement : Essay Questions

o These questions provide a freedom of response to the students. Thus,
students are able to ideate, develop the ideas and organise to present the
concept in the best possible way.
o Essay Questions can be called as the way to measure significant learning
outcomes where abilities like recalling, organising and integration of ideas
are to be tested. These outcomes do not need a lot of structured responses
unlike objective tests.
o Essay Questions should be used to measure such learning outcomes
wherever the objective test questions fall short.
o As the outcomes are of significant educational value, the huge cost incurred
and the time required for evaluation of essay questions - answers is quite
reasonable.
o Essay questions provide more validity to the measurement of complex
achievement outcomes.
o It works as a model.
o Useful for subjects like mathematics, social science, literature etc.
o

4.2

The emphasis is on how well the student can express and present his ideas .

TYPES OF ESSAY
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Essay questions give the student the freedom of response.

Depending upon the length of the responses the essay questions are classified as :
A) Restricted - response Questions
B) Extended - response Questions

4.2.1

RESTRICTED RESPONSE ESSAY QUESTIONS

Brief on restricted response essay questions:

This type of question has limits to the content which is restricted by the
scope of the topic.
Restricted response Type Essay questions also limits the response and this is
achieved by specifying the need in the question.
For example, describe the three types of learning emphasised by Blooms
taxonomy. In this case, if the student already knows the subject matter or has
been taught by the teacher he would present the same ideas by
comprehending and recalling the content. Thus, putting forth his complex
achievement outcome, but in case he is presenting it for the first time he is
required to analyse the ways of learning and construct the ideas all by
himself. The latter part requires higher level of thinking.
In other type of restricted response type essay questions, students are
provided with introductory material and then asked for interpretive
exercises.
It is more useful for comprehension, interpretation and application of
information.
Restricted response essay questions have direct relevance to the learning
outcome.
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Though they are advantageous in several ways they have limitations in the
form of measuring integration and organisation. Sometimes originality has
to be checked.

4.2.2

EXTENDED RESPONSE ESSAY QUESTIONS

These types of questions test the greater freedom of response.

These questions expect the student to select any fact relevant to the subject
matter, or to substantiate the answer by presenting their own judgment, or to
provide a valid argument.
Thus, the process of response involves analytical skills, judgmental skills and
creative expression skills.
In the real world, problem solving skills and decision making skills work hand in
hand when a person is confronted with some problematic situation.
Thus, even in extended response tests individuals are assessed on the more
complex behaviours.
When using these types of questions it is sensible to identify complex behavioural
skills required to be measured, form questions which bring out these skills,
evaluate the results and then use it to evaluate the skills.

Thus, the basic difference between the interpretive exercise and the restricted
response questions is that the former requires selecting the answer whereas the
latter necessitates supplying the answer or response.

4.3

WHY ARE ESSAY QUESTIONS USED?

Essay questions are used for its advantages of measuring complex learning
outcomes, provided these are skillfully constructed in such a way as to involve
student thinking targeted at complex behaviour.

Advantages are as follows :

A) These tests offer an approach which is a combination of problem solving
skills and decision making skills.
B) These tests provide a comprehensive evaluation of writing abilities.
C) These are easy to construct.
D) These essay questions contribute highly to student learning.
4.3.
1

USES OF RESTRICTED AND EXTENDED RESPONSE ESSAY

QUESTIONS
1
Restricted Response Essay Questions
Extended Response Essay Questions
Determines whether the student can Determines the degree to which the student can
apply the principles.
ideate, organise and present the ideas.
Analyses whether the student can
identify and explain cause effect
relationships.
Measures whether he can produce
some valid argument in support of
a statement.

Analyses how well the student can integrate those

ideas.

Identifies whether he can conclude

and assume relevantly.

Identifies whether he has innate creative abilities.

Explains whether the student can

describe various procedures.

Explains whether the

explaining a concept.

Measures the extent to which he can summarise

and write to hold the attention of the reader.

student

Table 1.1: Restricted Response v/s Extended Response Essay Questions

1 http://www.usm.edu/school-administration-counseling
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is

good

at

DECIDING WHETHER TO USE OBJECTIVE

4.4

TESTS OR ESSAY QUESTIONS

Objective tests are used when one has to measure the simple close ended
responses, either by choosing the response from the alternatives given or by
stating whether the statement provided is true or false. These are short
answers suitable for measuring the understanding and thinking levels of a
student.

When one is looking for testing higher order processes of the brain, like the
ability to generate ideas, organising and presenting those with analysis,
judgment and conclusion, one must ideally use essay type questions.

4.5

LIMITATION OF ESSAY QUESTIONS

The following are the limitations of this type of assessment:

A) This method does not provide for foolproof evaluation as it scores low on being
a reliable source of evaluation, basically because different teachers evaluate the
same essay differently.
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B) Moreover, different teachers have different perspectives or target different

learning outcomes while checking the same essay. The evaluation does not have
adequate rules or definite outcomes and hence, the purpose gets defeated.
C) Scoring the responses is a difficult task when it comes for larger classes. The
easy way is to use the extended type only where the objective type is
inappropriate.
D) Inadequate sampling for a particular content makes the use of essay questions
very restricted. A remedy to this could be constructing more number of
questions representing more number of samples.

4.6

SOME MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT ESSAYS

Students misconstrue and assume that, with artful writing they will score well.
They underestimate the art of writing. They presume it as a linear process whereas,
it is a complex process.
There are several clever and artful ways students adopt while writing essays.
They are:
a) Restating the question in the answer.
b) Mentioning some important names. For example, scientists or leaders in a
particular field.
c) Writing in general so that it can suit any topic.
d) Agreeing to the teachers point of view repeatedly.
A well-constructed question can reduce the way people try to write artfully and
stating a well-developed scoring scheme can lead to an effective assessment.
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While the essay is reviewed one needs to assess whether the argument they have
put forth is clear, whether it is interesting enough to hold the readers attention,
whether the content is well developed, whether the transition from one topic to
another is smooth, is the conclusion summarised well etc.

4.7

GUIDELINES FOR CONSTRUCTING ESSAY

QUESTIONS

As stated before, construction of a question is an art.

The formulation of a question should be such that, it brings out the targeted
outcomes from a test.

If a question is not well framed and well directed towards testing an objective,
the purpose of assessment is defeated. In order to prevent this, here is an array of
guidelines which, if consciously applied while constructing a test, would lead to
an effective assessment:

A) Use the essay questions to test those learning outcomes which are not assessed
adequately by objective tests.
B)

Phrase the question clearly, which explains lucidly what is expected out of the
student.

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C) Time each question. Set an approximate time in which the question needs to be
answered.
D) Restrict the use of many optional questions.
E) Construct each question by aligning it to the specific targeted learning outcome. Use
of restricted type essay question is helpful in achieving this feat.

4.8

COMMON VERBS USED IN ESSAY QUESTIONS

There are some common verbs used, which are effective to state clearly what is
expected from a student.
Let us list those verbs:
Purpose
For Comparing

Verbs used- Phrases used

Enlist the differences
or compare
between x and y

For relating

What are the major causes of x?

What are the effects of y?

For justifying

For Summarising

Which of the x will you favour and

why?
Explain whether you agree with x
Explain
State
the why?
points or summarise

For classifying

Group items, identify the commonality

Table 1.2: List of Common verbs

CHECK YOUR PROGRESS

List the other verbs which can be used for
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analysing, applying, synthesising,

evaluating, creating and explaining.

4.9

MARKING OR SCORING ESSAY QUESTIONS

Clearly specifying the scoring criterion can make essay questions a valid and
reliable method of assessment.

Students should have a clear idea of what is expected out of their performance
and hence, plan how the responses will be scored. Keep the student updated
about the scoring criteria which will add validity to the assessment.

It is better to keep ideal responses or anchor responses specified. The other

responses can be compared to the anchor response and be evaluated.

The scores in a scoring rubric should be descriptive and not be judgmental.

4.9.1

SCORING RUBRICS FOR RESTRICTED RESPONSE ESSAY

QUESTIONS

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A question like Describe three factors which led to The World War II? for
which, the teacher could readily exemplify the expected response. If the student
gives three of the acceptable responses he has to be assessed as pre decided.

4.9.2

SCORING RUBRICS FOR EXTENDED RESPONSE ESSAY

QUESTIONS

There are two ways to enable a teacher to score for extended response essay
questions:
a) Analytical Scoring Rubrics
b) Holistic Scoring Rubrics

A)

ANALYTICAL SCORING
This helps the teacher to focus on one characteristic to be measured at a time.
It also helps to distinguish between the broad categories of writing skills:
A) Whether the content is rhetorically effective
B) Whether it has quality content

The State of Oregon uses seven analytics for scoring:

A) Ideas
B) Scoring
C) Voice
D) Word choice
E) Sentence fluency
F) Conventions
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G) Content

Narrative essays rubrics for five dimensions were developed by Wolf,

Gerhart, Quellmalz, Whittaker and these are as follows:

a) Theme
b) Character
c) Setting
d) Plot
e) Communication
For each of these dimensions, six levels of performance were decided.
Score of six for exceptional achievement: This represents that the student has
stated the idea very clearly. He has organised his idea very well and is effective
in orienting the reader. It also implies that he has been successful to implement
specific and concrete language, his detailing is consistent and this enables a
reader to visualise what he reads.
Extended elaboration of the main point and no major error is what is expected to
get the score of six which means exceptional achievement.

Score of five is attributed for commendable achievement: Here, student has

stated and organised the idea and has been effective in orienting the reader. It
also means he has added sensory details and has been consistent to detail in
most of the content. With few minute errors, he has achieved this score for fully
elaborating the idea.

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Score of four indicates adequate achievement: The student has just oriented the
reader by presenting the main idea but not maintaining it throughout the essay.
Here, the student has just specified some clear details and few images as well.
The point is moderately elaborated and has some minor errors and a few major
errors but not harming the content.

Score of three: It is marked for a student whose performance shows some

evidence of achievement, but he has not stated the main idea clearly with
consistent detailing of the subject. Some details being inconsistent, this type of
score is determined for a restricted elaboration of point with some major and
minor errors.

Score of two: It is a representation of limited evidence of achievement. In this

case, the student has made a vague attempt to present the idea, with no sensible
closure and lot of digressions. Here, student has less concrete ability to express
and has limited his elaboration of details. Many minor and major errors have
interfered with the understanding of the reader.

Score of one: It is given for minimal evidence of achievement. It means that the
student has no knowledge about the main idea, no plan of writing. He does not
have language abilities and has not elaborated any detail. His essay has many
major errors and that results in a score of one.

B)

HOLISTIC SCORING
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It means attributing one overall score for the whole response. These
scores are rapidly generated. Though quick, the most important limitation is that
it does not provide the student with the feedback on improvement and specific
guidance about the analysis.
The grading from A-F indicating the performance as good to poor respectively
has less reliability as it lacks specifications and guidance on what is expected
and what is delivered.

The National Assessment of Educational Progress makes use of a six point

holistic rubric as discussed below. The chart is self-explanatory. It means the
person who has extensively developed the response is getting the highest score
and the one who has not given a relevant response is given one.

Development of response to the task provided

7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0

Score s from 1-6

Axis Title
Development of response to the task provided
Linear (Development of response to the task provided)

Figure 1.1: Chart to explain the trend in scoring rubrics

There is yet another way of CRESST(National Center for Research on Evaluation,

Standards and Student Testing) scoring rubric for holistic rating which attributes
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the highest score of five to the student who is extremely knowledgeable, and has
demonstrated a higher level of understanding, provided most relevant details ,
and ideas over the topic. He has been efficient in organising the ideas and
presented it with detailed and clear explanation.
The degree of the score decreases from six to one gradually if the student shows
a deteriorating performance. The score of three is considered the middle level
score and the score of zero is attributed to the student for leaving the response
blank or has written about a topic that is not relevant.

4.9.3

SUGGESTIONS FOR SCORING ESSAY QUESTIONS

Guidelines to bring reliable and valid scoring to the Essay questions:

o

Outline the expected answer in advance. This includes the major points to be
covered, the characteristics of the responses, and how much score would be
allotted to answers for the questions.

Use the most suitable scoring rubric. Choose either the holistic or analytical
scoring which are common types to assess the essay questions.

Give importance to the relevant information which is expected from the student.
Some factors like handwriting of a student, grammatical errors and spelling
mistakes can influence the judgement of the evaluator in a negative manner. The
focus should be on the content.

Another important factor is to keep the irrelevant information provided in the

response at bay. In case, irrelevant material is presented, reduce the score by a
parameter already determined at the initial stages of constructing a test.

Evaluate all the responses to one question before proceeding to the next one.

Do not evaluate after reading the name of the student as prejudice will affect the
scoring.

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The Essay questions are open ended questions framed to test the
learning outcomes of higher order thinking processes which cannot be
assessed by the objective tests, at times.

Essay questions
are effective when students are asked to supply a
ACTIVITY
response, to develop ideas, and express ideas. There are two types of
essay questions namely: Restricted Response and Extended Response

Construct examples of analytical and holistic

for extended essay type questions for any
content
of your
Though being
usedarea
extensively
for interest.
several effective learning outcome,s
Essay Questions.
rubrics

this test falls short due to limitations like:

a) Unreliable and Time consuming scoring
b) Limited sampling of the content

Questions should be phrased in such a way that the students are clear

4.1

SUMMARY

about what is expected out of them. Scoring criterion should be

declared in advance. There are two types of scoring rubrics, analytical

and holistic scoring rubrics for restricted type of response and
extended type of response.

Indicating the time to complete an essay question is certainly one way

to make the scores valid and reliable.

Making the scoring procedures reliable by adapting a scoring rubric,

evaluating all the responses to one question before proceeding to the
next one, and evaluating without any bias or prejudice are some of the
procedures for making these tests reliable.

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TIPS
One most important tip to be followed is to
form essay questions only when the objective
tests fall short.

KEY TERMS
Restricted type of Essay questions
Extended form of Essay questions
Scoring rubrics
Analytical scoring
Holistic scoring

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EXERCISES
SHORT ANSWER QUESTIONS
1. Recall what an essay question is.
2. Explain restricted type of essay questions and extended form of essay
questions.
3. Write few lines on analytical way of scoring and holistic way of scoring.

LONG ANSWER QUESTIONS

1. Construct two essay questions for the class.
2. State the factors to be considered while adopting essay questions for a particular learning
outcome and describe them in detail.
3. Describe the usefulness of essay tests in learning and substantiate your answer.

NOTES

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