Chapter 6: Fair Isn't Always Equal

Chapter six of Fair Isn't Always Equal, entitled, "Creating Good Test Questions" does exactly that. It is full of many simple, but helpful tips that make learning more efficient. The first is mixing of test questions. It is good to have traditional questions such as matching or fill in the blank, but it is also important to have non traditional questions such as asking students to analyze or critique. A good test question is one that allows students to think and respond creatively. Another important idea is returning the test back in a timely matter. One example was given entitled double recording. In double recording both the teacher and student have a copy of the answer which allows students to have instant feedback. Other tips include keeping tests short, not having timed tests, and keep matching on the same page to save time. Lastly it was emphasized to add some fun into your tests by using creative examples and incoporating students into the questions.

This was a very interesting chapter for almost all of the students. From reading the reflections, it is apparent that there are some hard feelings towards tests from previous experiences. This mostly had to do with the stress involved. Yet, our class appeared to learn many things. Many commented on how it is important to have different test questions for each of the styles. Yet, there was some disagreement on some of the issues. A lot of people really liked the idea of double recording, yet others felt that it would encourage cheating and just memorizing the answers. Others agreed that double negatives should not be used because it just tricks students, yet others felt that it encouraged students to think. Overall, very few people seemed to like the idea of tests, but everyone seemed to have learned something very useful about creating good tests.