Suggest a 10 question RAT that has 3-4 detail right out of the readings, 3-4 questions that are from the readings but require them to think anne apply 'lightly' the concepts, then a couple that make them solve a problem that is pretty basic in prep for the APP. In our med school modules, we also titrate "up" the level of expectation for both RAT and APP across course. Dean
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On Jan 20, 2011, at 12:53 AM, Mark Stevens <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Hi all. I'm hoping you can give me some advice regarding Readiness Assurance Test questions, as I'm struggling to write questions that are simultaneously fair, challenging, useful, and related to big concepts rather than details.
>
> On one hand, I gather that the test questions are supposed to fulfill a "readiness assurance" function that involves assuring that each students has grasped the basic concepts that s/he will need to be prepared for team exercises. This seems to suggest that the questions should cover basic, big picture topics, rather than details.
>
> On the other hand, I gather that the tests are intended to hold students accountable for reading. I take this to mean that the students should generally not know the answers to the questions (or be able to figure them out) unless they have actually done the reading. This seems to suggest that the questions should cover details that one would only know if one had done the reading.
>
> In my discipline (land use planning), the big picture topics are relatively easy to grasp, which makes me feel like they don't lend themselves very well to challenging test questions. As a result of my desire for the questions to be challenging and to require the students to have done the reading in order to have a greater-than-random chance of choosing the correct answers, I have found myself drifting toward questions that focus more on details (important details, but details nonetheless) rather than bigger concepts. As you might be able to guess, my students have complained about this, and have told me that the tests should cover bigger concepts instead of details.
>
> So I'm left to wonder: how can I write questions that cover big concepts without being "too easy" as to be not very useful while still covering material that students must have read in order to figure out?
>
> Thanks,
> Mark
>
> --
> ************************************************
> Mark Stevens, PhD
> Assistant Professor, School of Community& Regional Planning
> University of British Columbia
> 223-1933 West Mall
> Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z2, Canada
> http://www.scarp.ubc.ca/profiles/faculty/Mark%20Stevens
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