One question I have on this issue: my students are upset when I write poor multiple choice questions (i.e. when the correct answer can be debated by those with a fair amount of knowledge of the material). I certainly see the point about rich discussion and am intrigued by it, but I'm not sure that I could tell them with a straight face that I'm assigning grades on something that intentionally is not clear. In short, might this harm how students view the instructor? Might this be too big a bridge for students new to TBL? - Bill Sandy said: > So which is more important: > > · Having clear, well crafted, good item statistics, unambiguous RAT > questions that ensures the students understand the core principles and > spend the time on the application? OR > > · Having less well crafted questions, with possibly even more than one > right answer, to engender rich debate and discussion during RAT, and > more appeals (to create more thinking)? (as well as excellent > application questions)? > > I personally am torn. Having been frustrated by vague questions but > enriched by the team discussion – I see the value there. But sometimes, > time is of the essence – I would rather spend the bulk of the time on a > rich application that gets at those issues too. -- Bill Goffe Senior Lecturer Department of Economics Penn State University 304 Kern Building University Park, PA 16802 814-867-3299 [log in to unmask] http://cook.rfe.org/