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Unit 29 : Short Answer Type Test : Advantages and Limitations

5. Use appropriate wording. Notes
(i) Describe three properties of carbon dioxide. (Poor direction)
(ii) List three chemical properties of carbon dioxide. (Better direction)
6. Allot marks in terms of credit points.
(i) List 3 factors affecting the climate of a place. - 2 marks (defective)
(ii) List 2 factors affecting the climate of a place. - 2 marks (functional)
7. Use precise language and concise wording.
(i) Write a brief description of your pet dog. (Ambiguous)
(ii) Write four sentences on your pet dog. (Better)
8. Write model answer.
This helps you to
(i) pinpoint the expected value points;
(ii) allocate proportional weightage in term of marks;
(iii) take care of all acceptable answers; and
(iv) improve wording of question in conformity with the intended response.
Sometimes it become very difficult to classify a question into VSQ or SAQ, because of the flexibility
in the range of responses that vary from a single specific fixed response with no flexibility to that of
freedom of response and flexibility within some arbitrarily stipulated restrictions ranging from 1
to 4 or 5 value points. Being on a continuum, both varieties can be termed short-answer type.

When and where to use SAQ

29.4 Editing and Reviewing of Short Answer Type Test

If we are aware of the various principles of construction of SAQ (as discussed earlier), it will not be
difficult to apply those principles to check and verify whether still there is any defect that needs
improvement.
The following Table 1 indicates some of the common omissions and commissions usually observed
during editing of questions and their moderation.
Table 1 : Common mistakes during editing of questions
Original question Improved version Nature of improvement made

(a) Name any two dicot seeds. (a) Name any two dicot seeds, (a) Two content elements are
one endospermic and one tested ensuring better
non-endospermic. content coverage.
(b) List one chemical property (b) List one chemical property (b) Content coverage is
of oxygen. of oxygen that differs from doubled and it tests
that of carbon dioxide. understanding in place of
factual information.
(c) Draw a right-angled (c) Draw a right-angled (c) It becomes a thinking
triangle with 10 cm base. triangle with 10 cm base question, testing higher
without using a compass. level of assessment
objective.

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