Page 351 - DEDU504_EDUCATIONAL_MEASUREMENT_AND_EVALUATION_ENGLISH

Unit 30 : Essay Type Test: Advantages and Limitations

30.1 Meaning : Essay Type Test Notes

An essay test is an assessment technique that requires students to thoroughly respond to a
question or prompt by developing, organizing, and writing an original composition. The purpose
of an essay test is to assess students abilities to construct a logical, cohesive, and persuasive
writing piece.

30.2 Extended and Restricted Response Essay Type Test
Most of the higher-order abilities demand integration of intra-disciplinary and inter-disciplinary
subject-mater. Critical analysis of content, text and reports, creative synthesis for developing
plans, hypotheses and set of principles or abstractions, making critical appraisals, and production
of evaluation reports can better be tested more validly by using ETQ alone. Therefore it must be
admitted that in spite of their inherent weaknesses in grading and objective scoring, their role in
testing higher-order competencies cannot be over-emphasised.
The nomenclature of long-answer questions suits better for content subjects like history,
geography, biology etc. and of essay-type questions for language subjects. However, both are
used here interchangeably. Since ETQ is more commonly accepted nomenclature, this term is
used for further discussion. To appreciate the difference between the two types of ETQ, let us
examine the following questions demanding responses ranging from unlimited to restricted
responses, depending upon the nature and scope of the expected response.
(i) Write an essay on India’s struggle for independence.
(ii) Discuss in details the various theories of organic evolution.
(iii) Describe various allotropic forms of carbon.
(iv) In what way Kalinga war influenced King Asoka ?
(v) Describe the laboratory method of preparing oxygen gas.
(vi) Write in about 150 words an essay on ‘A Village Fair’.
In questions (i) to (iii) the freedom of response is almost unlimited and examinees can write-as
long response as they like. Such questions are classified as extended-response questions and ETQ.
But in questions (iv) to (vi) there is restriction by limiting the scope of content tested or the
length of the expected answer. Freedom of writing, organising and presenting the answers still
remains with the examinees.
Since restriction is imposed and examinees cannot be expected to write extended responses, these
types of questions are termed restricted-response, essay-type questions. The paper-setter has to
set or can set both types of questions depending upon maturity level of the students. Extended-
response variety suits better at higher levels like the colleges or university, whereas the restricted-
response variety of ETQ is favoured more for secondary and senior secondary stages. Moreover,
it lends to less subjectivity in marking compared with extended-response questions. In the former
an examinee is free to select, organise, integrate, evaluate and express in any way he deems
appropriate.
When thorough understanding of a set of topics or units is the objective of testing and best
presentation of the subject-matter is to be appreciated, this variety of extended response of ETQ
is the best to take advantage of. But if the focus of measurement of learning outcomes is on
interpretation, application of data or outcomes that are more specific and that clearly define the
nature of the intended response and attempt to reduce subjectivity in marking, the restricted
response variety of ETQ can be preferred. ETQ can also be classified on the basis of directional
words used in such questions. Weidman (1941) categorised such tests into 11 types of questions
ranging from the simple to the most complex using directional words like (i) what, when, who,

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