What type of test question do you prefer?

**Vuk** · 10-11-2007, 15:46

Multiple Choice!

**Ayachuco** · 10-11-2007, 16:27

I prefer multiple choice b/c I will usually get all of them right. A close second is an essay type question b/c it lets me elaborate my opinions and theories on what or why something happened esp. on the English Novel Exams.

**Warmaster Horus** · 10-11-2007, 17:00

Multiple choices are just too easy, even if you barely studied.
I like an essay kind of question, but only in German and Spanish (my two foreign languages). It's like Draconian said, I can elaborate on opinions and theories.
I like short answer type questions, because you can see whether you've worked well or not. They give the real proof that you studied.

**Craterus** · 10-11-2007, 18:26

Multiple choice are the easiest/preferred. Followed by short answers or fill-in-the-blanks and essay questions are just a hassle.

**Dutch_guy** · 10-11-2007, 18:29

Multiple choice can be made quite hard, I prefer writing an essay. More work, yes, but it's what I usually score better in.

**Craterus** · 10-11-2007, 18:37

I tend to write an awful lot of unnecessary stuff in essay questions though. You can't go wrong, in that way, with the others.

**Xehh II** · 10-11-2007, 18:53

Multi choice I have to say. I'm good at most things to do with tests but I suck at essays, whoever was the first to invent essays should've died in a very, very bad way.

**Uesugi Kenshin** · 10-11-2007, 21:16

As a student of AP English I'll have to go with essays. I invariably get at least an 85 on essays, and usually get something in the 90's, and with multiple choice I have to study far more and can still be thrown off by trick questions.

Though the Pink Flamingo and its effects on American culture essay question on the AP 11 English exam two years ago was pretty nasty as well...

**Vuk** · 10-11-2007, 21:17

I despise fill-in-the-blank. The reason is, because of how ineffective it is. On some of my exams, I've known the stuff SOO well, well enough to get a perfect A if it was MC or Essay, but because I forget a few terms or something, can get a comparatively poor score. F-I-T-B just don't work.
I like essay because it gives you a chance to show what you know, and to prove that you can express it shortly and consisely. I don't like them, however, because some people just aren't good at essays, and do a lot worse than they should have. (I was one of those, but after intensively studying the English language, and writing practice essays, I got pretty good)

I like MC the best, because your score does not rely on your vocabulary, or your writing ability. Even more importantly, they can easily be cracked.

I have developed a VERY good system for taking MC, and can get an A on a test that I have barely studied for. :P I had to take language placement exams when I entered my UNI, and I tested above 101 in all 7 languages. :P (at this time, I didn't know a word of them)
My best was Spanish, which I tested into 103 in.

Almost got a perfect score, and didn't know a word of Spanish. :P
After I get my first exam of the season back, I always tabulate the answers and figure out my prof's style. :P
(Of course my brilliant method HAS failed me before :P)

Vuk

**Samurai Waki** · 10-11-2007, 22:28

Easy Ones.

**Ronin** · 10-11-2007, 22:49

Originally Posted by Wakizashi

Easy Ones.

damn! you beat me to it

**RoadKill** · 10-12-2007, 00:16

Multiple choice, I can always just circle them all C, and I'd probally pass.

**naut** · 10-12-2007, 01:30

I don't mind essays, but the thing is here for our 2nd English exam we can be asked to right a radio transcript, or a speech or a feature article, but with the same information and analysis as an essay.

I think short answer/extended response that test your understanding are the best. Otherwise it's one big memory test.

I have 9 Essays in three exams coming up.

**spmetla** · 10-12-2007, 07:18

I prefer short answers or essays. With multiple choice you either know or make an educated guess. With an essay or a short answer you can show you know something by saying just about everything you know about it without actually saying it, it allows me to dance around a topic when the precise term has slipped my mind but I know exactly how it works.

Anyone that voted multiple choice and then explained their answer should have put short answer!

**CountArach** · 10-12-2007, 07:36

Essay because I am usually able to get over the average, whereas Multiple choice I will get most of them right, but so will most people.

**Vuk** · 10-12-2007, 15:08

Originally Posted by RoadKill

Multiple choice, I can always just circle them all C, and I'd probally pass.

In highschool, but not in college.

Statistics are a big part of my test taking strategy you see, and currently (in the US at least, but I believe in Canada also) "b" is most often the correct response.

Gotta pay attention to these things.

Vuk

**Motep** · 10-13-2007, 06:13

Essay. I use my writing skill to my advantage and score many extra credit points. (118% in History...as of this morning...)

**doc_bean** · 10-14-2007, 09:32

Multiple choice can be pretty damn hard if done 'right'.
We once had a multiple choice exam where each question demanded about half a page of calculation. Combined with a guess correction (-1/3 of a point for a wrong answer, 0 for not answering) and it was the most failed class that year.

I prefer short answer. Be concise, show you know what you're talking about. Little luck, not too dependant on your actual wording.

**Avicenna** · 10-16-2007, 15:56

Short answers.

Makes the people who work for it more outstanding in comparison with those who didn't. And your hand doesn't risk falling off.

**Lorenzo_H** · 10-17-2007, 18:47

I once got very lucky in a multiple choice exam. It was a national Maths test and I achieved silver purely by guessing the questions. Each question had 5 possible choices and if you got it wrong, you lost a point. If you didn't select anything, you got zero and a correct would give you 2.

My teacher calculated there was about 1/1000000000 chance of that happening by guessing!

**Kekvit Irae** · 10-18-2007, 11:33

Multiple Choice FTW. I have a physical problem with writing, so when my Cultural Anthropology instructor gave us two short essays to do on one exam, I completed just one essay when class was over, and everyone had already completed theirs and left.

**Geoffrey S** · 10-18-2007, 18:36

I much prefer writing essays to show that I properly understand the question, but short (factual) questions I consider more important. Any intelligent person who has learnt minimally can answer essay questions in a decent-ish way; answering the shorter question shows that a student has actually put some effort into reading the coarsework carefully.

**Vuk** · 10-18-2007, 18:46

Originally Posted by Kekvit Irae

Multiple Choice FTW. I have a physical problem with writing, so when my Cultural Anthropology instructor gave us two short essays to do on one exam, I completed just one essay when class was over, and everyone had already completed theirs and left.

A physical problem? Do you mind if I ask what?

Thanks,
Vuk

**Viking** · 10-18-2007, 18:47

Multiple choice is much preferred as it takes much less writing...but if you were a clever teacher you'd hand out short answer or essay tests.

**Vuk** · 10-18-2007, 18:51

Originally Posted by Viking

Multiple choice is much preferred as it takes much less writing...but if you were a clever teacher you'd hand out short answer or essay tests.

Luckily most teachers (including myself...at least in my lower-level classes :P) are not smart, and hand-out MC. :P

**Kekvit Irae** · 10-20-2007, 03:12

Originally Posted by Vuk Brankovic

A physical problem? Do you mind if I ask what?

Thanks,
Vuk

I get cramps in my fingers easily, preventing me from writing fast, which is the reason I take so long on an essay.

**Proletariat** · 10-20-2007, 15:37

When I took my board exam to become a certified therapist, it was pretty annoying to hear from others who had taken it before, 'remember, pick the least wrong answer.'

Multiple choice can be pretty brutal if you're not prepared

**woad&fangs** · 10-20-2007, 16:59

Short answer. I can't write very fast so I don't like essays. Multiple choice is okay if it is fairly short but looking at scantron sheets for an extended period of time is really annoying. I personaly like a mix of short answer and multiple choice.

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