Discrepant performance on multiple‐choice and short answer assessments and the relation of performance to general scholastic aptitude

April Bleske‐Rechek, Nicole Zeug, Rose Mary Webb
2007 Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education  
We conducted correlational and performance discrepancy analyses on exam and achievement data taken from students in three psychology courses. Across courses, the same findings emerged. First, only a small fraction of students consistently performed more strongly on one type of assessment (e.g., multiple-choice) than on another (e.g., short answer). Second, students' multiple-choice performance, above and beyond their short answer performance, accounted for variation in students' standing on
more » ... evement measures unrelated to psychology (including high school class standing, American College Test score, and college grade point average). In contrast, students' short answer performance, above and beyond their multiplechoice performance, did not account for variation in students' standing on those achievement measures. Our findings support the continued use of multiple-choice items to assess student learning.
doi:10.1080/02602930600800763 fatcat:nanpmiqxdncrthiy5vxaitemte