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Who Prefers Which Test?

Adrian Furnham et al. (2008) from the University College London examined the question which students prefer which tests.

In all, 430 students (307 female, 117 male), the majority (84%) undergraduate student aged between 18 and 20, from four universities in America and Britain completed measures of learning style preference, general knowledge (as a proxy for intelligence), and preference for examination method.

Regression analysis showed that personality, learning style, general knowledge, and demographic factors accounted for 5–10% of the variance in preferred examination technique.

Who Prefers Which Tests?

Mean scores (SDs) for the sample’s preferred assessment methods.

1. Indicate how much you personally prefer each method (1 = least preferred , 10 = most preferred)

________________________________________________________

Multiple choice exam: 7.70 (2.40)

Timed written paper (essay-type, 2–3 hours): 4.79 (2.78)

Oral examination (viva): 4.46 (2.68)

Continuous assessment (coursework): 7.26 (2.23)

Dissertation (supervised project): 6.38 (2.35)

Group work (project with co-workers): 5.81 (2.53)________________________________________________________

Who Prefers Which Tests?Mean scores (SDs) for the sample’s preferred assessment methods.

2. Indicate how accurate you think each method is to assess a person’s ability

________________________________________________________

Multiple choice exam: 5.15 (2.41)

Timed written paper (essay-type, 2–3 hours): 6.81 (2.26)

Oral examination (viva): 6.36 (4.48)

Continuous assessment (coursework): 7.23 (2.17)

Dissertation (supervised project): 7.41 (1.97)

Group work (project with co-workers): 4.51 (2.32)________________________________________________________

Who Prefers Which Tests?Mean scores (SDs) for the sample’s preferred assessment methods.

3. Indicate how fair you think each method is to assess all types of people

________________________________________________________

Multiple choice exam: 6.21 (2.76)

Timed written paper (essay-type, 2–3 hours): 5.72 (2.48)

Oral examination (viva): 5.06 (2.43)

Continuous assessment (coursework): 7.47 (2.68)

Dissertation (supervised project): 7.33 (2.08)

Group work (project with co-workers): 4.52 (3.65)________________________________________________________

Who Prefers Which Tests?Mean scores (SDs) for the sample’s preferred assessment methods.

Now imagine you could design how you were assessed in your university program. You can choose all, some, or only one method.

4. Please put percentages in the boxes so the total is 100, to indicate which method(s) you would personally prefer.

________________________________________________________

Multiple choice exam: 30.18% (24.42)

Timed written paper (essay-type, 2–3 hours): 21.99% (19.14)

Oral examination (viva): 15.46% (20.03)

Continuous assessment (coursework): 30.72% (21.66)

Dissertation (supervised project): 22.07% (18.02)

Group work (project with co-workers): 14.64% (16.88)________________________________________________________

Who Prefers Which Tests?

Learning style was consistently associated with preferences: surface learners preferred multiple choice and group work options, and viewed essay-type and dissertation options less favorably. Deep learners, on the other hand, favored essay-type and oral exams as well as final dissertations.

Males favored oral exams and females coursework assessment.

Extraverts preferred multiple choice, oral, and group work assessment, while openness was positively associated with essays and oral exams but negatively associated with multiple choice and group work.

An earlier study showed that conscientious students preferred continuous assessment.