Week Two

Kirkpatrick Level 1

Creating a survey is much more difficult than anyone imagines until they’ve done it. Similarly, writing questions for a test, an essay prompt or any other kind of assessment is exceedingly difficult. My biggest challenge was avoiding bias because I’m asking leading questions on purpose, I have a very definite point of view and agenda, I can’t feign innocence or objectivity. It’s an extremely murky task for so many reasons, I ended up asking Gemini AI for all the reasons why, and here is the response. The learning language model explains the challenges better than I ever could.

1. Clarity and Precision:
   Avoiding ambiguity: Questions must be clear and unambiguous to prevent misunderstandings.
   Specificity: Prompts should be specific enough to guide students’ responses without being overly restrictive.
2. Alignment with Learning Objectives:
   Correlation: Questions and prompts should directly assess the specific learning objectives of the course.
   Relevance: Ensure that the content tested is relevant to the overall curriculum.
3. Appropriate Difficulty Level:
   Balancing challenge: Questions should be challenging enough to differentiate between students but not so difficult as to discourage them.
   Avoiding frustration: Prompts should be at a level that allows students to demonstrate their knowledge without feeling overwhelmed.
4. Fairness and Equity:
   Avoiding bias: Questions and prompts should be free from bias and ensure that all students have an equal opportunity to succeed.
   Accessibility: Consider the needs of diverse learners, including those with disabilities, when designing assessments.
5. Measurement of Higher-Order Thinking:
   Beyond recall: Effective assessments should measure more than just basic recall of facts.
   Critical thinking: Questions and prompts should encourage students to analyze, evaluate, and synthesize information.
6. Time Constraints:
   Efficient use of time: Questions and prompts should be designed to be completed within a reasonable time frame.
   Avoiding overload: Ensure that the assessment does not overwhelm students with excessive information or tasks.
7. Assessment Validity:
   Accurate measurement: Questions and prompts should assess the intended knowledge or skills accurately.
   Reliability: The assessment should produce consistent results over time.
   By carefully considering these factors, educators can create effective test questions and writing prompts that accurately assess student learning and provide valuable feedback.

Works Cited
Google's Gemini A.i. https://g.co/gemini/share/6cb1e4256372