Free response question
{{Short description|Type of open-ended question}}
Free response questions (FRQ) or essay questions are a type of open-ended question commonly used in schools to test students' learning, as well as in entrance exams and sometimes as part of job application or screening processes.
Description
Free response questions require test takers to respond to a question or open-ended prompt with a prose response. In addition to being graded for factual correctness, free response questions may also be graded for persuasiveness, style, and demonstrated mastery of the subject material. Free response questions are a common part of assessment tests in schools, as well as being part of standardized tests{{Cite journal |last1=Pinter |first1=Brad |last2=Matchock |first2=Robert L. |last3=Charles |first3=Eric P. |last4=Balch |first4=William R. |date=January 2014 |title=A Cross-Sectional Evaluation of Student Achievement Using Standardized and Performance-Based Tests |url=http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0098628313514174 |journal=Teaching of Psychology |language=en |volume=41 |issue=1 |pages=20–27 |doi=10.1177/0098628313514174 |s2cid=145460705 |issn=0098-6283|url-access=subscription }} Essay questions are also sometimes included as part of a job interview{{Cite book |last1=Rao S. B |first1=Pooja |last2=Rasipuram |first2=Sowmya |last3=Das |first3=Rahul |last4=Jayagopi |first4=Dinesh Babu |title=Proceedings of the 19th ACM International Conference on Multimodal Interaction |chapter=Automatic assessment of communication skill in non-conventional interview settings: A comparative study |date=2017-11-03 |chapter-url=https://doi.org/10.1145/3136755.3136756 |series=ICMI '17 |location=New York, NY, USA |publisher=Association for Computing Machinery |pages=221–229 |doi=10.1145/3136755.3136756 |isbn=978-1-4503-5543-8|s2cid=3084268 }} or a school application process.{{Cite journal |last=Ross |first=Paul |date=2005-03-15 |title=L1 Writing Experiences and L2 Writing Instruction: University Entrance Exams in Japan |url=https://konan-u.repo.nii.ac.jp/index.php?active_action=repository_view_main_item_detail&page_id=40&block_id=38&item_id=417&item_no=1 |journal=Language and Culture: The Journal of the Institute for Language and Culture |language=ja |volume=9 |pages=41–55}}
Free response questions typically require little work for instructors to write, but can be difficult to grade consistently as they require subjective judgments. Free response tests are a relatively effective test of higher-level reasoning, as the format requires test-takers to provide more of their reasoning in the answer than multiple choice questions.{{Cite journal |last=Tuckman |first=Bruce W. |date=October 1993 |title=The Essay Test: A Look at the Advantages and Disadvantages |url=http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/019263659307755504 |journal=NASSP Bulletin |language=en |volume=77 |issue=555 |pages=20–26 |doi=10.1177/019263659307755504 |s2cid=143639361 |issn=0192-6365|url-access=subscription }} Students, however, report higher levels of anxiety when taking essay questions as compared to short-response or multiple choice exams.{{Cite journal |last1=Sommer |first1=Robert |last2=Sommer |first2=Barbara A. |date=2009-06-24 |title=The Dreaded Essay Exam |url=https://doi.org/10.1080/00986280902959820 |journal=Teaching of Psychology |volume=36 |issue=3 |pages=197–199 |doi=10.1080/00986280902959820 |s2cid=145664394 |issn=0098-6283|url-access=subscription }}
See also
References
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- [http://dbweb.liv.ac.uk/ltsnpsc/guides/EffectivePracticeInObjectiveAssessment/EffectivePractice Hanover Research]{{Dead link|date=May 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}.