Selected-Response vs. Constructed-Response Assessment Methods
Meet Mr. Bumble.
Mr. Bumble is a hard-working “every teacher.” He struggles with how to assess his students and often shows you what not to do. You will read about Mr. Bumble’s exploits throughout this unit.
Mr. Bumble realizes that he needs to improve his classroom assessments. He thinks the way to do this is to choose between selected- or constructed-response methods. So, he compares the two to find out which one is better for classroom assessments.
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Selected-response (e.g., multiple choice, true/false, matching)
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Constructed-response (e.g., short answer, essay) |
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Advantages |
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Disadvantages |
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EUREKA! Mr. Bumble realizes there are advantages and disadvantages of both methods. But now he’s confused about when he should use which one.
If Mr. Bumble asked you, how would you answer him? You might recall the Target-Assessment Method Match table from Unit 4 which emphasized that the key determination in selecting the type of assessment method is how well it measures the type of learning target.

Select the icon to review the Target-Assessment Method Match Table.
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