1. SUBJECTIVE/ESSAY TEST

2. Subjective (Essay) test
 consists of questions to which
students answered/ respond in one or
more sentences to a specific question
or problem
 assesses the student’s ability to
produce, integrate, and express
ideas, and allow the student to be
original, and creative.

3. General Types of Essay Test
1. Extended/ Unrestricted/
Uncontrolled response
 Allows for an in-depth answers of a student’s
knowledge, thinking processes, and problem
solving behavior relative to a specific topic
 A free-response essay
 The student has to recall specific information
and organize, evaluate, and write intelligible
composition

4. General Types of Essay Test
 Examples:
 Explain the issue about climate
change
 Discuss classroom assessment

5. General Types of Essay Test
General Types of Essay Test
2. Restricted/Controlled response
 The examinee is required to provide
limited response based on a specified
criterion for answering the question.
Examples:
 Explain the causes and effect of EDSA 1

6. Learning Outcomes that can be
measured effectively with essay
items:
 Abilities to:
1. Explain cause-effect relationships
2. Describe application of principles
3. Present relevant arguments
4. Formulate tenable hypotheses
5. State necessary assumptions

7. Learning Outcomes that can be
measured effectively with essay
items:
 Abilities to:
6. Describe the limitations of data
7. Explain methods and procedures
8. Produce, organize, and express ideas
9. Integrate learning in different areas
10. Create original forms
11. Evaluate the worth of ideas

8. Types of Essay Questions
by Bloom’s Taxonomy
1. KNOWLEDGE
 remembering; memorizing; recognizing;
 recalling identification and recall of information
 Who, what, when, where, how ...?
 Describe
 Examples:
 Explain how Egypt came to be called the gift of
the Nile.
 State the formula for the area of a circle.

9. Types of Essay Questions
by Bloom’s Taxonomy
2. COMPREHENSION
 interpreting;
 translating from one medium to another;
 describing in one's own words;
 organization and selection of facts and ideas
 Retell...
 Examples:
 What is meant when a person says, “I had just
crossed the bridge”?
 Given the mathematical formula for the area of
a circle, paraphrase it using your own words.

10. Types of Essay Questions
by Bloom’s Taxonomy
3. APPLICATION
 problem solving;
 applying information to produce some result;
 use of facts, rules and principles
 How is...an example of...?
 How is...related to...?
 Why is...significant?
 Examples:
• Give at least 3 examples of how the law of
supply operates in our economy today.
• Compute the area of actual circles.

11. Types of Essay Questions
by Bloom’s Taxonomy
4. ANALYSIS
 subdividing something to show how it is put together;
 finding the underlying structure of a communication;
 identifying motives;
 separation of a whole into component parts
 What are the parts or features of...?
 Classify...according to...
 Outline/diagram...
 How does...compare/contrast with...?
 What evidence can you list for...?
 Examples:
 Explain the causes and effects the EDSA 1 on the political and
social life of the Filipino people
 Given a math word problem, determine the strategies that
would be necessary to solve it.

12. Types of Essay Questions
by Bloom’s Taxonomy
5. SYNTHESIS
 creating a unique, original product that may be in verbal
form or may be a physical object;
 combination of ideas to form a new whole
 What would you predict/infer from...?
 What ideas can you add to...?
 How would you create/design a new...?
 What might happen if you combined...?
 What solutions would you suggest for...?
 Examples:
 Describe the origin and significance of the
celebration of Christmas the world over.
 Apply and integrate several different strategies
to solve a mathematical problem.

13. Types of Essay Questions
by Bloom’s Taxonomy
6. EVALUATION
 making value decisions about issues;
 resolving controversies or differences of opinion;
 development of opinions, judgements or decisions
 Do you agree...?
 What do you think about...?
 What is the most important...?
 Place the following in order of priority...
 How would you decide about...?
 What criteria would you use to assess...?
 Example:
 When you have finished solving a problem
determine the degree to which that problem
was solved as efficiently as possible.

14. Types of Essay Questions
(From Garcia, 2008)
1. Recall
 Simple recall
 What is the chemical formula for sodium
bicarbonate?
 Selective recall in which a basis for
evaluation/judgment is suggested
 Who among the Greek philosophers
affected your thinking as student?

15. Types of Essay Questions
(From Garcia, 2008)
2. Understanding
 Comparison of 2 phenomena on a single
designated basis
 Compare 19th century and present-day
Filipino writers with respect to their
involvement in societal affairs
 Comparison of two phenomena in general
 Compare the Phil. Revolution of 1896 with
that of People’s Power Revolution of 1986

16. Types of Essay Questions
(From Garcia, 2008)
2. Understanding
 Explanation of the use of exact meaning of a
phrase/statement
 Explain this statement “............”
 Summary of a text or some portion of it
 What is the central idea of communism as an economic
system?
 Statement of an artist’s purpose in the selection or
organization of material
 Why did Hemingway describe in detail the episode in
which Gordon, lying wounded, engages the economy
enemy?

17. Types of Essay Questions
(From Garcia, 2008)
3. Application
 Causes and effects
 Why does frequent dependence on penicillin for
treatment of minor ailment result in its reduced
effectiveness against major invasion of body tissues
by infectious bacteria?
 Analysis
 Why was Hamlet torn by conflicting desires?
 Statement of relationship
 A researcher reported that teaching styles correlates
with student achievement at about 0.75. What does
this correlation mean

18. Types of Essay Questions
(From Garcia, 2008)
3. Application
 Illustrations or examples of principles
 Identify 3 examples of the uses of the hammer in a
typical Filipino home.
 application of rules or principles in specified
situation.
 Would you weigh more or less on the moon? Why or why
not?
 Reorganization of facts
 Some radical Filipino historians assert that the Filipino
revolution against Spain was a revolution from the top
not from below. Using the same observation, what
other conclusion is possible.

19. Types of Essay Questions
(From Garcia, 2008)
4. Judgment
 Decision for or against
 Should members of the communist party of
the Phils. Be allowed to teach in colleges
and universities? Why or why not?
 Discussion
 Trace the events that led to the downfall of
the dictatorial regime of Ferdinand Marcos.

20. Types of Essay Questions
(From Garcia, 2008)
4. Judgment
 Criticism of the adequacy, correctness or relevant of
a statement
 Former President Joseph Estrada was convicted for
the case of plunder by the Sandiganbayan. Comment
on the adequacy of the evidence by the said tribunal in
reaching a decision on the case filed against the
former chief executive of the country.
 Formulation of new questions
 What questions should parents ask their children in
order to determine the reasons why they join
fraternities and sororities?

21. Guidelines for constructing
essay questions
1. Give adequate time and thought to the
preparation of essay questions
2. The question should be written so that it will
elicit (draw out) the type of behavior you
want to measure.
3. A well-constructed essay question should
establish a framework within which the
student operates

22. Guidelines for constructing
essay questions
4. Decide in advance what factors will be
considered in evaluating an essay response.
5. Do not provide optional questions in an
essay test
6. Use relatively large number of questions
requiring short answers (about ½ page)
rather than just a few questions involving
long answers (2-3 pages)

23. Guidelines for constructing
essay questions
7. Don’t start essay questions with such words
as “list, who, what, whether”
8. Adapt the length of the responses and the
complexity of the question and answer to the
maturity of the student
9. Use the novel type of question wherever
feasible
10. Prepare a scoring key

24. Suggestions for grading
/scoring essay test
1. Check your scoring key against actual
responses
2. Be consistent in your grading. Use
criteria/rubric
3. Grade only one question at a time for all
papers
4. Grade the responses anonymously

25. Suggestions for grading
/scoring essay test
5. The mechanics of expression should be
judged separately from what the student
writes.
6. Try to score all responses to a particular
question without interruption.
7. If possible, have two independent readings
of the test and use the average as the final
score.
8. Provide comments and correct errors.

26. End na!