Choosing the response type

Judgements about a student's performance on an assessment task are based on his or her response to the task. The response can be communicated in a variety of ways.

Students might be required to:

• choose an answer from a selection
• manipulate materials
• draw a diagram
• show working out or the procedure applied
• indicate an answer
• explain or justify verbally or in writing.

Depending on the nature of the task, changing the type of response expected can either limit or expand the potential information to be gained from the assessment task.

Therefore, an important aspect in the design of an assessment task is the choice of the response type.

Designing Assessment Tasks: Choosing the Response Type illustrates the impact of varying the response type in a task that focusses on comparing unit fractions.