Prepare tests with a variety of types of exam questions. Include multiple choice, true and false, as well as matching questions. Use open-ended questions, including short-answer questions where students supply words, numbers or symbols in answering a question or completing statements. Develop essay questions, which assess the students' abilities to recall and organize knowledge and to present knowledge in a logical and integrated format. The University of Texas encourages professors to use all of these different types of questions to diagnose students' abilities.
Determine student's level of comprehension by evaluating their reports, presentations and portfolios rather than only focusing on the narrow confines of standardized testing. The George Lucas Educational Foundation, which advocates innovative, replicable and evidence-based strategies that help students to thrive in education, encourages teachers to go beyond testing in evaluating students. The student's hands-on work provides a good indication of his knowledge and abilities. When teachers teach only to help students pass a standardized test, the true measurement of their abilities can be lost.
Use pictures and illustrations in testing. Some students are visually-oriented. Pictures and illustrations are a good memory-recall aid and can provide a method of assessment that provides visually-oriented students opportunity to demonstrate their abilities and comprehension. If for example, the test is on identifying areas of the cell, provide an illustration of the cell where students can write down the correct parts of the cell. If testing the student's ability in music theory, include a diagram of a piano keyboard where students can identify the names of the keys, sharps and flats, and treble and bass cleffs.
Orally test students who may have a difficult time concentrating on a written test. Some students know the subject matter well and can explain it but have a difficult time focusing on a written test. Gardner's Multiple Intelligences framework provides seven distinctive styles of learning that educator's should be familiar with when assessing strengths and weaknesses of individual students. (Gardener's Multiple Intelligences includes Visual-Spatial, Bodily-Kinesthetic, Musical, Interpersonal, Intrapersonal, Linguistic and Logical-Mathematical).
While some students may excel on written tests, others may excel in creating models that demonstrate their ability and comprehension (Bodily-Kinesthetic). Others may excel visually, and you should assess these students based on the illustrations and diagrams they produce on the subject matter (Visual-Spatial). Evaluate other students based on their physical presentation to other students, where they verbally explain or act out the essence of their material (Interpersonal, Linguistic or Bodily-Kinesthetic). Not every student fits into the same mold, and diagnosing student's abilities from various perspectives gives each student an opportunity to excel.