University of Luton Recent rises in student numbers have led to a re-evaluation of the type and frequency of assessments. As a result, it is increasingly common for staff to incorporate objective testing within their assessment profile. Objective tests are those which require a user to choose or provide a response to a question whose correct answer is pre-determined. Including objective tests within an assessment profile allows for more regular and efficient examining of students, because objective questions can be marked rapidly using computers, an OMR or staff members with no special knowledge in the area being assessed.
Objective tests are especially well-suited to certain types of tasks.
Because questions can be designed to be answered quickly, they allow lecturers to test students on a wide range of material. Additionally, statistical analysis on the performance of individual students, cohorts and questions is possible. Furthermore, questions can be pre-tested in order to evaluate their effectiveness and level of difficulty. The capacity of objective tests to assess a wide range of learning is often underestimated. Objective tests are very good at examining recall of facts, knowledge and application of terms, and questions that require short text or numerical responses.