Type of questions: Objective, Short answer and Essay Type of questions

Essay type	Short answer type	Objective type
v short notes v paragraph writing v essay writing v story writing v précis writing v letter writing' v application writing	v Write answer into three to five sentences	v fill in the gaps v match 'a' with 'b' v true or false v multiple choice questions v completion tests v crossword puzzles v identification of pictures or objects v selecting proper meanings v Selecting proper words
v Advantages 1.    allows students to express their ideas, knowledge, skills, and abilities in a variety of ways 2.    It is relatively easier to prepare 3.    Can be used to develop student writing skills, 4.     It is the only means that can assess an examinee’s ability to organise and present his ideas in a logical and coherent fashion. Some of the objectives such as ability to organise idea effectively, ability to criticise or justify a statement, ability to interpret, etc., can be best measured by this type of test. 5.    guessing is eliminated 6.    essay questions can provide the instructor with insight into possible misunderstandings students' have of the material. 7.    It can be successfully employed for practically all the school subjects.	v Advantages 1.    Relatively easy to construct 2.    Can cover wide range of content 3.    Reduce guessing 4.    More objective compared to essay type of questions 5.    Assessment does not become so tiring as in Essay type 6.	v  advantages 1.    Quick and easy to score, by hand or electronically 2.    Can be written so that they test a wide range of higher-order thinking skills 3.    Can cover lots of content areas on a single exam 4.    objective tests are very good at examining recall of facts, knowledge and application of terms, and questions that require short text or numerical responses. 5.    These questions are free from the personal factors of the teacher. Objective evaluation. The mood of the examiner in no way affects scoring. 6.    This test items are educative for the pupils as they are more interested in answering this type of test. 7.    Objective type test items discourage cramming and encourage thinking, observation and scrutiny. 8.    These test items are more reliable and valid.
v Limitations 1.    Subjective evaluations. Moreover, scoring may be affected by spelling, good handwriting, coloured ink, neatness, grammar, length of the answer, etc. Mood of the examiner affects the scoring of answer scripts. 2.    do not give scope of covering larger part of  content 3.    Essay items are good for testing small numbers of students. However, as the number of student increases, the advantage of essay test decreases. 4.    Essay questions are time consuming to teachers and students. Students often spend much time answering only one or two essay questions. Teachers, on the other hand, also devote much time reading lengthy responses. 5.    Essay responses are subject to bluffing. Essays eliminate guessing but not bluffing. Poorly prepared students desperately attempt to get a passing grade by answering something even if the responses are not related to the questions asked 6.    Improper and ambiguous wording handicaps both the students and valuers.	v Limitations 7.    Primarily used for lovwer level of thinking 8.    Prone to ambiguity 9.    Must be constructed carefully..may result in essay type 10.	v Limitations 1.    unprepared students have the opportunity to guess, and with guesses that are right, they get credit for things they don’t know 2.    Take time and skill to construct (especially good questions) 3.    Encourage students to memorize terms and details, so that their understanding of the content remains superficial 4.    This test items don’t put stress on the ability of organisation of subject matter learnt by pupils.