Do not use essay questions to evaluate understanding that could be tested with multiple-choice questions.
Save essay questions for testing higher levels of thought (application, synthesis, and evaluation), not recall facts. Appropriate tasks for essays include: Comparing: Identify the similarities and differences between
Relating cause and effect: What are the major causes of...? What would be the most likely effects of...?
Justifying: Explain why you agree or disagree with the following statement.
Generalizing: State a set of principles that can explain the following events.
Inferring: How would character X react to the following?
Creating: what would happen if...?
Applying: Describe a situation that illustrates the principle of.
Analyzing: Find and correct the reasoning errors in the following passage.
Evaluating: Assess the strengths and weaknesses of.