ABSTRACT
Assessment tasks that require students to produce complex responses provide the context for this chapter. Such tasks are typically labelled ‘divergent’, because no uniquely correct response exists. Examples include: extended solutions to non-routine problems; literary, artistic, musical or other creative performances and works; critical and analytical investigations and reviews; theories and abstract syntheses; computer software; technological, engineering and architectural plans; industrial and product designs; medical and other health-related procedures; project reports; social and other policies; financial, administrative and management schemes; and sophisticated models of interactive systems. Responses may require high levels of technical or procedural skill; high levels of intellectualization, cognitive activity or aesthetic appreciation; or all of these. Some require special abilities that are not easily categorized.
