ABSTRACT
Constructed-response items require students to create, or construct, a response to the item or task. They are used instructionally to assess complex skills or to evaluate students’ ability to synthesise and apply their knowledge. Types of constructed-response items include fill-in-the-blank (text and numeric entry), short answer, essay, concept maps, portfolios, and performance assessments. The specific type of constructed-response item used should be aligned to the learning outcome(s) that the question is intended to assess. Fill-in-the-blank and short answer constructed-response items are considered to be constructed-response objective scoring tasks. More complex constructed-response items, such as essays, concept maps, and performance tasks are considered to be constructed-response subjective scoring tasks and are typically scored with rubrics by instructors, peers, or the students themselves. A rubric is a scoring guideline with a set criteria and detailed performance descriptions against which the task will be evaluated. Rubrics can be focused on the particular activity (task-specific) or generalisable across similar tasks (general) and can provide one overall score (holistic) or provide scores for each criteria (analytic). Rubrics can be based on examples adapted from other disciplines or created by the instructor, but in either case the criteria should be substantive and align with the important learning outcomes being measured by the constructed-response item. Determining whether constructed-response items should be scored by an instructor, peer, or student, should be guided by the purpose of the assessment, the complexity of the constructed-response item, and the desired type of feedback to students.
