Department

Chemistry and Biochemistry

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2011

Abstract

Open-ended assessments, defined as assessments with a large set of possible correct answers, by nature lend themselves to concerns regarding accurate and consistent grading. This article describes one particular open-ended assessment, named Creative Exercises (CE), designed for promoting students' interconnection of concepts in a college general chemistry setting. The article presents evidence concerning several aspects of validity, including the extent scores represent chemistry knowledge and the extent scoring is consistent across three graders. The evidence is also presented in the context of what is known about concept maps, a commonly employed open-ended assessment in chemistry. Implications for the administration of CEs and the appropriateness of measuring students' hierarchical organization of knowledge are also discussed as a result of this comparison.

Journal Title

Chemistry Education Research and Practice

Journal ISSN

1756-1108

Volume

2011

Issue

12

First Page

158

Last Page

166

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

10.1039/C1RP90020J

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