Exam Questions - Checklist

Exam questions need to be valid, reliable, well phrased, well weighted, and markable. The following checklist is a summary of the suggestions presented in a series of posts (I, II, III) dedicated to writing exam questions for software developers.

Software Development Exam Question Writing Checklist

• Fitness for Purpose
  • FFP1: Test Application, not Recall
  • FFP2: Tie Each Question to Learning Point(s)
  • FFP3: Tie Each Question to Lab that Exercises Learning Point(s)
  • FFP4: Fair Distribution, not Bell Curve
  • FFP5: Reliable Questions Widen the Spread of Marks
  • FFP6: Be Ready to Accept New Answers
  • FFP7: No Trick Questions
  • FFP8: Review with Fresh and Contrary Eyes
  • FFP9: Focus on Relevant Information
  • FFP10: All of the Above, None of the Above, Neither of Those
  • FFP11: Use Current Code
  • FFP12: Use a Die if Writing Multiple Choice Questions
  • FFP13: No Hint-Laden Review Sessions
  • FFP14: Provide Past Papers
• Phrasing
  • Ph1: Prefer Direct and Simple
  • Ph2: Make it Concrete
  • Ph3: Be Consistent with Directives
  • Ph4: No Conflation
  • Ph5: Provide an Example
  • Ph6: Positive Phrasing
• Weighting
  • W1: Marks are Stated
  • W2: Marks are Broken Down
  • W3: Marks are Proportionate to Effort Only
  • W4: Write a Perfect Answer
  • W5: No Giveaway Marks
  • W6: Do not Reward Mirroring Negatives
• Marking
  • M1: A Marking Scheme is Just a Guide
  • M2: Allow Half-marks, but Don’t Require Them
  • M3: Consider the Marker
  • M4: Each Paper is Individual
  • M5: Mark Each Question in a Random Order Across Papers
  • M6: Be Forgiving of Non-Technical English
  • M7: No Arbitrarily Specific Marks
  • M8: Reasonable Marking Schemes can be Shown to Takers