By
Dr Razia Khatoon
Dr Noor Jahan
5th Basic Course Workshop in Medical Education Technologies
12/9/2014
1
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What are Short Answer Questions (SAQs)?
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Structure of SAQs.
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Advantages of SAQs.
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Disadvantages of SAQs.
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How to design good SAQs.
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Marking rubrics of SAQs.
5th Basic Course Workshop in
Medical Education Technologies
12/9/2014
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Short-answer questions (SAQs) are openended questions that require students to
create an answer, rather than choose from a
selection of responses.
Its a practical alternative to the long essay
question.
They are commonly used in examinations to
assess the basic knowledge and
understanding of a topic before more indepth assessment questions are asked.
5th Basic Course Workshop in
Medical Education Technologies
12/9/2014
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Short Answer Questions do not have a
generic structure.
Questions may require answers such as
complete the sentence, supply the missing
word, short descriptive or qualitative
answers, diagrams with explanations etc.
5th Basic Course Workshop in
Medical Education Technologies
12/9/2014
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For Example: One may simply ask the student to write in a
missing word or phrase: “The current Prime
Minister of India is _____? (1 mark)”.


Or one may ask for brief listing: “List the
three types of plastic surgery procedures (1
mark each)”.
Or for a one sentence answer: “What is the
basic principle of Gram’s staining ? (2 marks)”
5th Basic Course Workshop in
Medical Education Technologies
12/9/2014
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Hence, SAQs tend to test the lower levels of
the cognitive domain and assesses mainly
knowledge, comprehension, and some
application.
They can also incorporate clinical scenarios.
This type of question assesses higher-level
thinking, but is less reliable because a
teacher must interpret the responses.
They are most effective when there can be no
disagreement about acceptable answers.
5th Basic Course Workshop in
Medical Education Technologies
12/9/2014
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SAQs are relatively easy to set compared to
many assessment methods.
They are relatively fast to mark and can be
marked by different assessors, as long as the
questions are set in such a way that all
alternative answers can be considered by the
assessors.
5th Basic Course Workshop in
Medical Education Technologies
12/9/2014
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Better content coverage as compared to long
essay question.
Improved objectivity as the marking scheme
can be structured and predetermined.
Higher chance for assessment of clinical
reasoning.
5th Basic Course Workshop in
Medical Education Technologies
12/9/2014
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They can be used as part of a formative and
summative assessment, as the structure of
SAQs are very similar to examination
questions, students are more familiar with
the practice and feel less anxious.
Unlike MCQs, there is no guessing on
answers, students must supply an answer.
5th Basic Course Workshop in
Medical Education Technologies
12/9/2014
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SAQs are only suitable for questions that can
be answered with short responses.
There can be difficulties in grading if the
question is not worded carefully.
As they are typically used for assessing
knowledge only, students may often
memorize SAQs with rote learning.
5th Basic Course Workshop in
Medical Education Technologies
12/9/2014
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If assessors wish to use SAQs to assess
deeper learning, careful attention (and many
practices) on appropriate questions are
required.
Also, if a large amount of knowledge needs to
be tested, it is more efficient to use MCQs.
5th Basic Course Workshop in
Medical Education Technologies
12/9/2014
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Accuracy of assessment may be influenced by
handwriting/spelling skills.
There can be time management issues as
SAQs are not as easy to complete or score as
MCQ or true-false questions.
5th Basic Course Workshop in
Medical Education Technologies
12/9/2014
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1) Design short answer items which are
appropriate assessment of the learning
objective.
2) Make sure the content of the SAQs measures
knowledge appropriate to the desired
learning goal.
5th Basic Course Workshop in
Medical Education Technologies
12/9/2014
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3) Make the questions clear and easy to
understand with wordings and language
appropriate to the student population.
4) Set the questions explicitly and precisely
with clear instructions to test the desired
knowledge and get the specific response.
5th Basic Course Workshop in
Medical Education Technologies
12/9/2014
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5) Ensure that the item clearly specifies how
the question should be answered.
e.g.

Student should answer it briefly and
concisely using a single word or short
phrase?

Is bullet point format acceptable, or does it
have to be an essay format?
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Is the question given a specific number of
blanks for students to answer?
5th Basic Course Workshop in
Medical Education Technologies
12/9/2014
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Example:
Family planning methods most appropriate
for adolescents are:
a._______________,
b. _______________,
c._______________.
Questions that involve possible multiple
responses demands more from students and
addresses broader content.
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Medical Education Technologies
12/9/2014
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6) Instructions and teacher’s expectations about
filling in blanks should be made clear.
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Indicate whether each blank of equal length
represents one word or several words, whether
long blanks require sentences or phrases, and
whether synonymous terms are accepted.
E.g:- Neurocysticercosis is caused by _____.
5th Basic Course Workshop in
Medical Education Technologies
12/9/2014
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7) Consider whether the positioning of the item
blank promote efficient scoring.

Word completion or filling questions (so that
missing information is at or near the end of
the sentence) makes reading and responding
easier.
Example:
◦ Poor: In the year ______ , Canada turned 100
years old.
◦ Better: Canada turned 100 years old in the
year _____ .
5th Basic Course Workshop in
Medical Education Technologies
12/9/2014
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8) When an answer is to be expressed in
numerical units, the unit should be stated.
Example
◦ Poor: If a room measures 7 metres by 4
metres, the perimeter is _____ .
◦ Better: If a room measures 7 metres by 4
metres, the perimeter is _____ metres (or
m).
5th Basic Course Workshop in
Medical Education Technologies
12/9/2014
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9) Do not use too many blanks in completion
items. The emphasis should be on knowledge
and comprehension, not mind reading!
Example
◦ In the year _____ , Prime Minister _________
signed the __________ , which led to a
___________ which was __________ .
5th Basic Course Workshop in
Medical Education Technologies
12/9/2014
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10) Direct questions are better than those
which require completing the sentences.

Example:
Poor:
Wellington defeated Napoleon in _____ ?
Better: In what battle fought in 1815 did
Wellington defeat Napoleon?
OR
In what year did Wellington defeat
Napoleon at Waterloo?
5th Basic Course Workshop in
Medical Education Technologies
12/9/2014
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11) Prepare a structured marking sheet.
12) Make the marking sheet easy to
understand so that other teachers can use it
if necessary.
13) Ensure there is only one clearly correct
answer in each question.
14) Clearly state if a point will be given for
each correct response or if the student must
have all the correct responses to obtain one
point.
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Medical Education Technologies
12/9/2014
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15) In case a question involves possible
multiple responses then, list all of the
acceptable responses, and be prepared to
consider other answers which you may not
have predicted, but they may be equally
acceptable.
16) Allocate marks or partial-marks for
acceptable answer(s).
5th Basic Course Workshop in
Medical Education Technologies
12/9/2014
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Simple Short Answer Questions Rubric
4
3
2
1
0
Defining
Answers Answer 75% of all 50% of all 25% of all 0% of all
/Points:
all
the
the
the
the
points
points
points
points
points
answered answered answered answered
5th Basic Course Workshop in
Medical Education Technologies
12/9/2014
Total
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Question: What are two characteristics of
mammals? Give two examples.
Answer: Two characteristics of mammals are
they are warm-blooded (1 point) and give
birth to their young(2 points). Two examples
of mammals are humans (3 points) and bears
(4 points).
5th Basic Course Workshop in
Medical Education Technologies
12/9/2014
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
In another scenario :
If there are 6 possible arguments to a
question, and the student scores all 6
arguments, he will get full mark in that
question. If he scores only 4 arguments, he
will get a relative mark.

Example : Enumerate 3 screening tests and 3
confirmatory tests for diagnosing HIV
infection. (1 mark each; total 6 marks)
5th Basic Course Workshop in
Medical Education Technologies
12/9/2014
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You may also decide to be lenient, if there are
6 arguments in a question, and the student
scores any 4 out of 6, he will get full mark.
Example : Enlist laboratory tests to diagnose
enteric fever. (6 marks)
This would be an assessor decision, however,
this decision must be clear and consistent.
5th Basic Course Workshop in
Medical Education Technologies
12/9/2014
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Prepare short answer question on following
topics:
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Tuberculosis
Malaria
Hepatitis B
Cholera
→ Group A.
→ Group B.
→ Group C.
→ Group D.
5th Basic Course Workshop in
Medical Education Technologies
12/9/2014
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