EXACTLY ONE YEAR AGO OBJECTIVES VERSUS ESSAY TYPE QUESTIONS IN AN EXAMINATION Objective or multiple choice questions are now the order of the day. In the past, it was only at the Common Entrance Examinations that pupils answered these questions. Perhaps the most important reason for adopting this method of examining at higher levels of education is the ease with which the answer sheets can be marked. Computerized marking has been introduced to facilitate assessment and evaluation. The method also copes conveniently with the huge volumes of answer sheets in recent years. I am not in a position to determine the impact of this mode of teaching and assessment on our students from our Senior High Schools and our Universities. I know that there are good students with good analytical and linguistic skills who had successfully gone through this method of teaching and evaluation. I cannot moreover state that the multiple choice regime creates problems for report writing for some students later in life. It is common knowledge that there are students who were taught and evaluated years before the introduction of multiple- choice questions who cannot write good reports. I do not also know whether the objective business affects the way lengthy love letters are written these days. You have a mixture of words, letters and numbers. These days we have ‘short hand’ online cell phone English that eases written communication. Sounds are written not English words and they are understood. Language is dynamic. We move on. I prefer the objective questions to the essay type questions. This is because you will not be found ‘chewing’ the end of your pencil if you do not know the answer. There is always something you can tick or check by trying your luck in a few instances or stretching your luck to cover all the questions for which you cannot readily provide answers. If I should go back to teach history in a Senior High School, I will ask, among other objective questions, the following: On the 24th of July 2012, a good, humble, healthy, strong and peaceful Man suddenly died of one of the following ‘ailments’: Check the correct answer: (a) Cancer of the throat; (b) Cardiac arrest; (c) Insults from political opponents; (d) Killer, unguarded, unreasonable and harsh criticisms from his mentor and his cohorts for three and half years; the entire period of his administration; (e) Massive stroke; (f) Lies and lack of transparency about his health by greedy bastards working closely with him; (g) Overwork for a better Ghana; (h) Choked on his blood without an immediate help; (i) Passionate faith in and heavy reliance on self- proclaimed men of God at the expense of advice for rest from medical doctors; (j) All of the above; and (k) None of the above. If I retrace my steps into the past and I had to teach general knowledge as a subject, I would demand a one and half page essay type answer for the following questions: (a) Distinguish between medical check- up, medical examination and treatment and show their importance for the health status of a God fearing Leader and his health legacy for the State. (b) Is there a difference between an autopsy and an inquest? Illustrate your answer by discussing selected view points from both the ruling and the opposition parties and use the Ghana Medical Association view point as a reference point. (c) “An inquest is unnecessary and so there will never be an inquest into the death of our humble leader and he must be allowed to rest in sublime and perfect peace because we love him” Discuss. (d) “Twenty four million Ghanaians are medical doctors, politicians and football coaches.” Discuss Marks will be awarded for facts and clarity of expression.
Posted on: Wed, 24 Jul 2013 04:15:15 +0000
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