There are always students who ask, “can I retake the test?” And while I used to think ‘nope, the first attempt is your final attempt’, I quickly came to the realization that that thought was the exact opposite of effective teaching and learning. One year I had taught high school Anatomy and Physiology and had administered a practical (a written exam of identification on specimens) on the heart. There were approximately 45 questions where students had to identify the structures and explain the functions. However, a few students did not pass the exam and I began to wonder, ‘what if I administered the same exact exam but in a different style?’ After receiving permission from my department chair, I invited those students back in and instead of having them retake the test the same way they had done on their first attempt, I sat across from them, simply read the question out loud to them and pointed to the structure with my probe. As odd as it might sound, it worked. Simply by reading the question out loud their performance increased. After providing the retake in such a manner I quickly realized that just as there are different learning styles, there may be different testing styles for students as well.

With standardized testing, students are all forced to take these exams in the same multiple-choice/short answer format with little (IEP/ELL) to no assistance. Educators and parents then utilize these scores to determine the students’ academic progress, project their success in a given content area, or even determine college readiness. While much of research supports that standardized tests are not accurate in portraying teacher quality, there is little research discussing a varied amount of testing styles. I strongly believe that if there are different learning styles, there must be a preferred way of testing as well.

According to Dr. Arlene Taylor (2019), “When examinations contain questions and testing methods that are matched with each of the four divisions of the cerebrum, each exam-taker would theoretically be able to excel at one style and, at the same time, get to practice the other three.” The following image describes what types of testing styles best match each region of the cerebrum:

Therefore, due to the fact that the brain has a preferred way of learning and testing, it would be ideal that the standardized tests be modified to meet the ideal needs of each student. Yet, in consideration of the aforementioned and the impracticality of figuring out and assessing per student’s testing style, teachers need to begin thinking about how they can teach and practice test-taking skills that match the style of the typical standardized test.

Some suggestions I have include:

• Design different style assessments every unit.
• Design assessments that incorporate different testing styles.
• Begin with tests that incorporate the different styles but gradually move away and towards the format of standardized tests.
• Design tests that ask the same question in multiple formats.

What are some suggestions that you may have?

Sources:

Hegarty, J. (2019). Examination and Testing Styles. Retrieved February 27, 2019, from https://arlenetaylor.org/practical-applications/school-and-learning/7436-examination-and-testing-styles