Thought Process and Rationale

1.  I chose a multiple choice question to test the learning outcome for the layer of the earth's crust. I chose this because there are three layers in the earth's crust and with four options that would have left one not included. This is a question that will not have various other answers that "might" work. There are only three layers. According to Kubiszyn & Borich (2010) there should be as much of the item included as possible, "keeping the response options as short as possible" (p. 147).

2.  The discussion of the different faults was one of the main topics and most important topics for the lesson on mountains. It is highly important that the students know how each fault is formed. I felt like this would have been too complex of a multiple choice question. It would not have made a good true/false because of the detailed content and similarities between the faults. There would have been too much to question.

3.  I felt that this is good true/false question because it does not have a lot of incorrect wordings but only one word is incorrect. This is a concept that should have been comprehended during the reading. The focus is actually the point where an earthquake begins. The students should know that information and it will be important for the unit test.

Essay:  It is important for the students to know how mountains form. There are three main ways that mountains form. This essay question helps the students with research skills, writing skills, and consolidating information to develop the paper that is required by the essay question. The students will be given one class period to dedicate solely to the essay question. They will given a list of websites to use to find the information about the given mountain range. It will be their responsibility to narrow it down from that point.

Kubiszyn, T. & Borich, G. (2010). Educational Testing and Measurement: Classroom Application and Practice. (9^th ed.) Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.