How to build a unit assessment

Step 1: Write the blueprint first

A blueprint is a small table. Down the side, list your learning objectives. Across the top, put how hard each should be asked: recall, apply, explain. In each cell, write how many points. For a unit on forces it might look like this:

The totals show you where the weight sits. If you spent a week on the second objective and it is worth four points, the test will mislead you. Adjust the points to match the time you gave each idea.

Step 2: Decide what a good score looks like

Before writing items, decide what a student must show to count as having the skill. If the answer is "got at least 3 of 4 on that objective", say so now. Setting the bar after you see results invites arguments.

Step 3: Gather the items

Write the items you have a strong view about. For the rest, borrow or generate drafts and edit. Whatever the source, run every item through the same tests:

• Does it test the objective, or reading skill, or trivia?
• Is the correct answer clearly best, and could a student argue for another?
• Are wrong options plausible? See good multiple-choice questions.
• Is it free of clues, like a longer correct answer or "all of the above" as a default?

Step 4: Order and balance

Start with a couple of accessible items so every student settles in, build up, and put the hardest in the middle or second half. Check that correct answers are spread across A, B, C and D. Check length: if you would not finish it in two-thirds of the time, students will not either.

Using ClassSense to draft items

ClassSense can draft the items from your own unit, which keeps the test close to what you taught. The route:

1. Upload the unit on the Materials tab (about 3 minutes) and publish the skill packs you want. Only published packs show up when you generate.
2. Open the Create Content tab and choose Assessment.
3. Under From Skill Pack, use Select a Skill Pack to pick one pack, then press Generate Assessment. It can take 15 to 30 seconds and a Word (.docx) file downloads.
4. Repeat for each pack in your blueprint.
5. Combine, cut and reorder in Word until the totals match your blueprint.

The form takes one pack at a time and has no question-count control, so expect to trim. Custom Topic is an alternative when you have no source file, but the questions then come from the topic name, not from your material. The steps for a single pack are in how to make a quiz from a PDF.

Step 5: Check the key, then take the test yourself

Take the test with a pen, before you look at the key. Time yourself. Mark the questions that made you hesitate. Those are the ones students will argue about. AI-drafted items need this most, since a wrong key can slip through; the error checklist lists what to look for.

Step 6: After the test

Look at item results before you record grades. If nearly everyone missed an item, check the item first. A bad question is a likelier cause than a whole class that failed to learn. ClassSense does not grade a printed test, and official grades are entered by hand. What the Students tab can give you is the practice record from before the test, which you can compare against how students did. See formative assessment for using small checks along the way, so the unit test holds no surprises.

Common questions