Overview of Part 5

This is the final part of the course Thinking about test questions (and choosing interactions) according to task type, which introduces a task-based approach to deciding which interactions would best suit the test questions you are trying to create.

As a quick recap, Part 1 introduced the task-based model with its four task types (as well as suggesting factors other than task type which are potentially relevant to your choice of interaction). Part 2 discussed the first of the four task types - IDENTIFY – and the interactions associated with it. Part 3 discussed the second of the four task types – CONNECT - and the interactions associated with it. Part 4 discussed the third of the four task types – COMPLETE - and the interactions associated with it.

Part 5 will discuss the fourth and final of the four task types – PRODUCE. Here's a reminder from Part 1 of what we already know about PRODUCE: in this task type, test-takers are given an open response task and asked to produce something from scratch - whatever is specified in the question. A typical example of the PRODUCE task would be a test question which asks a candidate to explain how they arrived at the solution to a problem, though it is not limited to this.

In the following sections of Part 5 we'll look in more detail at the task PRODUCE and its sub-types, and at some typical test scenarios associated with them. For each sub-type, we'll explore the various interactions which can be used in test questions based on these tasks. Then we'll establish the differences between the interactions available for each sub-type, if there is more than one, and look at the reasons which might motivate you to select one over the others for your particular test scenario.

FInally, as this is the last part of the course, concluding comments will be made.