[QUOTE=Dinsdale]
I’m not sure I agree with you. Of course it is possible you are just a far better and more dedicated (and less burned out) instructor than my wife.
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Better? I’m not in a position to say. I doubt it, though.
Less burned out? Perhaps. I don’t consider myself burned out at all. I don’t have a full-time job because i’m still finishing my dissertation. I teach one class per semester to help pay the bills, and to add to my CV. I appreciate that my teaching load is less than most professors, although my overall workload is not, as i have to do my own research and writing when i’m not teaching.
[QUOTE=Dinsdale]
But I’m not sure why the assigning of essay tests is necessarily a required element of effectively teaching American History - or Business Law. Don’t you have enough material to cover without adding in basic English composition? Especially if your college-aged students haven’t learned basic grammar and compositional structure by their age.
My wife tried many different things over many years, and found that she obtains essentially the same grade curve whether she gives multiple choice or essay tests. So why do you believe essay tests are necessary in order to effectively communicate your subject material? If you effectively communicate your subject material, why would your manner of testing constitute a disservice to your students?
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Well, first of all, if they haven’t yet learned basic grammar and compositional structure by the time they get to college, then they’d better damn well pick it up quickly. And, to tell you the truth, i see no problem with helping them to develop these skills by setting essays. Sure, i’m a history teacher, but part of my job is also to prepare these students to be communicators in whatever profession they choose. When i grade their papers, i offer comments not only on their historical analysis and argument, but on the clarity of their writing and the correctness of their grammar.
Now, you might argue that a law professor’s sole task is to teach her students about the law, and i’ve heard such arguments made before. But i think that’s a cop-out. Presumably, those studying law will not, in their future careers, be able to practice by filling in multiple choice questions. They will have to write briefs, arguments, analyses for clients, etc., and developing skills that help them do this is part of a law professor’s job, IMO.
Also, on the specific issue of the type of tests, my main aim in teaching history is not to get them to “remember stuff.” If they forget the specific year of the Stamp Act or the Louisiana Purchase, i don’t care very much. They can always look it up. The rote memory of details is less important to me (and, i think, to most history teachers) than the ability to analyze an issue and develop an argument about it. If a person writes an excellent paper on the significance of the Louisiana Purchase for American social and political development in the nineteenth century, and gets a few details wrongs, they’ll still get a good grade. And the sort of historical understanding that they display in such a paper just cannot, in my experience, be demonstrated in a multiple choice test.
Now, it may be that law is more conducive than history to the type of knowledge that can be demonstrated in a multiple choice test. I 've never studied law, so i don’t know. I fully appreciate that not every discipline models itself on history, and nor should it. But there are some in this thread, like Doctor Who, who think that law stuff also needs to be tested by essays.
The fact that your wife gave essay tests for so long suggests that she herself feels that they had a certain value. And, from your own explanation, it seems that she’s given up on essays more out of expediency than out of any real notion of improving the learning experience of the students. I’m not sure what it signifies that she gets a similar grade curve with essay tests and multiple choice tests; even if the curve is the same, for a given class different students might do better on different types of test. A student who gets A’s on an essay might get C’s on a multiple choice test, and vice versa. The question shouldn’t be about what the curve looks like, but whether the test itself is a good way of examining the knowledge and skills that the class is meant to impart.
As i said, it may be that multiple choice tests are appropriate in a law class, but that determination should not be made based on how difficult they are to grade.
[QUOTE=Dinsdale]
I also believe not all multiple choice - or essay - tests are created equal. I could easily imagine a scenario in which a well-constructed multiple choice test was far superior than a poorly written and graded essay test.
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I’m sure that’s right. I’m assuming that we are talking about classes that have equally competent teachers, capable of writing decent tests.
[QUOTE=Dinsdale]
And, a not inconsequential factor concerns your school’s expectations. My wife’s school does not have a preference, and is fine with multiple choice. Several years in my wife was surprised to find she was the only teacher giving essay tests. There was no financial incentive to expend the extra effort to write and grade essays instead of running answer sheets through the scantron. And when she polled her students, they overwhelmingly preferred multiple choice.
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Again, the argument from expediency. I’m not saying it’s wrong or even irrelevant; all professors have to find ways to balance the various demands of their jobs—teaching, research, writing, service/admin, etc. As long as we don’t confuse the question of expediency with the question of sound pedagogy.
As for the students preferring multiple choice: well, duh! 
I should also add, by the way, that i know quite a few history teachers who do give multiple choice and short answer tests. In most cases, those professors work in large state colleges where they have massive numbers of students and no TA’s. One professor just can’t grade essays from 150 students. But almost all of my friends who use such tests concede that they are less than ideal, and that essays would be better if the resources were available to grade them.
that’s some solid advice