Question Type Matters

Different types of questions are used to assess students’ knowledge, and it is widely recognized that students’ learning approaches significantly influence their performance on these questions. In this study, we investigated how different types of questions capture students' learning approaches. The sample consisted of 140 secondary school students. Descriptive, correlational and path analyses were implemented. Results showed that the surface motive approach was negatively related to academic performance in open-ended questions, but not in multiple-choice questions. Moreover, analyses revealed a mediating effect of academic self-efficacy between learning approaches and academic performance when measured with problem-solving questions. However, no indirect effects were found when academic achievement was assessed with multiple-choice or short-answer questions. Open-ended questions were able to capture students' learning approaches more effectively than close-ended questions. Given the relationship between question types and students' approaches to learning, pedagogical implications for the design of effective assessments are discussed.