Matching Questions

Here is the original question:

1. Several inventions are listed in the column on the left. The right-hand column contains names of inventors. Place the letter corresponding to the inventor in the blank next to the invention he made. Some of the inventors’ names are not used.

Problems:

1. The directions are unclear.

2. There is an equal number of premises and responses.

3. There is no logical order to the premises or responses.

I might re-write the exercise to look something like this:

1. Match the invention on the left with its inventor on the right. On the line to the left of each invention, write the letter that corresponds to the correct inventor. Each inventor may be used once, more than once, or not at all.

Now, you might also argue that the inventions are not a homogeneous set. It depends on the content that you are teaching. If you are teaching a general unit on inventions, this is probably fine. If you're teaching about inventions in communications or late 19th century inventions, these lists would not be alright.

The next step is to practice writing your own matching exercise. Choose a subject matter that you have taught or will be teaching soon and are familiar with. What objective might be conducive to a matching exercise? Create a matching exercise on that content. Compare your exercise with the guidelines to make sure that you have created a quality exercise.