What is a key characteristic of open-ended questions in educational evaluation?
2026
What is a key characteristic of open-ended questions in educational evaluation?
Answer: D. They allow multiple possible responses. — ConceptOpen-ended questions are constructed-response prompts: learners formulate a response rather than choose from a fixed list supplied by the assessor.…
- A.
They test only factual recall.
- B.
They have one predetermined correct answer.
- C.
They require only yes-or-no responses.
- D.
They allow multiple possible responses.
Attempted by 6 students.
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: D
Concept
Open-ended questions are constructed-response prompts: learners formulate a response rather than choose from a fixed list supplied by the assessor. Such questions can admit varied valid formulations or approaches, although a particular prompt may still be graded against expected content or a model answer.
Application
Here, the intended contrast is with formats that restrict the learner to a preselected response or a single binary choice. Among the offered statements, “They allow multiple possible responses” best captures the freedom to formulate a response; it does not mean that every response is equally correct.
Contrast
Testing only factual recall describes a cognitive demand. Open-ended questions can assess recall or higher-order thinking, so the format is not confined to that demand.
Having one predetermined correct answer describes a scoring constraint, but some constructed responses can still be checked against expected content.
Requiring only yes-or-no responses fixes the response form to two choices and leaves no room for an elaborated response.
Result
Therefore, among the offered statements, open-ended questions are best characterized as allowing multiple possible responses.