Structured task vs open-ended task: effects on students’ achievement in Italian language

Abstract

Didactic practices, i.e. choices and actions taken intentionally to realize an educational goal, play a crucial role in students' learning achievement. The aim of the present contribution is to examine the effects of teaching practices, in particular written composition tasks and structured tests, on the score obtained by students at the end of lower secondary education at the Italian tests of INVALSI (school year 2016/2017). To this end, we proposed hierarchical regression models, by controlling for some of the relevant variables at the student and class level. The datasets used are those of the INVALSI National Surveys and the Teacher Questionnaire of the school year 2016/2017.

Keywords

• standardized tests
• students’ achievement
• multiple choice questions
• open-ended questions