Results

1. Questionnaire
Table 1 displays which main genre of writing was most significant for a teacher. The
five faculty members were asked to answer the questions provided, based on the genres
listed.

Writing
Genre
Emails

Which one is
most
important?
0

Which one
did you use
the most?
3

Which one did

you have most
trouble with?
0

Which do you think will

benefit future teachers to learn
how to write?
0

Exams

Homework
Problems
Lectures

Table 1. Chart displaying opinions of five faculty members at CSUF, on different types of genres.
used by teachers.
Table 1 indicates that exams were the most important and significant type of writing
genre for teachers. Exams were the most important, the most troublesome, and most
beneficial for future teachers. However, emails were the most frequently used genre for
teachers.
2. Course Catalog
The Single Subject Credential Program at CSUF has a variety of courses that need to be
taken within the time span of one year. There are specific courses that prepare the future
teacher that are listed under a program course sequence. Under this program course
sequence, there are courses that teach students about adolescent development, diversity,

English learners, technology in classrooms, etc. There are also courses dedicated to
gaining fieldwork experience in actual classroom settings. However, there are no courses
that emphasize any type of writing genre that a future teacher might need to learn.
3. Conventions of the Genre

Higher-Order Thinking Skills

When it comes to writing an exam, it is important to always have Blooms Taxonomy
in mind. This concept, as shown in Table 2, promotes higher-order thinking skills
that should be developed from the beginning of a unit.

Evaluation

Synthesis
Analysis
Application
Comprehension
Knowledge

Table 2. Pyramid of Blooms Taxonomy. Higher-order thinking

skills are towards the top of the pyramid (Guggino, 2014).
The higher-order thinking skills tested in exams include analysis, synthesis, and
evaluation. Table 3 shows what each skill is asking the students to do and verbs that
are used to focus on the exact skill.

H I G H E R - O R D E R

T H I N K I N G

S K I L L S

Analysis

Synthesis

Evaluation

Identify parts and see

related order

Put parts together to

form a new whole

Judge value or use

based on criteria

analyze
appraise
calculate
categorize
choose
compare
contrast
criticize

deduce
examine
experiment
organize
question
test
differentiate
discriminate
distinguish

arrange
assemble
compare
collect
compose
construct
create
design
devise
develop
discuss

formulate
hypothesize
manage
organize
plan
prepare
propose
report
set up
schematize
support
write

appraise
argue
assess
attach
choose
compare
criticize
defend
estimate

evaluate
judge
justify
predict
rate
select
support
value

Table 3. Higher-order thinking skills. Analysis means to identify parts and see related
order; Synthesis means to put parts together to form a new whole; Evaluations means
to judge value or use based on criteria (Guggino, 2014).

Test Format
Promoting higher-order thinking skills is very important to keep in mind when
writing an exam. However, it is also extremely important to choose the right testing
format. The format refers to whether the test will be objective (multiple choice, true/
false, matching, etc.) or essay (Jacobs, 2004, p. 2-3). There are three factors to
consider when deciding on the format of the test: what is to be measured, the size of
the class, and the time available to prepare and score the test (Jacobs, 2004, p.2-3).
When considering what is to be measured, you might want students to contrast A and
B, which would be done through an essay question, but when measuring reasoning,
comprehension, application, and analysis, using multiple choice questions would be
more beneficial (Jacobs, 2004, p. 3). Now, consider the size of the class. An essay

questions would only be viable if you have a smaller class with a good amount of
time to grade. (Jacobs, 2004, p. 3).

References
Guggino, P. C., (2014) Promoting Higher-Order Thinking Skills [Word document]. Retrieved
from course documents used online: https://moodle-20142015.fullerton.edu/mod/resource/view.php?id=360685
Jacobs, L. C., (2004) How To Write Better Tests: A Handbook for Improving Test Construction
Skills. Indiana University. http://www.indiana.edu/~best/write_better_tests.shtml
Program Course Sequence. (2014, September 24). Retrieved November 16, 2014, from
http://ed.fullerton.edu/seced/future-students/credential-programs/programcourse-sequence/