Student-Produced Responses
Practice Questions |
Questions of this type have no answer choices provided. Instead, you must solve the problem and fill in your answer on a special grid. Ten questions on the test will be of this type.
On the following pages are five examples of student-produced response questions. Following each question, you will find a solution and at least one way to grid in the correct answer.
It is very important for you to understand the directions for entering answers on the grid!
You will lose valuable testing time if you read the directions for the first time when you take the test. The directions are fairly simple, and the gridding technique is similar to the way other machine-readable information is entered on forms.
A primary advantage of this format is that it allows you to enter the form of the answer that you obtain, whether whole number, decimal, or fraction. For example, if you obtain 2/5, you can grid 2/5. If you obtain .4, you can grid .4. Generally, you should grid the form of the answer that you obtain naturally in solving the problem. The grid will only hold numbers that range from 0 to 9999. Decimals and fractions can also be gridded.
When there is a range of possible correct answers, your gridded response must lie within the range. For example, consider a problem for which all numbers between 4 and 5, exclusive, are correct answers. For this question, although 4.0002 is within the range (4 < x < 5), its rounded value 4.00 is not within the range and therefore would not be considered a correct answer to the problem.
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View an actual answer sheet and directions (Click thumbnail to enlarge.) |
Approaches to Student-Produced Responses
Decide in which column you want to begin gridding your answers before the test starts. This strategy saves time. We recommend that you grid the first (left-hand) column of the grid or that you right-justify your answers.
If the answer is zero, grid it in column 2, 3, or 4. Zero has been omitted from column 1 to encourage you to grid the most accurate values for rounded answers. For example, an answer of 1/8 could also be gridded as .125 but not as 0.12, which is less accurate.
A fraction does not have to be reduced unless it will not fit the grid. For example, 15/25 will not fit. You can grid 3/5, 6/10, or 9/15. The decimal form, .6, can also be gridded.
Do your best to be certain of your answer before you grid it. If you erase your answer, do so completely. Incomplete erasures may be picked up by the scoring machines as intended answers.
Check your work if your answer does not fit on the grid. If you obtain a negative value, a value greater than 9999, or an irrational number, you have made an error.
Make an educated guess if you don't know the answer. On student-produced response (grid-in) questions you don't lose points for wrong answers.
Always enter your answer on the grid. Only answers entered on the grid are scored. Your handwritten answer at the top of the grid isn't scored. However, writing your answer at the top of the grid may help you avoid gridding errors.
