Constructing Exams In constructing exam questions, do you focus on the content and construct a realistic setting for the questions or do you start with a real problem and try to match the course content? In other words, how much do you strive to use real data as opposed to hypothetical or realistic data in the exam questions?

In constructing the exam, how do you decide how many points a question should be worth? What percentage of the points on the exam would you say are for primarily conceptual knowledge/interpretation vs. calculation/mechanics?

I usually think of an idea or skill to assess, and then look for good items or data sets to use. I don't always use real data sets, but I try to provide contexts for any phony data sets. I try to have each piece of information worth a point. A question with many parts and answers is worth more points.

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