What is the best form of assessment?

I have been in school for quite some years now, and I have been exposed to many, many different forms of assessment: tests, quizzes, papers, projects, presentations, and even laboratories. Having been doing all of these for so many years, I have been thinking a bit...what is the BEST form of assessment?

Personally, I believe that the best form of assessment is a toss between non-multiple-choice tests and essays. The reason I say non-multiple-choice tests is because, in many cases, multiple-choice tests are nothing but tricks; they don't assess your knowledge, but they assess your ability to memorize really in-depth details. Free response tests are generally more broad but at the same time can be challenging. Also, in terms of essays, it is really important to take a rational stance and support your claims with evidence in an organized manner. Making an argument is a great form of assessment, to see how well the student can support what he/she is saying.

In many cases for projects, the more time spent is directly correlated with the overall grade. There have been projects on which I have spent hours on end and, consequently, received a good grade. Projects embrace creativity and can be very tedious. Although some people think that they are fun, I do not believe that these are the best form of assessment. Presentations are a nice way to introduce a certain topic (i.e., give a presentation on photosynthesis before you start studying it), but generally do not take as much thought as essays.

What do you think?