Transcript Writing Good Multiple Choice Items

Writing Good
Multiple Choice Items
Good Item or Bad?
Good or Bad?
1. I took a class on a topic I knew nothing
about, clicked through the materials and took
the test without reading anything. I passed!
What does that suggest?
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
I am a genius!
The assessment was too easy
The course was too easy
The course didn’t even need to be written
b, c and d
Good or Bad?
2. In a multiple-choice question, when is the
longest answer the correct answer?
A. Rarely
B. Sometimes
C. It’s almost always the correct answer, and it’s often
stuffed with new information that should have gone
in the main part of the course but we forgot so now
we’re putting it in the quiz because we can’t possible
leave out the tiniest detail
D. Occasionally
http://cft.vanderbilt.edu/teaching-guides/assessment/writing-good-multiple-choice-test-questions/
Good or Bad?
3. When is “all of the above” the correct
answer?
A. With alarming regularity
B. When we try to cover too much in one question
C. When we use a question to teach instead of
assess
D. All of the above
Good or Bad?
4. We can confuse learners when we:
1. Fail to actually complete the sentence we started
in the question
2. Inconsistent grammar in the option
3. Sometimes we veer off into another idea entirely
4. wombats
www.blogcathy-moore.com/2007/08/can-you-answer-these-6-questions-about-multiple-choice-questions/
Good or Bad?
✓
5. Which statement refers to measurement as
opposed to evaluation?
A. Emily got 90% correct on a math test
B. Lin’s test scores have increased satisfactorily this
year.
C. Justin’s score of 20 on this test indicates that his
study habits are ineffective
D. Keesha got straight A’s in her history courses this
year
Tomorrow’s Professor Mailing List from Stanford Center for Teaching & Learning
Good or Bad?
✓
6. The nurse is making a home visit to a 75 year old
male client who has had Parkinson’s disease for the
past five years. Which finding has the greatest
implication for this patient’s care?
A. The client’s wife tells the nurse that the grandchildren
have not been to visit for over a month
B. The nurse notes that there are numerous throw rugs
throughout the client’s home
C. The client has a towel wrapped around his neck that the
wife uses to wipe her husband’s face
D. The client is sitting in an armchair, and the nurse notes
that he is gripping the arms of the chair
Good or Bad?
8. What literary device is best illustrated in the
cartoon below?
✓
A. Situational irony
B. Plot twist
C. Sarcasm
Starters
Write a Knowledge Item
• Write the fact statement
• Transform the statement into a positive
question
• Write 3-4 plausible distractors and 1 correct
answer
Write a Comprehension Item
• Use this template: Which of the following is
an example of ______________________?
Write an Application Item
• Prepare a short case study or example.
• Write a stem that asks the student to demonstrate the
use of the procedural knowledge or solve a problem
Example:
What are the stoichiometric coefficients for the following
chemical reaction?
___NH3+___O2☐___NO+___H2O
A.
B.
C.
D.
2, 5, 2 and 6
3, 6, 3 and 4
4, 5, 5 and 6
5, 5, 5 and 6
Write an Application Item
• Present the student with a diagram and ask
for analysis.
Example
• Given the following chart, which of the
following is the most likely to occur next?
Write an Evaluation Item
• Give the student a short case study
• Ask: Which of the following would have been
a better plan of action?
Samples
Knowledge - Vocab
1. Locomotion is the same as:
A. When you make crazy looking movements
B. When the feet move the body from one place to
another
C. When any part of the body is in motion
D. When your movements sound like a train
PE Central - Search: Paper and Pencil Assessments
Comprehension/Application
Vocab
1. Which of the following is an example of
locomotion?
A.
B.
C.
D.
Sitting
Standing
Winking
Running
Comprehension/Application
Concept
1. Which of the following is the best health
benefit of 30 minutes of daily locomotion?
A.
B.
C.
D.
Stronger heart and lungs
Toned muscles
Improved athletic skills
Better digestion
Analysis - Procedure
1. John’s Day:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
10 minutes - Walk to school (eat breakfast bar on the way)
200 minutes – Math, Reading, Science, Soc St
30 minutes - lunch
15 minutes – recess (hang out with friends on steps)
50 minutes – specials class
10 minutes – walk home (eat chips on the way)
200 minutes – watch tv and eat supper
60 minutes – video games
Which advice statement below would improve John’s health
the most?
A.
B.
C.
D.
Jog to and from school
Listen to TV on headset while walking 30 minutes every day.
Join a baseball team in the summer
Help Mom with chores everyday (dishes, trash, feed dog)
Comprehension/Application
1. This image is a good example of which statement below?
A. Use of linear perspective
B. Showing form through dark and light
C. Use of variation in contour line
D. Use of shading
Analysis
http://www.Pics4learning.com
Music
• Sample Vocabulary Items
(Knowledge Level)http://www.proprofs.com/quizschool/story.php?title=elements-music-test
• Sample with Auditory Excerpts
(Comprehension/Application)
http://www.ets.org/Media/Tests/MFT/pdf/mf
t_samp_questions_music.pdf