MULTIPLE CHOICE
PREPARED BY:
BAYO, RIZA MAE
ARINGAY, JOJIE AN
ABELLA , DONNA MA
CAÑAS, KIMVERLY REAL
BATOON, KAYESHIA MANIT
BENTOY, CHRISBELLE DAGATAN
Multiple choice test questions, also
known as items, can be an effective and
efficient way to assess learning
outcomes. Multiple choice test items
have several potential advantages:
Versatility
Versatility: Multiple choice test items can be written
to assess various levels of learning outcomes, from
basic recall to application, analysis, and evaluation.
Because students are choosing from a set of potential
answers, however, there are obvious limits on what
can be tested with multiple choice items. For
example, they are not an effective way to test
students’ ability to organize thoughts or articulate
explanations or creative ideas.
Reliability
Reliability is defined as the degree to
which a test consistently measures a
learning outcome. Multiple choice test
items are less susceptible to guessing
than true/false questions, making
them a more reliable means of
assessment.
The reliability is enhanced when the number
of MC items focused on a single learning
objective is increased. In addition, the
objective scoring associated with multiple
choice test items frees them from problems
with scorer inconsistency that can plague
scoring of essay questions.
Validity
Validity is the degree to which a test measures
the learning outcomes it purports to measure.
Because students can typically answer a
multiple choice item much more quickly than
an essay question, tests based on multiple
choice items can typically focus on a relatively
broad representation of course material, thus
increasing the validity of the assessment.
Designing of Multiple Choice Question
A multiple choice item consists of a
problem, known as the stem, and a list of
suggested solutions, known as
alternatives. The alternatives consist of
one correct or best alternative, which is
the answer, and incorrect or inferior
alternatives, known as distractors.
Constructing an Effective Stem
1. The stem should be meaningful by itself and
should present a definite problem. A stem
that presents a definite problem allows a
focus on the learning outcome. A stem that
does not present a clear problem, however,
may test students’ ability to draw inferences
from vague descriptions rather serving as a
more direct test of students’ achievement of
the learning outcome.
2. The stem should not contain irrelevant
material, which can decrease the reliability
and the validity of the test scores (Haldyna
and Downing 1989).
3. The stem should be negatively stated only when
significant learning outcomes require it. Students
often have difficulty understanding items with
negative phrasing (Rodriguez 1997). If a significant
learning outcome requires negative phrasing, such as
identification of dangerous laboratory or clinical
practices, the negative element should be emphasized
with italics or capitalization.
4. The stem should be a question or a partial
sentence. A question stem is preferable because it
allows the student to focus on answering the
question rather than holding the partial sentence in
working memory and sequentially completing it
with each alternative (Statman 1988). The
cognitive load is increased when the stem is
constructed with an initial or interior blank, so this
construction should be avoided.
Constructing Effective Alternatives
1. All alternatives should be plausible. The function
of the incorrect alternatives is to serve as
distractors,which should be selected by students
who did not achieve the learning outcome but
ignored by students who did achieve the learning
outcome. Alternatives that are implausible don’t
serve as functional distractors and thus should not
be used. Common student errors provide the best
source of distractors.
2. Alternatives should be stated clearly
and concisely. Items that are
excessively wordy assess students’
reading ability rather than their
attainment of the learning objective
3. Alternatives should be mutually
exclusive. Alternatives with overlapping
content may be considered “trick” items
by test-takers, excessive use of which
can erode trust and respect for the
testing process.
4. Alternatives should be homogenous in
content. Alternatives that are
heterogeneous in content can provide
cues to student about the correct
answer.
5. Alternatives should be free from clues
about which response is correct.
Sophisticated test-takers are alert to
inadvertent clues to the correct answer,
such differences in grammar, length,
formatting, and language choice in the
alternatives. It’s therefore important that
alternatives;
have grammar consistent with the stem.
are parallel in form.
are similar in length.
use similar language
6. The alternatives “all of the above” and “none of
the above” should not be used. When “all of the
above” is used as an answer, test-takers who can
identify more than one alternative as correct can
select the correct answer even if unsure about other
alternative(s). When “none of the above” is used as
an alternative, test-takers who can eliminate a
single option can thereby eliminate a second
option. In either case, students can use partial
knowledge to arrive at a correct answer.
7. The alternatives should be presented in a logical
order (e.g., alphabetical or numerical) to avoid a
bias toward certain positions.
8. The number of alternatives can vary among items
as long as all alternatives are plausible. Plausible
alternatives serve as functional distractors, which
are those chosen by students that have not achieved
the objective but ignored by students that have
achieved the objective. There is little difference in
difficulty, discrimination, and test score reliability
among items containing two, three, and four
distractors.
Additional Guidelines
1. Avoid complex multiple choice items, in which some
or all of the alternatives consist of different
combinations of options. As with “all of the above”
answers, a sophisticated test-taker can use partial
knowledge to achieve a correct answer.
2. Keep the specific content of items independent of
one another. Savvy test-takers can use information in
one question to answer another question, reducing
the validity of the test.
Sources: https://cft.vanderbilt.edu/guides-sub-pages/writing-good-multiple-choice-test-questions
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THANK YOU!
