Earlier this year, I published a post on ways to use multiple choice tests.
Today, Paul Bruno shared this new article on the topic:
They are useful actually.//A Defense of the Multiple-Choice Exam https://t.co/yHUsR2lkWy
— Paul Bruno (@MrPABruno) October 19, 2016
I prompted me to think it would be useful to reprint my earlier post and turn it into a “Best” list. Feel free to share your own ideas:
I often experiment with how to use multiple choice exercises in creative and effective ways.
One reason is because periodicaly create ones for English Language Learners at the New York Times Learning Network.
Another is because I sometimes have students create ones for their classmates.
David Deubelbeiss has what I think is a great idea on how to make multiple choice questions more learner-friendly and effective.
And Jason Renshaw has come up with other ways.
A conversation about this very topic arose on Twitter this morning, and I thought I’d share a few, though not all, of the related tweets, and also invite readers to share their own ideas in the comments section:
Poor multiple-choice questions are a horror; great ones are tremendous. @Maths_Master on @naveenfrizvi’s ideas https://t.co/DLrxVYRex9
— Bodil Isaksen (@BodilUK) March 13, 2016
I’ve never gotten why some people object so strongly to MC questions. Unfairly villainized in my view. https://t.co/T0D78ny7QH
— Paul Bruno (@Paul__Bruno) March 13, 2016
Excellent multiple choice questions can contain more than one correct answer, an idea I learned from @ddeubel https://t.co/zTtr3YxlkY
— Larry Ferlazzo (@Larryferlazzo) March 13, 2016
@Larryferlazzo @ddeubel I love using the phrase “Choose all that are correct.” No longer a guessing game to find “the one.”
— Jim Bentley (@Curiosity_Films) March 13, 2016
@Curiosity_Films I advocate for “this is unfamiliar to me” as a choice on all items if MC test is a pre-assessment. @Larryferlazzo @ddeubel
— Jennifer Binis (@JennBinis) March 13, 2016
@palan57 @Larryferlazzo @ddeubel If we’re talking formative quiz, I see no problem. If this is summative, we should design better assessment
— Jim Bentley (@Curiosity_Films) March 13, 2016
@Curiosity_Films @palan57 @Larryferlazzo @ddeubel multiple correct for pre-test. Best answer to show mastery? What do you think Jim?
— Chris (@CcavanaughChris) March 13, 2016
@palan57 @Curiosity_Films @Larryferlazzo I think so. Explain it here. https://t.co/3uxEPkn4xL I’m for making tests a learning tool.
— David Deubelbeiss (@ddeubel) March 13, 2016
@BryanPenfound @benwilbrink @MrPABruno research from my lab shows that MC tests can produce learning. Little, Bjork, Bjork, Angello (2012)
— Mikey Garcia (@gikeymarcia) March 13, 2016
https://t.co/AHiCgzvHgr https://t.co/huZj7yPndM
— Paul Bruno (@Paul__Bruno) March 13, 2016
@Larryferlazzo @MrPABruno Multiple Choice can be excellent – lots of good Maths resources here https://t.co/SKHz0jiaPf & note Ark Research
— Colleen Young (@ColleenYoung) October 19, 2016
Useful piece offers guidelines on writing multiple choice questions (some obvious, some new to me) https://t.co/1Atj2diTlM pic.twitter.com/kVfPcV0XoY
— Harry Fletcher-Wood (@HFletcherWood) August 31, 2017
Multiple-choice Testing: Are the Best Practices for Assessment Also Good for Learning? is from The Learning Scientists.
I think you can make a pretty good case that many real-life situations are in fact substantially similar to multiple-choice questions.
— Paul Bruno (@Paul__Bruno) March 13, 2016
A review of the research on how to write good multiple choice questions. https://t.co/DCUIadbhSR pic.twitter.com/OB1gkTX8oC
— Oliver Lovell (@ollie_lovell) March 9, 2018
NEW STUDY ON MULTIPLE CHOICE TESTS
Multiple Choice Enhancement is from Classroom Powerup.
Modeling Partial Knowledge on Multiple‐Choice Items Using Elimination Testing is a new study.
Writing A Better Multiple-Choice Question: What Does Research Indicate? is from The Effortful Educator.
Differentiation and multiple choice questions is from Mssdcoxblog.
But what about multiple-choice questions? is from Retrieval Practice.
Question time…
Are you going to download our free resource ‘Designing Great Assessment: the case for using multiple choice questions’?
a) Yes 🙋♀️
b) Definitely 🙏
c) I already have 😉Click here for the correct answer 👉https://t.co/LcyT8nyXqJ
— Evidence Based Education (@EvidenceInEdu) March 27, 2022
Top 10 Tactics for Improving Multiple-Choice Questions looks useful.
Excellent blog on multiple choice questions by @Carousel_Learn as part of their MCQ series. Good example of partial retrieval & the need to go beyond MCQS because of their limitations & the need for challenging free & fluent recall/full retrieval. https://t.co/Ji8uPalqz3
— Kate Jones (@KateJones_teach) September 30, 2022
— Kate Jones (@KateJones_teach) October 7, 2022
— Kate Jones (@KateJones_teach) October 7, 2022
— Kate Jones (@KateJones_teach) October 7, 2022
— Kate Jones (@KateJones_teach) October 7, 2022
— Kate Jones (@KateJones_teach) October 7, 2022
Multiple-choice questions: pros and cons is by Kate Jones.
Improving Multiple Choice Questioning is by Blake Harvard.
Constructing Multiple-Choice Quizzes: A Few Extra Bits is from Douglas Wise.
Oops, I did it again. Me on Multiple Choice Questionshttps://t.co/vVYIbaLLpB pic.twitter.com/xK49KeOib1
— Greg Thornton (@MrThorntonTeach) August 30, 2020
One simple tweak to maximise your multiple-choice quizzes is from InnerDrive.
MC questions can be ok but far too often (in maths) they are not, test little, and their use seems partly driven by the ease of automated marking, rather than anything else -> Learning from multiple-choice items? https://t.co/8e5Bjx2woi
— Christian Bokhove (@cbokhove) February 29, 2024
Reverse Engineering the Multiple-Choice Question is from The Effortful Educator.
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