Search
Close this search box.

multiple-choice tests

Should Students Change Answers on Exams?

Should students change their answers on multiple choice questions? Believe it or not, that question has been explored empirically rather at length. Is it an important enough query to merit quantitative analysis? In and of itself, maybe not, but I wonder whether it isn’t related

Read More »

Improving the Quality of Machine-Gradable Questions

Tests provide one measure of our students’ learning according to the standards of the instructor and the field. But tests also affect our students socially, emotionally, and financially and influence their science-minded identities for years to come. We owe it to students to create fair

Read More »

Students Can Write Good Exam Questions

I recently discovered a 2014 study that reported on student-generated multiple-choice questions. It was the results that really caught my attention: “We find that these first-year students are capable of producing very high quality questions and explanations” (Bates, Galloway, Riise, & Horner, 2014, p. 10).

Read More »
multiple-choice tests

Multiple-Choice Tests: Revisiting the Pros and Cons

Given class sizes, teaching loads, and a host of other academic responsibilities, many teachers feel as though multiple-choice tests are the only viable option. Their widespread use justifies a regular review of those features that make these tests an effective way to assess learning and

Read More »

30 Tips for Writing Good Multiple-Choice Questions

Multiple-choice tests don’t get much respect. Maybe it’s because they’re associated with memorization, old-fashioned standardized tests, and other situations in which the answer is likely to be “C.”

Yet when properly designed, multiple-choice tests can be a vital addition to your testing tool box. Outlined

Read More »
Writing good multiple-choice questions

Writing Better Multiple-Choice Questions

Eleven years ago, I discovered a life-changing pedagogy called team-based learning. It let me do things in large classrooms that I didn’t think was possible. I found that the key to successful team-based learning was writing really good multiple-choice questions. I would like to look

Read More »

Tips for Writing Good Multiple-Choice Questions

I remember with horror and embarrassment the first multiple-choice exam I wrote. I didn’t think the students were taking my course all that seriously, so I decided to use the first exam to show just how substantive the content really was. I wrote long, complicated

Read More »

Examining Your Multiple-Choice Questions

As Ron Berk (known for his pithy humor) observes, the multiple-choice question “holds world records in the categories of most popular, most unpopular, most used, most misused, most loved and most hated.” According to one source I read, multiple-choice questions were first used around the

Read More »
Archives
The 2025 Teaching Professor Conference

Get the Latest Updates

Subscribe To Our Weekly Newsletter

Wellbeing Elixir