Overview: This document outlines some strategies for writing good multiple choice exams. It is adapted from a paper by David Zimarro (2010). Multiple-choice questions typically have 3 parts: a stem, the correct answer – called the key, and several wrong answers, called distractors. The following document outlines three sets of principles for writing good multiples choice exams.
- Use either the best answer or the correct answer format.
- Best answer format refers to a list of options that can all be correct in the sense that each
- has an advantage, but one of them is the best.
- Correct answer format refers to one and only one right answer.
- Format the items vertically, not horizontally (i.e., list the choices vertically)
- Allow time for editing and other types of item revisions.
- Use good grammar, punctuation, and spelling consistently.
- Minimize the time required to read each item.
- Avoid trick items.
- Use the active voice.
- The ideal question will be answered by 60-65% of the tested population.
- Have your questions peer-reviewed.
- Avoid giving unintended cues – such as making the correct answer longer in length than the distractors.
- Base each item on an educational or instructional objective of the course, not trivial
- Test for important or significant information.
- Focus on a single problem or idea for each test item.
- Keep the vocabulary consistent with the examinees’ level of understanding.
- Avoid cueing one item with another; keep items independent of one another.
- Use the author’s examples as a basis for developing your items.
- Avoid overly specific knowledge when developing items.
- Avoid textbook, verbatim phrasing when developing the items.
- Avoid items based on opinions.
- Use multiple-choice to measure higher level thinking.
- Be sensitive to cultural and gender issues.
- Use case-based questions that use a common text to which a set of questions refers.
- Stem Construction Rules:
- State the stem in either question form or completion form.
- When using a completion form, don’t leave a blank for completion in the beginning or
- middle of the stem. 17
- Ensure that the directions in the stem are clear, and that wording lets the examinee know
- exactly what is being asked.
- Avoid window dressing (excessive verbiage) in the stem.
- Word the stem positively; avoid negative phrasing such as “not” or “except.” If this cannot
- be avoided, the negative words should always be highlighted by underlining or capitalization:
- Which of the following is NOT an example ……
- Include the central idea and most of the phrasing in the stem.
- Avoid giving clues such as linking the stem to the answer (…. Is an example of an: test-wise students will know the correct answer should start with a vowel)
General Option Development Rules:
- Place options in logical or numerical order.
- Use letters in front of options rather than numbers; numerical answers in numbered items
- may be confusing to students.
- Keep options independent; options should not be overlapping.
- Keep all options homogeneous in content.
- Keep the length of options fairly consistent.
- Avoid, or use sparingly, the phrase all of the above.
- Avoid, or use sparingly, the phrase none of the above.
- Avoid the use of the phrase I don’t know.
- Phrase options positively, not negatively.
- Avoid distractors that can clue test-wise examinees; for example, absurd options, formal
- prompts, or semantic (overly specific or overly general) clues.
- Avoid giving clues through the use of faulty grammatical construction.
- Avoid specific determinates, such as never and always.
- Position the correct option so that it appears about the same number of times in each possible
- position for a set of items.
- Make sure that there is one and only one correct option.
- Distractor (incorrect options) Development Rules:
- Use plausible distractors.
- Incorporate common errors of students in distractors.
- Avoid technically phrased distractors.
- Use familiar yet incorrect phrases as distractors.
- Use true statements that do not correctly answer the item.
- Avoid the use of humor when developing options.
- Distractors that are not chosen by any examinees should be replaced.
- Suggestions for Writing Good Multiple Choice Items:
- Present practical or real-world situations to the students.
- Present the student with a diagram of equipment and ask for application, analysis or
- Present actual quotations taken from newspapers or other published sources and ask for the interpretation or evaluation of these quotations.
- Use pictorial materials that require students to apply principles and concepts.
- Use charts, tables or figures that require interpretation.
Zimarro, David (2010). “Writing Good Multiple-Choice Exams.” Center for Teaching and Learning, University of Texas at Austin. Downloaded 10.3.12 from http://ctl.utexas.edu/assets/Evaluation--Assessment/Writing-Good-Multiple-Choice-Exams-04-28-10.pdf.
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