Multiple Choice Question MCQ LEARNING OBJECTIVES What is

Multiple Choice Question (MCQ)

LEARNING OBJECTIVES • What is MCQs? • Parts of MCQs? • Importance, Advantage & Limitations of MCQs? • Where to use these MCQs? • Principle of preparation

MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTIONS (MCQ) • In these Question, you have to choose “ onebest answer” from multiple choices. • These are the most flexible and most effective of objective type items • Questions = Items

Anatomy of an ITEM • Given a problem – Stem • Followed by single question - Lead – in • Option / Choices – – Correct answer – Key – Other incorrect Answers- Distractors

Example Q. A 1 -year-old infant is known to have heart disease and is noted to be cyanosed. Which of the following is the most likely diagnosis? a. Atrial septal defect b. Patent Ductus Arteriosus c. Ventricular septal defect d. Tricuspid atresia

Example Q. A 1 -year-old infant is known to have heart disease and is noted to be cyanosed. Which of the following is the most likely diagnosis? a. Atrial septal defect b. Patent Ductus Arteriosus c. Ventricular septal defect d. Tricuspid atresia STEM LEAD - IN DISTRACTOR KEY

Importance of MCQ ØAn ability to sample a wide range of knowledge. ØEasy to administer Ø to large numbers of students Ø in a short period of time and Ø minimal human intervention ØHighly Acceptable – preferred tool for written assessment across most of the academic disciplines.

Advantages MULTIPLE-CHOICE ITEMS can provide: • Versatility in measuring all levels of cognitive ability, • Highly Reliable test scores, • Scoring Efficiency and Accuracy, • Objective measurement of achievement or ability, • Wide sampling of content or objectives, • Reduced guessing factor compared with true-false items, and • Different response alternatives which can provide diagnostic feedback.

Disadvantages • Are difficult and time-consuming to construct, • Place a high degree of dependence on the student’s reading ability and instructor’s writing ability, and • Are particularly subject to clueing. (Students can often deduce the correct response by elimination. ) – need plausible distractor • Attention to security of Question paper

When to Use • To test a variety of levels of learning • When you have a large number of individuals taking the test • When you have time to construct the test items • When time is limited for scoring

• When it is not important to determine, how well individuals can formulate their own answer • When you want to prepare individuals for future assessments, that use a similar format

Planning to construct MCQ

General Rules • Each item should be based on an important learning objective • Test for significant/important information • Focus on single idea in single test item • Use items to assess higher order of thinking • Keep language simple

Components Stem: presents the problem Correct or keyed options: correct option Distractor options: incorrect options

PRINCIPLE OF PREPARATION: • Have enough content in the stem with less distractors but avoid lengthy stem. • Use positive statements in the stem. If negative statements is to be used then underline or write in capital letters, so that it will not be overlooked. • Stem consists of complete statement, not just a single word. • Place all common elements in the stem to add up simplicity and compactness to the item.

• The stem of one should not suggests the answer to another. • Eliminate all unrelated details from an item. • Use plausible or logical distracters. • Avoid the use of clues that may suggests correct answer. • Be cautious of the use of ‘none of the above’ as a distractor or as a correct answer.

• When dealing with items that have numerical answers, arrange them in order from large to small or vice-versa

Developing an Item 1. Choose an important concept 2. Write the stem 3. Write the correct answer (key) 4. Develop distractors – – – common misconceptions errors that could be made plausible, yet less important information similar in style, length to the key every distractor should be reasonable (Clegg & Cashin, 1986)

STEM

Writing Items • Write items on significant concepts, not trivial facts. • Write items that have a definite answer. • Communicate clearly. • Don’t give away the answer by including irrelevant cues in the item. • Don’t write items that require skills or knowledge irrelevant to what you are trying to measure. • Have items reviewed by knowledgeable persons other than the composer of the question if possible. (Clegg & Cashin, 1986)

Writing Stems • Ensure that the directions in the stem are very clear. (examinee should know exactly what is being asked) • Word the stem positively, avoid negatives such as NOT or EXCEPT. If negative words are used, use the word cautiously and always ensure that the word appears capitalized and boldface. (Haladyna, Downing & Rodriguez, 2002)

Writing Stems Avoid stems that ask for a series of multiple truefalse responses. Better: Q. Which of the following is true about the middle adult years? A. It encompasses ages 19 to 30. B. It is the most conflict-free period of life. C. It is characterized by dramatic changes in our sense of values. D. It is marked by a conflict between intimacy and isolation. Q. According to Erickson, the middle adult years are characterized by the conflict between ____ and ___. A. intimacy; isolation B. generativity; stagnation C. integrity; despair D. industry; despondency (Ory & Ryan, 1993)

Writing Stems Eliminate excessive wording and irrelevant information. Q. Sheldon developed a highly controversial theory of personality based on body type and temperament of the individual. Which of the following is a criticism of Sheldon’s theory? A. He was influenced too much by Freudian psychoanalysis. B. His ratings of physique and temperament were not independent. C. He failed to use an empirical approach. D. His research sample was improperly selected. Better: Q. Which of the following is a criticism of Sheldon's theory of personality? (Ory & Ryan, 1993)

Writing Stems Include in the stem any word(s) that might otherwise be repeated in each alternative. Q. The receptors for the vestibular sense are located A. in the fovea. B. in the brain. C. in the middle ear. D. in the inner ear. Better: Q. The receptors for the vestibular sense are located in the A. fovea. B. brain. C. middle ear. D. the inner ear. (Ory & Ryan, 1993)

Writing Stems Use negatively stated stems sparingly. When used, underline and/or capitalize the negative word. Q. Which is not a major technique for studying brain function? A. B. C. D. accident and injury cutting and removing electrical stimulation direct phrenology Better: Q. Which is NOT a major technique for studying brain function? A. B. C. D. accident and injury cutting and removing electrical stimulation direct phrenology (Ory & Ryan, 1993)

Writing Stems When using incomplete statements avoid beginning with the blank space. Better: Q. ___ is the least severe form of behavior disorder. A. B. C. D. Psychosis Panic disorder Neurasthenia Neurosis Q. The least severe form of behavior disorder is ___. A. B. C. D. Psychosis Panic disorder Neurasthenia Neurosis (Ory & Ryan, 1993)

Writing Stems Use familiar language. Better: Q. According to Freud the raison d’être for hysteria was A. B. C. D. sexual conflicts. unresolved feelings of guilt. latent tendencies. repressed fear. Q. According to Freud hysteria was caused by A. B. C. D. sexual conflicts. unresolved feelings of guilt. latent tendencies. repressed fear. (Ory & Ryan, 1993)

Writing Stems Provide sufficient information in the stem to allow students to respond to the question. Better: Q. How many interrelated stages to creative problem solving are there? A. Three B. Four C. Seven D. Ten Q. The textbook indicates that there are ___ interrelated stages to creative problem solving. A. Three B. Four C. Seven D. Ten (Ory & Ryan, 1993)

WRITING OPTIONS

Writing Options • Develop as many effective choices as you can, but research suggests three is adequate. • Make sure that only one of these choices is the right answer. • Vary the location of the right answer according to the number of choices • Place choices in logical or numerical order. • Keep choices independent; choices should not be overlapping. (Haladyna, Downing & Rodriguez, 2002)

Writing Options Make sure there is one correct or best response. Q. Which of the following does not belong with the others? A. B. C. D. Wundt Structuralism James Titchener (Ory & Ryan, 1993)

Writing Options Make all alternatives plausible and equally attractive to both less-knowledgeable and skillful students. Q. The number of photoreceptors in the retina of each human eye is about A. 1000, 000. B. 2 million. C. 115 million. D. 2. 37 billion. Better: A. B. C. D. 5 million. 35 million. 65 million. 115 million. (Ory & Ryan, 1993)

Writing Options Minimize the use of the all-of –the-above and none-of-the-above alternatives. Q. Problem representation involves A. determining which factor matters and which do not. B. the initial state of problem solving. C. reducing the problem to manageable segments. D. all of the above. Better: A. Determining which factors matter and which do not. B. The initial state of problem solving. C. Both a and b. D. Neither a nor b. (Ory & Ryan, 1993)

Writing Options All alternatives should be approximately equal in length. Better: Latane and Darley smoke-filled room experiment suggested that people are less likely to help in groups than alone, because people A. B. C. D. talk to one another. are less attentive than people who are alone. do not display pluralistic ignorance. allow others to define the situation as a non-emergency Latane and Darley smoke-filled room experiment suggested that people are less likely to help in groups than alone, because people A. B. C. D. in groups talk to one another. who are alone are more attentive. in groups do not display pluralistic ignorance. in groups allow others to define the situation as a non-emergency. (Ory & Ryan, 1993)

Writing Item Options Make alternatives parallel in construction and consistent with the stem. Which of the following is NOT a defense mechanism? A. B. C. D. Conflict. Repression. Reaction formation. Rationalization. Better: A. B. C. D. Rationalization. Repression. Reaction formation. Regression. (Ory & Ryan, 1993)

Writing Item Options When possible, present alternatives in some logical order (e. g. most to least and chronological) Q. In the course of a dark Better: adaptation , the eye’s best A. 600 millimicrons. sensitivity to wavelength shifts B. 580 millimicrons. to C. 505 millimicrons. A. B. C. D. 580 millimicrons. 477 millimicrons. 505 millimicrons. 600 millimicrons. D. 477 millimicrons. (Ory & Ryan, 1993)

Writing Item Options Make the alternatives mutually exclusive. Q. Rods are found in the A. B. C. D. blind spot. fovea. periphery of the retina. back of the eye. Better: A. blind spot. B. periphery of the fovea. C. periphery of the retina. D. cornea. (Ory & Ryan, 1993)

Writing Item Options Avoid overly wordy alternatives that become confusing and difficult to read. Flooding differs from systematic desensitization in that A. B. C. D. the former is based on classical conditioning and the latter on operant conditioning. systematic desensitization requires insight and the flooding does not. flooding has you start at the top of your fear hierarchy and systematic desensitization has you start at the bottom and work up gradually. flooding emphasizes the use of cognitions to a much greater extent than does systematic desensitization. Better: Flooding differs from systematic desensitization in that flooding A. B. C. D. is based on classical conditioning rather than operant conditioning. doesn’t require insight. starts at the top of the fear hierarchy. places greater emphasis on the use of cognitions. (Ory & Ryan, 1993)

Writing Item Options Avoid irrelevant cues such as grammatical structure, well-known work associations, or connections between the stem and the correct answer. Q. School psychologists who examine and place children in special education settings often apply the research done by A. B. C. D. Better: School psychologists often apply the research done by biopsychologists. educational psychologists. clinical psychologists. counseling psychologists. (Ory & Ryan, 1993)

Planning a Test • Use a test matrix or blueprint. • Identify major ideas and skills rather than specific details. • Use Bloom’s cognitive taxonomy or something appropriate for your context. (Nilson, 2010)

Bloom’s Cognitive Domain Evaluation Synthesis Analysis Application Comprehension Knowledge

Test Matrix