What makes a bad multiple-choice question?

What makes a bad multiple-choice question?

5 major multiple-choice question flaws are found below: They are unclear or otherwise poorly written. They are too easy to guess. They test recall of content not use of knowledge.

What is a good test question?

Whether your questions involve True/False answers, Multiple Choice responses, Matching items, Fill-in-the-Blanks or Essay responses, good questions must demonstrate all of these traits. At the heart of any good question is an understanding of the learning outcomes that the questions are seeking to measure.

What is a negative stem question?

1. Poorly Written Stems. A stem is the section of a multiple-choice item that poses the problem that the students must answer. Stems can be in the form of a question or an incomplete sentence. Poorly written stems fail to state clearly the problem when they are vague, full of irrelevant data, or negatively written.

What is bad test items?

A bad test is one that an organization uses consistently, is backed by folklore and plenty of personal anecdotes, but has never been critically evaluated. Bad tests usually come out of corporate training programs.

What should you not do when taking a multiple-choice test?

Ignore the answer choices.

1. Do not allow the answer choices to affect your reading of the question.
2. Remember, if four answer choices are presented, three of them are incorrect. They are called distractors for good reason. Often, distractors are written to appear correct at first glance.

How do you make a good test question?

Write objective test questions so that there is one and only one best answer. Word questions clearly and simply, avoiding double negatives, idiomatic language, and absolutes such as “never” or “always.” Test only a single idea in each item. Make sure wrong answers (distractors) are plausible.

What is true/false test?

True-false test items, also referred to as alternative-response questions, are used to assess a student’s ability to determine whether a statement is correct. However, for any given question, students have a 50-50 chance of guessing the correct answer.

What are multiple choice questions?

A multiple-choice question (MCQ) is composed of two parts: a stem that identifies the question or problem, and a set of alternatives or possible answers that contain a key that is the best answer to the question, and a number of distractors that are plausible but incorrect answers to the question.