Rules in Creating A Multiple Choice Test

Rules in Creating
a Multiple Choice
Test
Darryl Earl O. De Jesus

Outline
 What is a multiple choice
 Anatomy
 Rules in making multiple choice test
 Making Multiple choice test following HOTS of
Bloom’s taxonomy
 Advantages and Disadvantages
What is
multiple
choice test?
ANATOMY OF A MULTIPLE CHOICE
QUESTION
Key
History
Frederick J. Kelly
 The father of multiple choice
testing.
 Was the first to use such items as
part of a large scale assessment.
 Wrote The Kansas Silent Reading
Test
They can be used to assess
students' ability to:
 recall information;
 interpret graphs and diagrams;
 understand concepts;
 discriminate between fact and opinion;
 make inferences from data; and
 solve problems.
Rules to follow when Creating a
Multiple Choice Test
 #1: Test comprehension and critical thinking, not just recall
 #2: Use simple sentence structure and precise wording
 #3: Place most of the words in the question stem
 #4: Make all distractors plausible
 #5: Keep all answer choices the same length
 #6: Avoid double negatives
 #7: Mix up the order of the correct answers
 #8: Keep the number of options consistent
 #9: Avoid tricking test-takers
 #10: Use ‘All of the Above’ and ‘None of the Above’ with
caution
Writing multiple choice questions
using Bloom’s Taxonomy
Multiple choice test items following
the higher order thinking skills of
Bloom’s taxonomy. Higher-level
doesn’t simply ask for a definition.
Rather, it assesses what people can
do with that definition. If they don’t
know the definition, they will have a
much more difficult time answering.
The higher-level question better
aligns with the real-life and job-task-
specific learning objective.
Remembering
The learner's ability to retain and recall information. This usually
comes in the form of recognition, retrieving, or listing.
Comprehending
The knowledge of the five stages of the creative process must be
recalled (knowledge), and the student is tested for an
understanding (comprehension) of the meaning of each term.
Applying
This asks learners to use information that they already have
gained, in order to solve a problem that may be similar in nature.
This involves implementation of prior knowledge and skills.
Analysis
In this process, learners will have to break down the data
that was provided in order to fully grasp the content (as it is
now in more manageable parts). This usually requires
learners to use comparative and/or deconstruction skills.
Evaluating
This requires that learners have a reason behind the course
of action that they took and involves experimentation and
hypothesis. In this process, the student is asked to critique
or summarize information.
Creating
Generating new ideas or products.
Ways when writing a Multiple-Choice Test
Based on The Revised Bloom's Taxonomy
 Always use plausible incorrect answers in the
questions
Test creators have to make them plausible so that they

are able to test the students’ ability to remember the
information and apply it to the problem. This is the only
true way to gauge if a learner fully understands the
concept.
 Integrate charts into the exam
Include charts or graphs in your test, which

will force the learner to use
their analyzing skills. By having them
interpret the data, they will be tested on
whether or not they have really absorbed the
information.
 Transform the verb
If the test creators want to include a divergent

thinking question on their test, they can
generally accomplish this by turning it into a
noun. For example, if they are trying to test a
learner's ability to describe a scientific
process, students must choose the best
description for it. This can be used to test both
their creating and evaluating skills.
 Create examples or stories to test their
understanding abilities
Write out detailed stories or examples that the learner must

read before answering corresponding multiple-choice
questions. This will not only test their understanding ability,
but their analyzing skills as well. Teachers can also make the
learner tap into their remembering or applying abilities if the
teacher create a story or example that asks them to draw
upon knowledge they've already acquired.
 Use multilevel thinking
These are the questions that include wording such as “the

most appropriate” or “most important”. Such questions
serve to test the learners’ judgment skills or understanding
of an in-depth subject.
Advantages
and
Disadvantages
Advantages
 Quick and easy to score, by hand or electronically.
 “good” items may be stored in an item bank and reused
 Can cover lots of content areas on a single exam and still
be answered in a class period.
 Difficulty can be manipulated by adjusting similarity of
distractors.
 Less influenced by guessing than true-false.
 Scoring is objective and reliable.
Disadvantages
 Provide unprepared students the opportunity to guess, and
with guesses that are right, they get credit for things they
don’t know
 Take time and skill to construct (especially good
questions)
 Limited feedback to correct errors in student
understanding
 Measuring ability to organize and express ideas is not
possible
 Results may be biased by reading ability or test- wiseness
Reliability
 is defined as the degree to which a test consistently
measures a learning outcome. Multiple choice test items
are less susceptible to guessing than true/false questions,
making them a more reliable means of assessment. The
reliability is enhanced when the number of multiple
choice items focused on a single learning objective is
increased. In addition, the objective scoring associated
with multiple choice test items frees them from problems
with scorer inconsistency that can plague scoring of essay
questions.
Validity
 Is the degree to which a test measures the learning
outcomes it purports to measure. Because students can
typically answer a multiple choice item much more quickly
than an essay question, tests based on multiple choice
items can typically focus on a relatively broad
representation of course material, thus increasing the
validity of the assessment.
Versatility
 Multiple choice test items can be written to assess various
levels of learning outcomes, from basic recall to
application, analysis, and evaluation. Because students are
choosing from a set of potential answers, however, there
are obvious limits on what can be tested with multiple
choice items. For example, they are not an effective way
to test students’ ability to organize thoughts or articulate
explanations or creative ideas.
Examples of Multiple choice test
following Bloom’s taxonomy
Remembering:
1. In the area of physical science, which one of the following
definitions describes the term “polarization”?
A. The separation of electric charges by friction.

B. The ionization of atoms by high temperatures.
C. The interference of sound waves in a closed chamber.
D. The excitation of electrons by high-frequency light.
E. The vibration of transverse waves in a single plane.*
Remembering:
2. Who is the author of "Das Kapital“?
A. Mannheim
B. Marx*
C. Weber
D. Engels
E. Michels
Remembering:
3. In which of these time period was World War II
fought?
A. 1914-1917
B. 1929-1934
C. 1939-1945*
D. 1951-1955
E. 1961-1969
Comprehending:
4. Which one of the following describes what takes place
in the so-called PREPARATION stage of the creative
process, as applied to the solution of a particular
problem?
A. The problem is identified and defined.
B. All available information about the problem is
collected.*
C. An attempt is made to see if the proposed solution to
the problem is acceptable.
D. The person goes through some experience leading to a
general idea of how the problem can be solved.
E. The person sets the problem aside, and gets involved
with some other unrelated activity.
Comprehending:
5. Reliability is the same as:

A. consistency.*
B. relevancy.
C. representativeness.
D. usefulness
Comprehending:
6. The termination process is MOST often

associated with:
a. Evaluating goals and accomplishments
b. Implementing a plan of action
c. Setting limits
d. Developing a contract
Applying
7. Which one of the following memory systems

does a piano-tuner mainly use in his
occupation?
A. Echoic memory.*
B. Short-term memory.
C. Long-term memory.
D. Mono-auditory memory
Applying
8. Mrs. H has had little energy to care for her young children or her
house since her husband died a few months ago. She has no income and
little food. The protective service agency has become involved since her
children were left unsupervised. What is the FIRST goal to work toward
in implementing a treatment plan for Mrs. H?
a. Help her grieve her husband's death
b. Get a volunteer parent aid to help with parenting skills
c. Help her get AFDC and food stamps
d. Refer her for medication for depression

Applying
9. Explaining a student's poor performance on an exam

to the unfair
difficulty level of the questions refers to what kind of
cause?
a. immediate, external cause*
b. immediate, internal cause
c. developmental cause
d. necessary and sufficient cause
e. weak cause

Analysis
10. [The poem is included here.]
The chief purpose of stanza 9 is to:
A. Delay the ending to make the poem symmetrical.

B. Give the reader a realistic picture of the return of
the cavalry.
C. Provide material for extending the simile of the
bridge to a final point.
D. Return the reader to the scene established in
stanza 1.*
Analysis
11. In the diagram below, parallel light rays pass through

a convex lens and converge to a focus.
They can be made parallel again by placing a:
A. Concave lens at point B.

B. Concave lens at point C.
C. Second convex lens at point A.
D. Second convex lens at point B.
Analysis
12. A seven-year old boy is brought to a child guidance clinic by

his parents for treatment. The boy is hyperactive, has violent
temper tantrums, is difficult to control, and gets along poorly
with his peers. He has a history of a difficult, high forceps
delivery, projectile vomiting, and was a fussy, irritable baby. The
social worker should:
a. Refer the child to a neurologist
b. Begin psychotherapy with the parents
c. Ascertain what the parents have done to reinforce this behavior

d. See the parents and child together for therapy
Evaluate
13. Consider the question, "What is meant by the charge that

utilitarianism is too demanding?“
Now suppose the following answer is given:
"Utilitarianism requires moral people to respond to important moral

concerns such as helping the less fortunate, while allowing immoral
people to pursue their careers, family lives, and personal projects." What
is wrong with this answer?
A. Nothing - that answer is correct.

B. It falsely describes what utilitarianism requires of moral people.
C. It falsely describes what utilitarianism allows of immoral people.*
D. It relies on a false dichotomy between moral people and immoral
people
Evaluate
14. A fourteen year old girl refuses to attend school despite pleading by both of
her parents. A physical examination reveals no medical problem, and a joint
assessment by the social worker and psychiatrist indicates no apparent reactive
element instigating the sudden school avoidance. The girl appears depressed; she
herself is unsure of why she is not attending school. The BEST intervention by the
social worker is to:
a. Recommend that the girl remain home for at least another week without
pressure
b. Intervene with school authorities to provide her with home tutoring when absent
c. Urge all concerned to apply pressure to achieve return to school and arrange an
appointment with the girl
d. Begin to assist the family to explore alternative schools for possible transfer
Evaluate
15. “Students go to school to learn, not to take tests. In addition, tests

cannot be used to indicate a student’s absolute level of learning. All
tests can do is rank students in order of achievement, and this relative
ranking is influenced by guessing, bluffing, and the subjective
opinions of the teacher doing the scoring. The teacher-learning
process would benefit if we did away with tests and depended on
student self-evaluation.”
Which one of the following propositions is most essential to the final

conclusion?
A. Effective self-evaluation does not require the use of tests.*

B. Tests place students in rank order only.
C. Test scores are influenced by factors other than achievement.
D. Students do not go to school to take tests.
Thank You
References
 https://facultyinnovate.utexas.edu/sites/default/files/writing-goo
d-multiple-choice-exams-fic-120116.pdf
 https://www.mcgill.ca/skillsets/files/skillsets/mcq_handout3.pdf
 https://webcourses.ucf.edu/courses/1246849/pages/examples-of
-multiple-choice-items-at-the-levels-of-blooms-taxonomy
 https://elearningindustry.com/how-to-write-multiple-choice-que
stions-based-on-revised-bloom-s-taxonomy
 http://www.personal.psu.edu/faculty/j/5/j5j/psy002/MCQ.html
 https://gradehub.com/blog/using-multiple-choice-questions-usin
g-blooms-taxonomy/
 https://www.fairtest.org/multiple-choice-tests
 https://www.slideshare.net/pitchacharoenmitmongkol/multiple-c
hoicequestions

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Rules in Creating

Darryl Earl O. De Jesus

Test creators have to make them plausible so that they

Include charts or graphs in your test, which

If the test creators want to include a divergent

Write out detailed stories or examples that the learner must

These are the questions that include wording such as “the

A. The separation of electric charges by friction.

5. Reliability is the same as:

6. The termination process is MOST often

7. Which one of the following memory systems

a. Help her grieve her husband's death

b. Get a volunteer parent aid to help with parenting skills

c. Help her get AFDC and food stamps

d. Refer her for medication for depression

9. Explaining a student's poor performance on an exam

The chief purpose of stanza 9 is to:

A. Delay the ending to make the poem symmetrical.

11. In the diagram below, parallel light rays pass through

A. Concave lens at point B.

12. A seven-year old boy is brought to a child guidance clinic by

a. Refer the child to a neurologist

b. Begin psychotherapy with the parents

c. Ascertain what the parents have done to reinforce this behavior

13. Consider the question, "What is meant by the charge that

Now suppose the following answer is given:

"Utilitarianism requires moral people to respond to important moral

A. Nothing - that answer is correct.

15. “Students go to school to learn, not to take tests. In addition, tests

Which one of the following propositions is most essential to the final

A. Effective self-evaluation does not require the use of tests.*

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