Multiple Choice Exams

Written properly, multiple choice exas correlate strongly with assessments by descriptive tests.

Use of multiple Choice Exams - Not limited to Factual Knowledge Structure of a multiple choice question - Stem - Answers Formulating Good Multiple Choice Auestions - Wording the stem so that there is a single correct answer. - Finding plausible wrong answers. - Sensitivity to ESL students. Negative coive in the stem. Conditional ifwould structures. Cultural contexts for questions. Stems - Statements A river that flows through a desert is called - Questions Which of the following descriptions best fits the character of Alsatian wines? - Negative voice Which of the following grapes is not used to make Amarone? - Conditional Voice If you want a VOA Niagara red wine that was very fruity and required only a short ageing period you would select. Answer Options - Single correct answer options. - Collect answer options: (a) and (c) are both correct. All of the above are correct None of the above are correct. Plausible Answer Strategies - Good questions contain several plausible answer options. - Grey area between designing tricky questions and providing answer options that test knowledge thoroughly. - Inadvertently giving away the answers.

Giving away the answer

A verbal question: - The forbidden fruit that Eve offered Adam was an: a. Apple b. Bananaa c. Carrot A numerical question: It costs a vendor $1.00 each time s/he sells a hot dog to a customer. If the price of the hot dog is $3.00, what is the contribution margin percentage? a. 30.0% b. 20.% c. 67.7% d. 50% e. 33.3% Use nonsense words: Colio Wines in Ontario produce an interesting product classified as Vin de Cure in much the same way as Amarone is made in Veneto. The Italian word describing the drying process used to desiccate the grapes is: a. Ripasso b. Raisinato e. Prunello Use rekated, but different terms a. Amelioration b. Chaptalization c. Edulcoration d. Elaboration e. Oxidation Adding Uncertanity The term fortified wine means: a. The bottle had been reinforced. b. The wind has had tannins and acid added. Evaluating Multiple Choice Questions - Diggiculty Factor = R/N R = # of times the correct answer is selected. N = # of people taking the exam. Knowledge of Successful Guessing? - Multiple choice exam strategies: Improve odds b eliminating 1 or more infeasible or unlikely answer Posibility of a Random Pass - Depends on the number of answer options per question pertage. Adjustment for Guessing - Negative Marking Elimination strategy reduces odds of wrong answer penalty. Subtracting a percentage of the number of wrong answers obtained from the final grade. Give a grade of 4 for a correct answer and a score of -1 for a wrong answer. Teaching with Multiple Choice Examinations - Use stem questions to teach additional or ancillary terms not covered in the course.