Assessments are integral for an e-Learning course that aims for continuous learner improvement. They help your learners to monitor and evaluate themselves.
Multiple-Choice Questions or MCQs are a popular form of assessment method that can be used for formative and summative assessments. They are an effective tool to assess learning outcomes.
Here are the top 10 tips to write MCQs. Let’s get started!
You can read the tips below or view them in this video.
Tip 1: Ensure a Proper Question Format
Your MCQs need to be designed in a question format and not as incomplete statements. It is recommended that the question’s stem needs to be a proper question. This helps your learners pay attention to answering the question. Also, a question format is ideal because that is the way we normally interact in real life – We ask with a question and are presented with information. This way, learners do not suffer from short-term memory problems by reconstructing an incomplete sentence for every alternative.
In rare scenarios, if you need to write an incomplete sentence stem, avoid using a blank space at the start. A blank space increases the cognitive load on the learner.
Tip 2: Write Self-contained Questions
MCQs need to be independent of each question item. You need not include two questions that follow on from each other.
For example, here both questions seem good by themselves. However, when you put them together, major problems come to surface.
While the two MCQs are phrased differently, there is a significant overlap in the areas of knowledge tested. For instance, if a learner knows the answer to the first question, he will most likely know the answer to the second question. Also, a learner’s answer to one question is heavily linked to the answer of the other question. For example, if a learner believes that dolphins are mammals, he is better equipped at answering the second question.
Tip 3: Avoid Negative Questions
Negative questions will have sentences such as, “Which of the following is NOT true about…?” The majority of e-learning experts do not recommend using negative questions. You can be tempted to use such questions due to relative ease in thinking them up. However, negative questions can be confusing for learners. In addition, it is liable to be exploited as learners could find an incorrect answer without knowing the correct option. Thus, you can’t really assess the knowledge retention of the learners.
Tip 4: Ensure Stems Have All the Answers
Being the first part of an MCQ, ensure a question stem has relevant information required to answer the question. It presents a clear problem or question for the learners.
You should write a stem such that your learners can respond to the question correctly without looking at the alternatives. The stem is the part of the question that encourages higher order thinking. Thus, it should contain all the information that a learner will need. The challenge for learners is to process the information. Then, apply their course knowledge to arrive at the correct answer. This could be difficult for the learner if the stem misses some vital information.
Tip 5: Use Simple Language
Write MCQs with a simple structure that are easy for the learner to understand. Aim to be as accurate as possible in your language. Use precise and unambiguous wording in your question items. MCQs are not meant to test the comprehension skills of your learners. Avoid designing MCQs that are needlessly complicated. Stay away from using double-negatives. Be aware of using irrelevant details just to throw off your learners. Unless you are testing the technical vocabulary of learners, avoid using complex words.
Tip 6: Have Just One Answer
Many e-Learning authors add the instruction, “Select ALL that apply”. Such an approach doesn’t let the learners know about the number of correct answers in the MCQ. This is a lazy approach as it fails to isolate functional pieces of assessment to test the learners.
Always ensure there is just one correct answer. Once you start writing the alternatives, make sure they aren’t potentially correct answers. A good practice to follow is having one correct answer and three incorrect options. Avoid adding wrong answers that look obvious. Don’t come up with options just so that you have more alternatives. Fewer good distractors are better than having many poor distractors.
Tip 7: Use Plausible Alternatives
While MCQs need to have one correct answer, you should also focus on making the other alternatives plausible but incorrect. The purpose of incorrect options is to act as distractors. Implausible options do not act as distractors and thus should be avoided.
Your learners should not be able to easily eliminate the distractors because they lack plausibility. Generally, it is best practice to use three distractors and one correct answer. A good strategy is to use common errors made by learners as plausible distractors.
Tip 8: List Alternatives Logically
Present your alternatives logically in a non-random order. For instance, list a sequence of events beginning from first to last and a set of numbers from lowest to highest. Arranging the alternatives logically helps to avoid cognitive overload and confusion for your learners. It also encourages a more random selection of the correct option. When presenting sets of alternatives that possess a natural order, list them in an ascending order.
Examples:
• Values: 2, 4, 8, 12
• Ranges: 0-5, 6-10, 11-15, 16-20
Tip 9: Avoid Easy Distractors
The difficulty of an M C Q depends on how hard it is to eliminate the distractors.
E-Learning professionals often distinguish between functioning versus non-functioning distractors. Basically considered as a filler option, a non-functioning distractor is defined as one which is selected by less than 5% of learners. These are alternatives that are obviously wrong.
Here is an example with non-functioning distractors:Although, you may have never heard of Thomas Edison, it is quite easy to know the correct option by ignoring the non-functioning distractors.MCQ distractors play a vital role in determining how tough the assessment will be.
Here is an updated version of the same MCQ:Now, the same question seems much harder. This is because, none of the names in the options seem out of place. Each of them has made some life changing contribution in the field of electricity.
Tip 10: Perform Self and Peer Review
Once you’re done writing the MCQs, ask yourself, “Are the questions still answerable?” Take some time to go through the tips mentioned in this video. Prepare a checklist with all the requisite aspects to review.
After you are satisfied that the MCQs fit the requirements, share the assessment with a fellow author. Peer review always paves the way to design high quality assessment questions.
Besides, it helps that MCQs get a perspective from a different set of eyes as we are at times oblivious to our errors. The more reviews done, and feedback received the better your MCQs turn into effective assessments.Remember these tips when writing your next set of Multiple-Choice Questions to ensure an effective experience for your learners.
Thank you for going through this video.
