Reviewing Multiple Choice Items

No Checklist criterion Yes No

1 Are 60% of the items structured as clinical vignettes (Case
Scenarios)?
2 Have the test items been repeated from the last year exam?
3 Does each item stem presents a meaningful problem?
4 Are the item stems free of irrelevant material?
5 Are the item stems stated in positive terms?
6 If used, has negative wording been given special emphasis? e.g
capitalized and underlined
7 Are the options grammatically consistent with the item stem?
8 Are the options brief and free of unnecessary words?
9 Are the options similar in length and form?
10 Is there only one correct or clearly best answer?
11 Are the distractors plausible to low achievers?
12 Are the items free of verbal clues to the answer?
13 Are numerical options in a numerical order?
14 Have none of the above and all of the above been avoided?
15 Are the items relevant to the intended learning objectives (the
blueprint)?
16 Are the item options free of absolute terms e.g always, never
17 Are the item options free of vague terms e.g rarely, usually
18 Are the items test application of knowledge rather than recall of
isolated facts?