NAVOTAS POLYTECHNIC COLLEGE

Bangus St., North Bay Boulevard South, Navotas City

Assessment in Learning I
Test Development I

Members:
Bacayo, Paul Andrew
Bito, Nicole S.
Cadungon, Kimberly C.
Cortez, Clarisse Ann G.

Selected-Response Test (Multiple Choice)

Definition
According to Merriam-Webster Dictionary, the definition of multiple choice is " having
several answers from which one is to be chosen." This definition clearly conveys the essence of
multiple-choice questions by emphasizing that each question offers a number of possible
answers, only one of which can be selected as the best or most suitable response. A multiple-
choice question consists of a stem and the options, the stem offers the background knowledge
or details that respondents need to comprehend the question and frame their responses. A list
of answer options is shown after the stem. These options stand in for various options or
responses to the query. It is typical to have four or five answer possibilities, though this number
can vary. There is one accurate or best answer that relates to the desired resolution or response
among the available answer options. This suitable answer fully responds to a question or issue
raised in the stem. The remaining response possibilities are either incorrect or useless. These
options are intended to imitate real errors or widespread beliefs. They seek to distinguish
between respondents who understand the material and those who do not by testing
respondents' comprehension.
Multiple-choice tests can evaluate a variety of cognitive abilities, from basic information
recall to higher-order thinking and evaluations. The questions can be an effective tool to assess
learning outcomes and gathering accurate data, but they must be carefully developed and
utilized when combined with other assessment methods. Otherwise, the format has drawbacks,
such as the chance for determining as well as the challenge in evaluating some skills.

When to use:
Multiple choice tests can be completed rapidly, giving pupils immediate feedback. When
students have a test, the multiple-choice test is the method used, and this is the text that helps
students better understand what they have learned in the subject they are discussing.
When using a multiple-choice test for assessment, the objective is to develop items that
successfully differentiate between students based on how well they comprehend the information
being evaluated. In practice, this results in assessments that push students but also provide
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them the opportunity to succeed when they possess the necessary information, producing,
ideally, a range of performance with a high average.
Although this frequently comes at the expense of higher-level critical and creative reasoning
processes, multiple choice tests are beneficial for evaluating lower-order cognitive functions,
such as the recall of factual knowledge. Use MCQ tests, for instance, when you want to:

 Test lower-order cognition, such as the ability to retain discrete facts, especially if it will
be necessary for later in the course higher-order learning.
 To assist in developing teaching and learning strategies, gather data on students' prior
knowledge, knowledge gaps, and misconceptions.
 To assist students manage their own learning, give them a convenient way to review
course content, make sure they comprehend important ideas, and get quick feedback.
 Assess the pupils' general understanding of the curriculum and learning objectives.

Advantages and Disadvantages:

Advantages:
1. Quick and easy to score, by hand or electronically.
2. Quicker evaluation.
3. Can be written so that they test a wide range of higher-order thinking skills.
4. Can cover lots of content areas on a single exam and still be answered in a class period.
Disadvantages:
1. Often test literacy skills: “if the student reads the question carefully, the answer is easy to
recognize even if the student knows little about the subject”
2. Provide unprepared students the opportunity to guess, and with guesses that are right,
they get credit for things they don’t know.
3. Expose students to misinformation that can influence subsequent thinking about the
content.
4. Take time and skill to construct (especially good questions).

Do’s and Dont’s

Do’s:
1. Clearly state the learning objective or knowledge/skills being assessed by the test to
create relevant and focused questions.
2. Use straightforward language and stay away from ambiguity or various interpretations to
make sure that your questions are clear and concise.
3. Each question should have a single correct answer that aligns with the learning
objective, ensuring it is clearly distinguishable from any distractors.
4. Observe a rational sequence. Put the questions in a logical order or according to their
difficulty. Students may be able to complete the test more successfully if they do this.
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5. Examine and edit the test pay close attention to any mistakes, as well as the test's clarity
and coherence. Make sure the questions and answers are accurate and free of spelling
or grammar errors by proofreading them.
Dont’s:
1. Avoid using unnecessarily complicated or convoluted language in your questions. Use
clear and concise language that students can easily understand.
2. Be careful not to provide accidental hints or clues in the language of the questions or
options, which may lead to guessing rather than assessing understanding.
3. Make sure the options don't overlap or have several right answers. There should be a
single correct answer and credible distractors for each question.
4. Maintain the focus of the questions on assessing the desired knowledge or skills. Include
no unnecessary or irrelevant information that could distract or confuse students.
5. Make the correct response too evident or too vague, the correct answer should not be
too obvious or too easily distinguished from the distractors. Similarly, avoid providing
confusing or ambiguous answer options that make it difficult for pupils to select the
proper one.

Guidelines
1. Do not use unfamiliar words, terms and phrases. The multiple-choice question's stem
ought to state a clear subject or question. To eliminate ambiguity, it should be worded
clearly and precisely.
2. Do not use modifiers that are vague and whose meanings can differ from one person to
the next such as: much, often, usually, etc.
3. Avoid using word combinations that are difficult or unnatural. Negative words should also
be avoided because they could make comprehension more difficult than necessary.
Make sure the questions are written in as simple and clear a manner as you can. Avoid
employing specialized language or complex sentence structures that can impair pupils'
understanding.
4. The length of each item stem should be as brief as possible to avoid compromising
reading and comprehension abilities.
5. When creating the Distractors or your multiple-choice questions, make sure they are
realistic and plausible in addition to being appealing. Use options that make no sense or
are blatantly wrong to avoid confusing or frustrating students rather than evaluating their
understanding.
6. Every option in a multiple-choice question must follow the stem's grammatical rules.
7. The length, explicitness, or level of intricacy of the options shouldn't be used to judge if
an answer is right or wrong.
8. Explain to the students how to complete the multiple-choice test in a clear and concise
manner. Tell them how many questions there are, how many options they should choose
from (if any), and any special instructions for grading their responses.
9. Avoid substitutes that are equivalent to, include, or overlap other options.
10. Avoid using terms or phrases that are not required or pertinent to the issue at hand
(unless the evaluation's main goal is to assess such discriminating skills). If the
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extraneous material is intended to distract or deceive, the item's value is significantly

compromised. Instead of testing the student's subject knowledge, these tests read
comprehension.
11. Avoid use of non-relevant sources of difficulty such as requiring a complex calculation
when only knowledge of a principle is being tested.
12. Pack the question in the stem.
13. Balance the difficulty to ensure that the questions effectively assess the desired learning
outcomes.
14. There should only be one appropriate response for each multiple-choice question that
supports the learning aim. It must be unmistakable and easy to recognize among the
distractions.
15. The number of options should be reasonable, usually between three and five. A question
with too few or too many options may be too simple for the respondents to understand.