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GENERAL INFORMATION: Writing multiple choice test questions is…
GENERAL INFORMATION:
Writing multiple choice test questions is an important part of psychological testing and assessment, and are specifically important for learning about test construction as part of testing and assessment. Think about the kinds of tests (exams, quizzes, etc.) that are typically given in a college-level course; the goal of each question is to assess what learners know/understand about the course content.
YOUR HOMEWORK:
Your task is to develop a multiple-choice item for any chapter covered in this course. Students will complete the attached PDF worksheet (PSYC 3900 HWork Ch 2 Test Questions Worksheet) and submit their completed file for grading.
When you write your multiple-choice test question, higher scores will be earned for submissions that write a question that asks the learner about concepts, or applying a concept. Multiple choice questions such as “which of the following is the definition of (course term)” with the correct definition and 3 distractors (incorrect definitions) will not earn full credit. The goal is to develop a question that a student could not simply look up on the internet to find a “quick answer.” (Why? Because if we are assessing student learning, we want questions that assess student learning, not “student ability to look up answers.”)
The following are guidelines for constructing high-quality stems and options for multiple choice items: (adapted from Aiken, L.R. (1991). Psychological Testing and assessment (7th Ed.). NY: Allyn & Bacon, Inc.) These guidelines may help you to write a strong, thoughtful multiple choice question.
1. You may use either a question or an incomplete statement as the stem: but the question format is preferred. Place blanks in incomplete statements stems at the end.
2. Make sure stems and options are written at a reading level appropriate for the test takers; avoid taking statements verbatim from textbooks.
3. Place as much of the item as possible in the stem. Test takers have less difficulty with shorter options.
4. Don’t use too many opinion questions. When they are used cite the authority or source of the opinion.
5. It is typical to have four or five options in higher education, but it is possible to write good items having only two or three options. With students in the primary grades three options are preferable to four or more.
6. If there is a natural order to the options, such as with ages or dates, it is advisable to arrange them chronologically; otherwise options should be arranged in random or alphabetical order.
7. All options should be approximately equal in length, grammatically correct, and appropriate in relation to the stem. The stem should not give away the correct option by verbal associations or other clues.
8. All options should be plausible to test takers who do not know the correct answer, but only one option should be the correct or best choice. Popular misconceptions or statements that are only partially correct make good distracters.
9. When constructing each distracter formulate a reason why someone who does not know the correct answer might choose this option. Valdosta State University, PSYC 3900
10. Avoid at best or at least minimize the use of negative expressions (such as ‘not’) in either the stem or options.
11. Do not use “none of the above”, “all of the above” or “more than one of the above.” Avoid specific determiners such as “always” and “never”.
12. Place the options in a stacked (paragraph) format rather than in tandem (back to back) format. Numbers should be used to designate items and letters to designate options.
13. Ambiguous and tricky stems and options should be avoided.
14. The right number of items for each grade or age level should be considered. Each item should be independent of other items. Items should not be interrelated where the wording on one item gives a clue to the answer on another item; or interlocked, where it is necessary to know the correct answer to one item in order to get another item correct.
15. As a general rule, the difficulty levels of items should be such that the percentage of test takers who answer the item correctly is approximately halfway between chance percentage (random guessing) and 100 percent (% correct = 50 (k + 1)/k, where k is the number of distracters per item).
Uploaded is the exercise worksheet.
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Homework Chapter 2: Writing Test Questions Worksheet (50
points) Note: this must be typed for submission (no
handwritten/photographed assignments will be accep…
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Image transcription text
Homework Chapter 2: Writing Test Questions Worksheet (50
points) Page 2 (Explanation of distracters: worth 7 points each)
Explain why each distracter is a good option for those …
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