What is a good multiple-choice question?

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How much do you ALREADY know about writing good multiple-choice questions? These 14 questions will help you find out! You'll notice that some questions are about learning objectives because well-written learning objectives are essential for well-written multiple-choice questions.

Select the correct or best answer for each question and then click the SUBMIT button. You'll then receive feedback on which answers are correct and incorrect. Consider printing the feedback page so you will have a record of the answers.

1. What should be included in the stem of each multiple-choice question? (select the best answer) *

The question to be answered or problem to be solved

Extra details to make guessing the correct answer difficult

A reminder about where this content appeared in instruction

2. Above all else, distractors must be written so they are: (select the best answer) *

Unambiguously correct.

The same length.

Plausible.

3. A valid assessment is one that: (select the correct answer) *

Works consistently.

Measures what it claims to measure.

Correlates with other measures.

4. Is "all of the above" a good answer choice for multiple-choice questions? (select the best answer) *

Research shows that "all of the above" performs well as an answer choice.

Research shows that "all of the above" can sometimes perform well as an answer choice.

Research shows that "all of the above" performs poorly as an answer choice.

5. Is “Describe how to” a good behavior/action to use in a workplace learning objective? (select the best answer) *

“Describe how to” is a measurable behavior/action so it is appropriate to use in a workplace learning objective.

“Describe how to” is rarely part of tasks so this behavior/action is likely written at too low of a level.

“Describe how to” is often part of tasks so this behavior/action is appropriate to use in a workplace learning objective.

6. What is the optimal number of answer choices for a multiple-choice question, according to research? (select the best answer) *

Three

Four

Five

7. Research shows that multiple-choice questions that ask participants to select ALL the correct answers: (select the two best answers) *

Are often harder for participants to answer so they should be used sparingly.

Can be a good choice when the learning objective requires multiple answers.

Are as easy to answer as multiple-choice questions with one correct answer.

Required

8. A reliable assessment is one that: (select the correct answer) *

Correlates with other measures.

Measures what it claims to measure.

Works consistently.

9. Which of these writing tactics makes multiple-choice questions too easy to guess? (select the best answer) *

Answer choices are of different lengths and depths.

Incorrect answers include common misconceptions.

Incorrect answers are plausible but incorrect.

10. When should learning assessments optimally be chosen and designed? (select the correct answer) *

After the instructional content and activities are finished

After job-focused learning objectives are written

After the instructional content is accepted by stakeholders

11. Well-written learning objectives are needed to write good multiple-choice questions because: (select best correct answer) *

They Identify misconceptions that participants have about the content.

They describe what the content expert thinks participants need to know.

They specifically describe the outcomes needed from instruction.

12. Is multiple true-false an acceptable multiple-choice question format? (select the best answer) *

It isn't an acceptable format because true false questions are easy to answer.

It's an especially good format for assessing the most critical understandings.

It's a good format for assessing the relationships between two sets of items.

13. Which of these is a good way to write plausible distractors? (select the best answer) *

Write statements that paraphrase the correct answer incorrectly.

Write statements that specifically refute the correct answer premise.

Write statements with wording from another question's correct answer.

14. Distractors need to be plausible to: (select the best answer) *

Eliminate cueing.

Improve understanding.

Reduce guessing.

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