MULTIPLE CHOICE TEST

FORMAT

Deguitos, Mary Grace G.

Multiple Choice Test

Offers the student with more than two (2) options per item to
choose from. Each item in a multiple choice test consists of two
parts:

(a) The stem

(b) The options
Multiple Choice Test
In the set of options, there are:

(a) “Correct” or “best” option

(b) Distracters

Distracters are chosen in such a way that they are attractive to

those who do not know the answer or who are guessing but at
the same time, have no appeal to those who actually know the
answer.
Multiple Choice Test
ADVANTAGES LIMITATIONS

● Versatility in measuring all ● Are difficult and time-

levels of cognitive ability consuming to construct
● Highly reliable test scores ● Lead an instructor to favor
● Scoring efficiency and simple recall of facts
accuracy ● Place a high degree of
● Objective measurement of dependence to student’s
achievement or ability reading ability and instructor’s
● A wide sampling of contents writing ability
or objective ● Are particularly subjective to
● Different response to clueing. (Students can often
alternatives which can provide deduce the correct answer by
diagnostic feedback elimination.)
When to Use:
● To assess breadth of learning
● To test variety of levels of learning
● When you have a large number of individuals taking the test
● When you have time to construct the test items
● When time is limited for scoring
● When it is not important to determine how well individuals can
formulate their own answer
● When you want to prepare individuals for assessments that use
a similar formats
Planning a Test

● Use a Test Matrix

● Identify a major ideas and skills rather than specific details
● Use Bloom’s cognitive taxonomy or any appropriate for your
context.
Objectives at Different Levels
Level: Knowledge

Objective: State the average effective radiation dose from CT.

What is the average effective radiation dose from chest CT?

a. 1 mSv
b. 8 mSv
c. 16 mSv
d. 24 mSv
Objectives at Different Levels
Level: Comprehension

Objective: Identifies the effect of changing a parameter (rule using).

A pendulum consists of a sphere hanging from a string. What will

happen to the period of the pendulum if the mass of the sphere is
doubled? (Assume that the effects of air friction and the mass of
the string are negligible, and that the sphere traces an arc of 20° in
a plane as it swings.)

a. It will increase. *c. It will remain unchanged.

b. It will decrease. d. More information is needed to determine

what will happen.
Objectives at Different Levels
Level: Application

Objective: Identifies the correct application of principle (problem

solving).
Objectives at Different Levels

In the diagram, parallel light rays pass through a convex lens and
converge to a focus. They can be made parallel again by placing a:

a. Concave lens at point B.

b. Concave lens at point C.

c. Second convex lens at point A.

d. Second convex lens at point B.

*e. Second convex lens at point C.

Objectives at Different Levels
Level: Analysis

Objective: Analyzes poetry and identifies patterns and

relationships. [The poem is included here.]

The chief purpose of stanza 9 is to:

a. Delay the ending to make the poem symmetrical.

b. Give the reader a realistic picture of the return of the cavalry.

c. Provide material for extending the simile of the bridge to a final

point.

*d. Return the reader to the scene established in stanza 1.

Guidelines for Constructing Multiple
Choice Items

1) Do not use unfamiliar words, terms, and phrases. Keep the

vocabulary consistent with the examinee’s level of
understanding

Example: What would be the system reliability of a computer system

whose slave and peripherals are connected in parallel circuits and
each one has a known time to failure probability of 0.05?
Guidelines for Constructing Multiple
Choice Items

2) Do not use modifiers that are vague and whose

meanings can differ from one person to the next such as much,
often, always, and usually.

Example: Much of the process of photosynthesis takes place in

the:

a. Bark
b. Leaf
c. stem
Guidelines for Constructing Multiple
Choice Items

3) Avoid complex or awkward word arrangements.

Example:

As President of the Republic of the Philippines Corazon

Cojuangco Aquino would stand next to which President of the
Philippine Republic subsequent to the 1986 EDSA Revolution?
Guidelines for Constructing Multiple
Choice Items

4) Do not use double negatives as such statements tend to

be confusing.

Example:

(Poor) Which of the following will not cause inflation in the

Philippine economy?

(Better) Which of the following will cause inflation in the Philippine

economy?
Guidelines for Constructing Multiple
Choice Items
5) Each item should be as short as possible, otherwise you
risk testing more for reading and comprehension skills.

6) Distracters should be equally possible and attractive

Example:

The short story: May Day’s Eve, was written by which Filipino
author?

a. Jose Garcia Villa c. Genoveva Edrosa Matute

b. Nick Joaquin d. Robert Frost
Guidelines for Constructing Multiple
Choice Items
7) All multiple choice options should be grammatically
consistent with the stem

Example:

As compared to the autos of the 1960s autos in the 1980s ______.

a. traveling slower c. to use less fuel

b. bigger interiors d. Contain more safety
measures
Guidelines for Constructing Multiple
Choice Items
8) The length, explicitness, or degree of technicality of
alternatives should not be the determinants of the correctness of
the answer.

Example: If the three angles of two triangles are congruent, then the
triangles are:

a. congruent whenever one of the sides of the triangles are

congruent
b. similar
c. equiangular and/therefore, must also be congruent
d. Equilateral if they are equiangular
Guidelines for Constructing Multiple
Choice Items
9) Avoid stems that reveal the answer to another item

10) Minimize the use of all-of-the-above and non-of-the-above

alternatives

11) Avoid alternatives that are synonymous with others or those

that include or overlap others.

Example: What causes ice to transform from solid to liquid state?

a. Change in temperature c. Change in chemical

composition
b. Change in pressure d. Change in heat levels
References:

Navarro, R.L, Santos, R.G. & Corpuz, B.B. (2019). Assessment of Learning 1, 4th ed. Quezon: Lorimar
Publishing, Inc.

Steven J. Burton, Richard R. Sudweeks, Paul F. Merrill,Bud Wood. (n.d.). Retrieved September 8, 2019, from
https://testing.byu.edu/handbooks/betteritems.pdf