Week 4 - All or none of the above.

This week there were a few readings that stuck out to me, but the most important was the readings about multiple choice testing.  My whole life taking tests I just assumed it was a simple process to make a multiple-choice test.  After some personal experiences and reading this week’s resources I have realized it is more difficult then I ever thought.  While reading the resource Writing Multiple-Choice Test Items, I could not believe that it a very detailed process that making a multiple-choice test could be.  The one step that I feel I had a good handle on was the writing of the stem or question.  A few years ago, I was covering the maternity leave for a high school English teacher.  During that time, I had to develop a few tests.  That was the first time I realized how difficult making a test actually was.  The first part that I found hard was figuring out what items I was going to test on and how to ask the questions.  I found myself asking many questions in one section and not many from others.  I made several mistakes while making up questions that are discussed in the reading.   One mistake I made more often then I realized was the use of negatives in the question.  It was an easy error to make when having trouble making questions.  I also would put clues in the question that would give the answers to the students.    When it came to doing the options or answer there were many things I did incorrectly.  The one that I did commit, but did not realize was a bad thing was what I read from the reading 10 Rules for Writing Multiple Choice Test Items.  That rule was to keep all answer choices the same length.  I remember many a few times I would have different length answers.  Length of answers can be a hint towards answers.  Often the longest answer choice is the correct answer.  One last tip I never thought of was options of “all the above”, “a and c”, or “none of above”.  I rarely used these types of options, but did not know that they were that bad to use.

I never realized there are so many different rules and tips when it comes to multiple-choice tests.  I wish I would have known these rules when I was making up my tests.  It would definitely would have made it easier for me.  It is amazing all the rules and tips there are to making these tests.  I always thought as a student that they were easy tests to come with compared to short answer questions.  It was not until I had to make one up that I learned that it is more difficult then most people think.