Constructing

Multiple Choice Tests

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 Did you know???
Students report a higher level of
test anxiety over teacher-made tests (64%)
than over standardized tests (30%).
The top three reasons why:
1. poor test construction,
2. irrelevant or obscure material
3. coverage, and unclear
directions. (NCATE, “Summary Data on Teacher
Effectiveness, Teacher Quality, and
Teacher Qualifications”, 2001.)
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 Technical Quality of a Test
In general, test items should…
• Assess achievement of instructional objectives
• Measure important aspects of the subject
(concepts and conceptual relations)
• Accurately reflect the emphasis placed on
important aspects of instruction
• Measure an appropriate level of student
knowledge
• Vary in levels of difficulty
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 Technical Quality of a Test
1. Cognitive Complexity
✓ the test questions will focus on
appropriate intellectual activity ranging
from simple recall of facts to problem
solving, critical thinking, and reasoning
✓ Bloom’s Taxonomy of Educational
Objectives

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 Technical Quality of a Test
2. Content Quality
✓ the test questions will permit the
students to demonstrate their
knowledge of challenging and
important subject matter
✓ Table of Specifications

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 Table of Specifications
✓A two-way chart that describes the
topics or lessons to be covered by a
test and the number of items or points
that will be associated with each topic
✓ “blueprint” of any written test

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 Table of Specifications
✓For uniformity, we will use the TIMSS
(Trends in Mathematics and Science
Study) in formulating our TOS
✓ Follows three major strands:
❖ Knowing
❖ Applying
❖ Reasoning

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 Table of Specifications
KNOWING
✓ recall definitions and terminologies
✓ recognize patterns and relationships
✓ classify objects and terms
✓ arrange sequential information
✓ compute simple calculations
✓ retrieve information from illustrations
✓ measure quantities and dimensions
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 Table of Specifications
APPLYING
✓ determine ways of solving a problem
✓ represent information in various media
✓ illustrate concepts and theories
✓ model understanding of ideas
✓ implement procedures and rules

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 Table of Specifications
REASONING
✓ analyze complex structures
✓ integrate concepts to other areas
✓ synthesize different ideas
✓ evaluate solutions and strategies
✓ draw conclusions based on findings
✓ justify claims logically

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 Technical Quality of a Test
3. Meaningfulness
✓ the test questions will be worth the
students’ time and the students will
recognize and understand their value
✓ integration of real-life problems that
involve concepts in Math

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 Technical Quality of a Test
4. Language Appropriateness
✓ the language demands will be clear and
appropriate to the assessment tasks and
to the students
✓ test items should be stated in simple,
clear language, free from non functional
material and extraneous clues

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 Technical Quality of a Test
5. Transfer
✓ successful performance on the test
will allow valid generalizations about
achievement to be made
✓ test scores predict students’
probability to succeed in the future

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 Technical Quality of a Test
6. Fairness
✓ student performance will be measured
in a way that does not give advantage
to factors irrelevant to school learning
✓ questions are parallel to the learning
objectives and should test what
learning competencies are expected
from the students

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 Technical Quality of a Test
7. Reliability
✓ answers to test questions will be
consistently trusted to represent what
students know
✓ encourage learning vs guessing

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About Multiple Choice Tests

Students select the correct answer from

alternative responses. Each item has:
• item stem
• correct or keyed option
• several distractor options

(Clegg & Cashin, 1986)

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 Multiple Choice Test
Construction
“… the greater your experience in their
construction, the longer it takes per
[multiple-choice] item to construct a
reasonably fair, accurate, and inclusive
question.”

- Wilbert J. McKeachie

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 Advantages
Multiple-choice items can provide:
• versatility in measuring all levels of cognitive ability,
• highly reliable test scores,
• scoring efficiency and accuracy,
• objective measurement of achievement or ability,
• a wide sampling of content or objectives,
• a reduced guessing factor compared with true-false
items, and
• different response alternatives which can provide
diagnostic feedback.

(Ory & Ryan, 1993)

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 Limitations
Multiple-choice items:
• are difficult and time-consuming to construct,
• lead an instructor to favor simple recall of facts,
• place a high degree of dependence on the student’s
reading ability and instructor’s writing ability, and
• are particularly subject to clueing. (Students can
often deduce the correct response by elimination.)

(Ory & Ryan, 1993)

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 When to Use
• To assess breadth of learning
• To test a 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 future
assessments that use a similar format
(Clegg & Cashin, 1986)

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Constructing Test Items

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 Writing Items
• Write items on significant concepts, not trivial facts.
• Write items that have a definite answer.
• Communicate clearly.
• Don’t give away the answer by including irrelevant cues
in the item.
• Don’t write items that require skills or knowledge
irrelevant to what you are trying to measure.
• Have items reviewed by knowledgeable persons other
than the composer of the question if possible.

(Clegg & Cashin, 1986)

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 Components

Stem: presents the problem

Correct or keyed options: correct option

Distractor options: incorrect options

(Clegg & Cashin, 1986)

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 Developing an Item
1. Choose an important concept
2. Write the stem
3. Write the correct answer (key)
4. Develop distractors
– common misconceptions
– errors that could be made
– plausible, yet less important information
– similar in style, length to the key
– every distractor should be reasonable
(Clegg & Cashin, 1986)

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 Writing Stems
• Ensure that the directions in the stem are very clear.
• Include the central idea in the stem instead of the
choices.
• Avoid window dressing (excessive verbiage).
• Word the stem positively, avoid negatives such as
NOT or EXCEPT. If negative words are used, use
the word cautiously and always ensure that the
word appears capitalized and boldface.

(Haladyna, Downing & Rodriguez, 2002)

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 Writing Stems
Eliminate excessive wording and irrelevant
information.
A prime number, like any natural number, is a number whose factors are
only 1 and itself. Which among the following numbers is not prime?
A. 1
B. 2
C. 3
D. 5

Better:
Which of the following is NOT a prime number?

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 Writing Stems
Include in the stem any word(s) that might otherwise be
repeated in each alternative.
Photosynthesis
A. is the process of manufacturing food among plants.
B. is the process of absorbing fertilizer from the soil.
C. is the process of decomposition among plants.
D. is the process of neutralizing chemicals in the soil.

Better:
Photosynthesis is the process of __________.

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 Writing Stems
Use negatively stated stems sparingly. When used,
underline and/or capitalize the negative word.
Alin sa mga sumusunod ang hindi maituturing na pandiwa?
A. tumakbo
B. pumunta
C. makitid
D. naglaba
Better:
Alin sa mga sumusunod and HINDI maituturing…

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 Writing Stems
When using incomplete statements avoid
beginning with the blank space.
_________ is the author of the Divine Comedy.
A. Og Mandino
B. Dante Alighieri
C. William Shakespeare
D. Charles Dickens

Better:
The author of the Divine Comedy is ________ .

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 Writing Item Alternatives
• Develop as many effective distractors as you
can, but research suggests three is
adequate.
• Make sure that only one of the choices is the
right answer.
• Vary the location of the right answer
according to the number of choices.
• Place choices in logical or numerical order.

(Haladyna, Downing & Rodriguez, 2002)

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 Writing Item Alternatives
• Keep choices homogeneous in content and
grammatical structure.
• Keep the length of the choices about equal.
• None-of-the-above should be used carefully.
• Avoid All-of-the-above.
• Make all distractors plausible.
• Use typical errors of students to write your
distractors.

(Haladyna, Downing & Rodriguez, 2002)

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 Writing Item Alternatives
• Phrase choices positively; avoid as much as
possible negatives such as NOT.
• Avoid giving clues to the right answer, such as:
o specific determiners including always, never, completely, and
absolutely.
o choices identical to or resembling words in the stem.
o conspicuous correct choice.
o pairs or triplets of options that clue the test-taker to the correct
choice.
o blatantly absurd, ridiculous options.

(Haladyna, Downing & Rodriguez, 2002)

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 Writing Item Alternatives
Make sure there is one correct or best
response.
Sino sa mga sumusunod ang naging unang
pangulo ng Republika ng Pilipinas?
A. Ferdinand Marcos
B. Ramon Magsaysay
C. Diosdado Macapagal
D. Rodrigo Duterte

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 Writing Item Alternatives
Minimize the use of the all-of –the-above and
none-of-the-above alternatives.
Which of the following can be classified as beef cuts?
A. brisket
B. spare rib
C. All of the above
Better:
D. None of the above
A. brisket
B. spare rib
C. leg
D. bacon

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 Writing Item Alternatives
Make alternatives parallel in construction and
consistent with the stem.
Which of the following is the scientific term for “shabu”?
A. weeds
B. ecstasy
C. methamphetamine
Better:
D. coke
A. diamorphine
B. phenethylamine
C. methamphetamine
D. benzoylmethylecgonine
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 Writing Item Alternatives
When possible, present alternatives in some logical
order (e.g., most to least or chronological)
What is the area of a square whose side is 3 cm long?
A. 9 sq. cm
B. 6 sq. cm
Better:
C. 12 sq. cm
A. 3 sq. cm
D. 3 sq. cm
B. 6 sq. cm
C. 9 sq. cm
D. 12 sq. cm

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 Summary
• Multiple-choice tests can be useful measures
of learning.
• Write questions to assess the cognitive level
of interest.
• Follow guidelines for writing effective
multiple choice questions.
• Review student performance on items and
revise exams as needed.

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 Tips on Test Construction
1. Assess information indicative of the
material stressed in class, not trivial
information
2. In determining the length of time needed to
finish the test, allow triple the amount of time
it takes you to complete the exam
3. Select items that at least 50 to 70% of the
students can correctly answer, or are of
average difficulty

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 Tips on Test Construction
4. In terms of test reliability, longer tests
are considered more reliable than
shorter tests
5. Be aware that many of the test banks
and/or reviews in textbooks rarely
assess higher levels of learning

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 Test Layout Tips
1. Avoid splitting a test item between two
different pages
2. Leave the appropriate amount of space
for each item
3. Group similar items together

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 Test Layout Tips

4. If it is a large exam, it might be

worthwhile to group items according to
content as well
5. Start with your easiest items in each
section

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 Purpose of Testing
• To provide a record for assigning grades
• To provide a learning experience for
students
• To motivate students to learn
• To communicate to students their level of
understanding of the course objectives
and serve as a guide for further study

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 Purpose of Testing
• When utilizing pretests, feedback is
provided regarding the knowledge
students bring to the content
• To assess how well students are achieving
the stated goals and course objectives
• To provide the instructor with an
opportunity to reinforce the stated
objectives and highlight what is important
for students to remember

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