Day 3. 5 MCG - Constructing Good Multiple Choice Questions

CONSTRUCTING GOOD
MULTIPLE CHOICE
QUESTIONS (MCQs)
OBJECTIVES
• To reorient the participants on the
concepts of Multiple Choice Question as
a type of test,
• To provide participants sample Multiple
Choice Questions that utilize Bloom’s
Taxonomy of Cognitive Skills, and
• To construct sample MCQs per learning
area
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION 2
SESSION OUTLINE
1. The Multiple Choice Question
2. Types of Multiple Choice Questions
3. Advantages and Disadvantages of

Multiple Choice Questions
4. Multiple Choice Questions in relation to

Bloom’s Taxonomy of Cognitive Skills
SESSION OUTLINE
5. General Strategies in Constructing
Multiple Choice Questions
6. Designing Stems of Multiple Choice

Questions
7. Designing Alternatives in Multiple

Choice Questions
LET’S DO AN ACTIVITY!
SCRAMBLERS
INSTRUCTIONS
1. Group the participants into _________.
2. Provide each group 10 sheets of bond paper
where a representative will write the answer
for each scrambled word.
3. The first teacher to hand the bond paper to
the facilitator will have the chance to earn a
point.
4. The group which will obtain the highest point
will be declared as winner.
5. Provide the winning group a prize.
SCRAMBLERS
TEAIVELRATNS
SCRAMBLERS
IVENATEG
ODWGIRN
SCRAMBLERS
TNOUSESIQ
SCRAMBLERS
MTES
SCRAMBLERS
ISTDOACRSTR
SCRAMBLERS
NOITPSO
SCRAMBLERS
ULTLPIEM
SCRAMBLERS
IOCTGIVNE
SCRAMBLERS
ECROTCR
RSENAWS
SCRAMBLERS
EROSEPSN
GROUP SHARING
1. How do you construct multiple
choice type of examination?
2. How do your students view multiple

3. How do they perform in multiple

Multiple-Choice Question (MCQ)
• A type of test is also known as fixed choice
or selected response items.
• It is composed of these essential parts:

a stem that identifies the question or problem, and
a set of alternatives or possible answers that
contain a key that is the best answer to the
question, and a number of distractors that are
plausible but incorrect answers to the question.
Multiple Choice Question (MCQ)
1 1. What is the capital of the Philippines ?

a. Mindoro
3 b. Cebu
c. Davao
2 *d. Manila 4
1. Stem: presents the problem

2. Keyed Response: correct or best answer
3. Distractors: appear to be reasonable answers to the examinee
who does not know the content
4. Options: include the distracters and the keyed response.
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Types of Multiple Choice Questions
• Correct Answer
– Only one correct response
• Best Answer
– Requires examinee to select alternative closest
to being correct
• Multiple Answer
– More than one correct or best answer
Advantages of MCQs
• Allow more adequate sampling of content.
• Tend to more effectively structure the problem to
be addressed
• Items can be more efficiently and reliably scored
than supply items
• Different response alternatives can provide
diagnostic feedback (item analysis)
• Items can be constructed to address various
levels of cognitive complexity
Disadvantages of MCQs
• Difficult and time consuming to construct
good items
• Can lead the instructor to favor simple
recall of facts
• Measuring synthesis and evaluation can
be challenging.
• Inappropriate for measuring outcomes that
require skilled performance.
BLOOM’S TAXONOMY OF COGNITIVE SKILLS
MCQs Can…
• Test memory of factual information
BLOOM’S SAMPLE SAMPLE
DEFINITION
LEVEL VERBS QUESTIONS
What are the
three main
Recall or parts of
recognize _____?;
List,
information,
REMEMBERING label, What are the
ideas, and
name steps
principles as
presented. involved
in____?
Example
Who wrote the novel War and Peace?
a. Rachmoninov
b. Tolstoy
c. Dostoyevsky
d. Solzhenitsyn
PROVIDE MORE
SAMPLES OF MCQs
BASED ON THE
GROUP/LEARNING
AREA
MCQs Can…
• Test the ability to understand, apply, analyze
and evaluate information.
LEVEL DEFINITION SAMPLE VERBS SAMPLE QUESTIONS
What are the three

Recall or recognize
main parts of
information, ideas,
REMEMBERING List, label, name _____; What are the
and principles as
steps involved
presented.
in____?
How is __
Comprehend Explain, related to
UNDER- or interpret summarize __?; What
STANDING information describe, themes do
illustrate you see in
__?
A MCQ using UNDERSTANDING
During a sleep study, you notice that your
research participant’s electroencephalogram
(EEG) shows brain activity known as spindles
and K-complexes. The participant is probably in
stage _____ sleep.
a. 1
b. 2
c. 3
d. 4
PROVIDE MORE
SAMPLES OF MCQs
BASED ON THE
GROUP/LEARNING
AREA
MCQs for All Levels
What are the three

main parts of
Recall or recognize
_____?; What are
REMEMBERING information, ideas, and List, label, name
the steps
principles as presented.
involved in____?
Translate, comprehend, or How is __ related to

Explain, summarize,
UNDERSTANDING interpret information based __?; What themes
describe, illustrate
on prior learning. do you see in __?
Select, transfer,
Use, How would
and use data
compute, you __ on
and principles
APPLYING solve, the basis
to complete a
demon- of __
problem or
strate theory?
task.
A MCQ using APPLYING
Naomi asked seven randomly selected people
the following question, "On a scale from 0 to 9,
how strongly do you believe in ghosts?" Their
responses were as follows: 0, 0, 1, 1, 9, 9, 9.
Which measure of central tendency should
Naomi use if she wants to convince her friends
that most people strongly believe in ghosts?
A. Mode C. Median
B. Mean D. Range
PROVIDE MORE
SAMPLES OF MCQs
BASED ON THE
GROUP/LEARNING
AREA
What are the three main

Recall or recognize
parts of _____; What
REMEMBERING information, ideas, and List, label, name
are the steps involved
principles as presented.
in____?
How is __ related to __?;

Translate, comprehend, or
Explain, summarize, What themes do you
UNDERSTANDING interpret information based
describe, illustrate see in __?
on prior learning.
Select, transfer, and use data

Use, compute, solve, How would you __ on the
APPLYING and principles to complete
demonstrate basis of __ theory?
a problem or task.
Categorize How would you

Distinguish, compare classify __?;
classify, and contrast What evidence
relate the separate supports __?
assumptions,
ANALYZING hypotheses,
evidence, or
structure of a
statement or
question.
A MCQ using ANALYZING
The difference between state and trait anxiety is that
a) The former refers to general anxiety and the latter

refers to situational anxiety.
b) The former refers to situational anxiety and the latter
refers to general anxiety.
c) The former refers to physiological responses and the
latter refers to questionnaire responses.
d) The former refers to questionnaire responses and
the latter refers to physiological responses.
PROVIDE MORE
SAMPLES OF MCQs
BASED ON THE
GROUP/LEARNING
AREA
What are the three main parts of

Recall or recognize information,
_____; What are the steps
REMEMBERING ideas, and principles as List, label, name
involved in____?
presented.
Translate, comprehend, or How is __ related to __?; What

Explain, summarize,
UNDERSTANDING interpret information based themes do you see in __?
describe, illustrate
on prior learning.
Select, transfer, and use data How would you __ on the basis
Use, compute, solve,
APPLYING and principles to complete a of __ theory?
demonstrate
problem or task.
Distinguish, classify, and relate

Categorize,
the assumptions, How would you classify __?;
compare,
ANALYZING hypotheses, evidence, or What evidence supports __?
contrast,
structure of a statement or
separate
question.
Appraise, assess, Judge, Which approach to

recommend __ would be
based on critique, most effective,
EVALUATING standards and justify and why?
criteria.
A MCQ using EVALUATING
Injuries to belted passengers increase wherever
seat belt laws are passed. Which of the following
serves as a logical counterargument to repealing
these laws?
a) Injuries will fall once people learn to wear belts

correctly.
b) More people are wearing belts when accidents occur.
c) Though injuries increase, fatalities decrease.
d) Both B and C
GENERAL
STRATEGIES
PROVIDE MORE
SAMPLES OF MCQs
BASED ON THE
GROUP/LEARNING
AREA
Write questions throughout the quarter.
• Multiple-choice question exams

are challenging and time-
consuming to create. You will
find it easier if you write a few
questions each week, perhaps
after a week lesson has been
done.
Instruct students to select the “best
answer” rather than the “correct answer”.
• By doing this, you acknowledge

the fact that the distractors may
have an element of truth to
them and discourage
arguments from students who
may argue that their answer is
correct as well.
Use familiar language.
• Avoid using unfamiliar expressions

or foreign language terms, unless
measuring knowledge of such
language is one of the goals of the
question. Students are likely to
dismiss distractors with unfamiliar
terms as incorrect.
Avoid giving verbal association clues
from the stem in the key.
• If the key uses words that

are very similar to words
found in the stem, students
are more likely to pick it as
the correct answer.
Avoid trick questions.
• Questions should be designed so that
students who know the material can find
the correct answer. Questions designed
to lead students to an incorrect answer,
through misleading phrasing or by
emphasizing an otherwise unimportant
detail of the solution, violate this
principle.
Avoid negative wording.
• Students often fail to observe negative

wording and it can confuse them. As a
result, students who are familiar with the
material often make mistakes on
negatively worded questions. In the rare
cases where you use negatives be sure
to emphasize the key words by putting
them in upper case, and bolding or
underlining them.
DESIGNING
STEMS OF MCQs
Express the full problem in the stem.
• When creating the item, ask

yourself if the students would
be able to answer the question
without looking at the options.
This makes the purpose of the
question clear.
Put all relevant material in the stem.
• Do not repeat in each of the

alternatives information that can
be included in the stem. This
makes options easier to read and
understand, and makes it easier
for students to answer the
question quickly.
Eliminate excessive wording and irrelevant
information from the stem.
• Irrelevant information
in the stem confuses
students and leads
them to waste time.
DESIGNING
ALTERNATIVES
Limit the number of alternatives.
• Use between three and five

alternatives per question.
Research shows that three-choice
items are about as effective as four
or five-choice items, mainly
because it is difficult to come up
with plausible distractors.
Make sure there is only one best
answer.
• Avoid having two or more
options that are correct, but
where one is “more” correct
than the others. The
distractors should be incorrect
answers to the question posed
in the stem.
Make the distractors appealing and
plausible.
• If the distracters are farfetched,
students will too easily locate the
correct answer, even if they have little
knowledge. When testing for
recognition of key terms and ideas
keep the distractors similar in length
and type of language as the correct
solution.
Make the choices grammatically
consistent with the stem.
• Read the stem and each

of the choices aloud to
make sure that they are
grammatically correct.
Place the choices in some
meaningful order.
• When possible, place

the choices in
numerical, chronological
or conceptual order.
Randomly distribute the correct
response.
• The exam should have

roughly the same number of
correct answers that are a's,
b's, c's, and d's (assuming
there are four choices per
question).
Avoid using “all of the above”.
• If “all of the above” is an option and

students know two of the options are
correct, the answer must be “all of the
above”. If they know one is incorrect, the
answer must not be “all of the above”. A
student may also read the first option,
determine that it is correct, and be misled
into choosing it without reading all of the
options.
Avoid using “none of the above”.
• The option “none of the above”

does not test whether the
student knows the correct
answer, but only that he/she
knows the distractors are not
correct.
Refrain from using words such as
always, never, all, or none.
• Most students know that

few things are universally
true or false, so distractors
with these words in them
can often be easily
dismissed.
Avoid overlapping choices.
• Make the alternatives

mutually exclusive. It should
never be the case that if one
of the distractors is true,
another distractor must be
true as well.
Avoid questions of the form “Which of
the following statements is correct?”
• There is no clear question

being asked, and the choices
are often heterogeneous.
Such questions are better
presented in the form of
True/False questions.
IT’S WORKSHOP
TIME
Time Allotment: 15 minutes preparation and 3 minutes
presentation for each group.
• Form a group consisting of five members.
• On the provided Manila paper, write at least 5
samples of MCQs on a particular learning
area.
• Identify also the learning objective where each
question falls.
• Present your output before the group.
• Members of other groups and the facilitator
shall evaluate the MCQs formulated.
A FINAL THOUGHT TO PONDER
If you choose to confront the options

before you with courage and confidence,
you open yourself to a fulfilling path of your
own design, filled with numerous
possibilities. Rather than procrastinate in
fear of making the wrong decision, weigh
your options and act on the best one—
revel in the chance to create the life you
want to live.
THANK YOU
VERY MUCH!

Day 3. 5 MCG - Constructing Good Multiple Choice Questions

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CONSTRUCTING GOOD

2. Types of Multiple Choice Questions

3. Advantages and Disadvantages of

4. Multiple Choice Questions in relation to

6. Designing Stems of Multiple Choice

7. Designing Alternatives in Multiple

2. How do your students view multiple

3. How do they perform in multiple

• It is composed of these essential parts:

1 1. What is the capital of the Philippines ?

1. Stem: presents the problem

What are the three

What are the three

Translate, comprehend, or How is __ related to

What are the three main

How is __ related to __?;

Select, transfer, and use data

Categorize How would you

a) The former refers to general anxiety and the latter

What are the three main parts of

Translate, comprehend, or How is __ related to __?; What

Distinguish, classify, and relate

Appraise, assess, Judge, Which approach to

a) Injuries will fall once people learn to wear belts

• Multiple-choice question exams

• By doing this, you acknowledge

• Avoid using unfamiliar expressions

• If the key uses words that

• Students often fail to observe negative

• When creating the item, ask

• Do not repeat in each of the

• Use between three and five

• Read the stem and each

• When possible, place

• The exam should have

• If “all of the above” is an option and

• The option “none of the above”

• Most students know that

• Make the alternatives

• There is no clear question

If you choose to confront the options

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How is related to ?;

Translate, comprehend, or How is related to ?; What