Multiple Choice Exam - Essay Example

LITERATURE REVIEW - MULTIPLE CHOICE EXAMS Despite the natural dread felt by many as they prepare themselves for an upcoming exam, exams areabsolutely necessary for gauging the ability and progress of students as they move up the academic ladder and eventually out into the world. Accurate, reliable, and reproducible academic assessment is essential in identifying the strengths and weaknesses of the student, the course curriculum, and even the teacher's methods. Difficulty arises, however, when deciding how to assess the educational achievement of students (Janesick 2001). There are numerous types of exams and questions which can be utilized and tailored for this goal, and the obscurity comes in deciding which is appropriate for a given situation (Khattri et al. 1998; Haines 2004; McDonald 2007). Throughout this essay, we will delineate the advantages and disadvantages of specific exam types and questions, and eventually, we will arrive at multiple choice examinations and consider why these exams are optimal for an assessment of knowledge and ability. TYPES OF EXAMS The types of exams which can be employed to assess students are considerable: essay, short answer, practical, seen question, take-home vs. in-class, open-book, or oral examination are just a few (McDonald 2001). Each approach is accompanied by specific advantages and disadvantages which make them appropriate for particular situations. Essay exams, for example, assess not only the student's knowledge of a particular area, but also their ability to coherently formulate a written answer that is clear and direct, and it has the advantage that partial credit can be assigned based on the quality of the answer provided (McDonald 2001; (McDonald 2007). However, disadvantages include that scoring of essay exams can often be obfuscated by subjectivity in determining what qualifies as a correct answer and how many points may be subsequently awarded. Students with poor writing skills, who are as knowledgeable as their peers, may be penalized more severely in their responses due to grammatical and syntactical deficiencies in their writing which are unrelated to their knowledge of the particular question (McDonald 2001; (Haines 2004). As such, it is especially important to consider these advantages and disadvantages when selecting the type of exam which will be utilized. In the past few decades, in part because of technological advances that have made grading less demanding, multiple choice exams have come into favor in a wide range of academic and non-academic settings (Merritt 2006). We will consider the advantages and disadvantages of multiple choice exams and how they may be employed in later sections. TYPES OF EXAM QUESTIONS While the wide-variety of exam types might suggest there is an even greater amount of questions, this actually proves not to be the case. In fact, exam questions can be distilled down into two disparate types: open-ended and closed-ended. Open-ended exam questions provide a question or statement and demand the test-taker to answer the question by drawing upon their own knowledge (Genesee & Upshur 1996). Open-ended questions require an ability to identify what the question is asking and develop an articulate answer that satisfies all the requirements of that question (Genesee & Upshur 1996). Essay, short answer, and "fill-in-the-blank" type questions are all examples of open-ended questions. Problems with these types of questions can be subjectivity and lengthiness in the grading process. However, they are advantageous in that they require a nuanced ability to produce a coherent and appropriate answer from one's own knowledge (McDonald 2001). Closed-ended questions, unlike open-ended questions, do not require the test-taker to extract the answer solely from previous knowledge; rather, closed-ended questions provide a pre-existing set of potential answers in addition to the question being asked (Genesee & Upshur 1996). Since all students select from a set of preordained answers, the tests are ostensibly more objective than those with subjective, open-ended questions. However, closed-ended questions provide no assessment of writing ability and thought process, and it is also more difficult to gauge the sophistication of the test-taker's knowledge. Each type of question has its own intrinsic benefits and disadvantages, and each type must be employed with a specific knowledge of these characteristics. Careful question choice and usage will allow a more rounded, complete, and reasonable assessment of knowledge. MULTIPLE CHOICE EXAMS As stated previously, in recent years multiple choice exams have largely increased in popularity among teachers and testing organizations. The predominant reasons for this increase are standardization, alacritous scoring, and objectivity(Merritt 2006; Haladyna 1994). In this section, we will describe multiple choice exam structure and consider the advantages and caveats. Multiple choice examinations are formulaically constructed with several common elements(Merritt 2006; Haladyna 1994). The introductory statement or question of each multiple choice problem is designated as the stem. The stem presents the specific, individual problem that needs to be addressed by the student. Following the stem are the response options. The response options are constituted by the correct answer and multiple incorrect answers, also known as distracters. The correct answer is the answer which best satisfies the problem posed by the stem. Exams may include any number of potential incorrect answers, but, in general, should only contain a single correct answer for each individual question. Multiple choice exams are advantageous in that all students are provided with the same questions and the same sets of potential answers. This approach helps eliminate subjectivity and allows comparison among both peers and students of previous years (McDonald 2001; Koretz 2009). This comparison allows an assessment of how different teaching techniques, teachers, or curriculums may have adversely or beneficially affected student knowledge. The standardized multiple choice tests are commonly used to assess student ability across the nation and the world, and they are invaluable in making comparisons between applicants for schools and jobs alike. However, multiple choice examinations are not without caveats. Designing a test which is unbiased and easy to interpret is not an easy task. Many tests contain inherent biases that can affect the expected outcomes for certain group types(McDonald 2001). As previously noted, it is also often difficult to create questions which are clearly stated and have an obvious and specific answer. Often times, teachers may design questions which are unclear or difficult to interpret. Inappropriate grammar, syntax, or multiple word meanings may all contribute to these problems. All of these considerations apply to both the teacher designing the questions, and the student interpreting the problems. And, it can often prove difficult to test the sophistication of a student's knowledge with a multiple choice exam. Since students only select an individual answer and are not required to creatively draw upon knowledge, nuanced differences and lack of sophisticated understanding may go unnoticed. METHODS TO MITIGATE CAVEATS OF MULTIPLE CHOICE EXAMS In order to prevent, or at least alleviate, possible caveats within the multiple choice exam, it is important to make the exam questions as clear and concise as possible (McDonald 2001; Haladyna 1994). Properly designed multiple choice questions should contain the majority of the information required to answer the question inside of the stem, whereas a minimal amount of information should be in the response options (McDonald 2001). This should help lessen misinterpretation or confusion about what the question is actually asking. However, it is important that the stem be as short as possible while still being in accordance with this consideration. It is also ideal to avoid introducing negatives into the stem. Students are commonly trained to search for positive answers, i.e. the "correct answer", and so the introduction of negatives may inadvertently mislead certain students and engender test bias (Crisp et al. 2008). Also, neither the stem, nor the response options, should contain any extraneous information that may cast ambiguity on the putative question or answers (McDonald 2001). It is also vital that incorrect answers be similar in length and quality to the correct answer. There should be little overlap between an incorrect answer or correct answer, in order to prevent ambiguity. The foremost consideration when properly developing a multiple choice exam, aside from the previously mentioned structural aspects, is direct and succinct wording. Questions with vague stems or response options may inadvertently confuse students and evoke unnecessary difficulties. SUMMARY Developing and utilizing a properly designed test is a difficult, but important, process. There are many considerations which need to be taken into account when selecting the type of test, the type of question, and the structures of those questions. Tests should appropriately cover the breadth of the coursework, and should suitable for establishing that a student is familiar and knowledgeable about material being examined. Multiple choice exams provide the greatest opportunity for achieving these particular goals. Multiple choice exams provide an objective, broad assessment of a student's knowledge and can be standardized to allow comparison amongst test-takers. The minor drawbacks of multiple choice exams can be rectified by careful test design and construction. Multiple choice exams can be rapidly graded by hand or by machine, reducing the grading workload that often burdens teachers. Overall, multiple choice exams are the ideal method for both students and teachers in assessing educational achievement. WORKS CITED Crisp, V. et al., 2008. Tales of the expected: the influence of students' expectations on question validity and implications for writing exam questions. EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH, 50(1), 95-115. Genesee, F. & Upshur, J.A., 1996. Classroom-based evaluation in second language education, Cambridge University Press. Haines, C., 2004. Assessing Students' Written Work, Routledge. Haladyna, T.M., 1994. Developing and validating multiple-choice test items, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Janesick, V.J., 2001. The assessment debate, ABC-CLIO. Khattri, N. et al., 1998. Principles and practices of performance assessment, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Koretz, D., 2009. How Do American Students Measure Up Making Sense of International Comparisons. FUTURE OF CHILDREN, 18(3), 37-51. McDonald, M., 2001. Systematic assessment of learning outcomes, Jones & Bartlett Publishers. McDonald, M., 2007. The nurse educator's guide to assessing learning outcomes, Jones & Bartlett Publishers. Merritt, S., 2006. Mastering Multiple Choice, The Brain Ranch. Read More