Multiple choice questions (MCQs) are most appropriate for factual, conceptual, or procedural information. One correct answer is given with multiple distractors (incorrect responses).
Questions can take the form of incomplete sentences, statements or a scenario with multiple questions. Multiple choice questions can be designed to assess the first four levels of the revised Blooms’ Taxonomy i.e., Remembering, Understanding, Applying and Analysing, since they require a predictable answer.
Entering individual questions into a Moodle question bank allows you to reuse them in the future, or shuffle questions amongst a larger pool of questions. A bulk upload of multiple choice questions can be imported using Aiken format.
What are some considerations when creating MCQs?
Question format
- Provide clear instructions to the student
- Questions should be written in the simplest, clearest form
- Put as much of the necessary wording in the question itself, rather than the answers
- Keep option lengths similar (avoid making the correct answer the long or short answer)
- Where possible, state the question in positive rather than negative terms or if it can't be avoided, highlight the negative term (ie. in bold).
Writing distractors (incorrect response options)
- Distractors should be incorrect, but plausible and based on common misconceptions
- Distractors should be homogeneous in nature
- Avoid "always" and "never" in distractors and use terms such as "usually", "likely" and rarely"
- Options like "all of the above" or "none of the above" should be used sparingly
- True statements that do not answer the question can make good distractors
- Make each distractor grammatically similar to the correct response and consistent with the question.
Emphasise higher-level thinking
- Use a scenario that applies a concept in a new context to test higher order thinking skills
- To assess students’ comprehension level, ask the learner to distinguish whether statements are consistent with a principle, concept, or rule
- Present a characteristic in the question stem, and then ask the learner to identify the rule or concept
- Ask students to interpret a diagram or read a stimulus
Use premise-choice or multi-logical questions to require a high level of discriminating judgement. These questions often use words in the question such as best, most important, first, or most correct.
