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Writing Effective Multiple-Choice Exams

Organizing a course based on a framework of measurable objectives and aligned activities and assessments provides a structure that can help you and your students have a positive experience. Students will have a clear idea of what is expected of them, and you will have an effective means of evaluating what students have learned. In addition, when a course is structured this way, developing multiple-choice assessments to align with course objectives becomes a systematic process.

The multiple- choice format may seem straightforward and somewhat simple, but high-quality multiple-choice exams can be sophisticated and intentionally flexible and extensible so that they’re viable for a long time​.

Multiple-choice can:

  • cover a lot of material efficiently​
  • measure simple and complex learning outcomes​
  • provide answer choices at an appropriate level of challenge
  • discriminate between strong and weak students in the class

Further, best practices related to assessment are to test students often to ensure learning and to update your exams regularly to combat cheating and to remain current. A good, basic multiple-choice exam can make both of these things easy.

Build appropriate questions while planning your lessons, and look to your students for help:

  • Consider misconceptions you see while reviewing homework submissions
  • Review exit-slip questions provided by students
  • Note questions that come up at review sessions or office hours

And follow these guidelines:

  • Base questions on course or lesson objectives – don’t test on trivial items
  • Ensure that there’s one – and only one – correct, or best answer
  • Pose clear questions so students understand exactly what is being asked
  • Avoid negative or complex phrasing (for example, “which of the following is not…”)
  • Offer plausible incorrect answer choices (this takes time and can be difficult)
  • Create a test blueprint to maintain balance and ensure coverage of levels of objectives
Example MC with easy answers and more difficult answers

Credit: © Penn State is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

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See it in Practice

Sample multiple choice question. Text repeated in the text below

Credit: © Penn State is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Simple questions that require students to recall facts or select correct definitions for terms may be easy to write, but scenario-based problems can offer a more realistic assessment of higher-order thinking skills, as students are asked to engage in the integration of material and to apply their knowledge. Additionally, scenario-based problems can be engaging and relevant to the real world. And because they’re multiple choice, they are always easy to grade.  

The example shown here is quite simplistic, but the idea is to formulate a solid scenario and use it to pose several questions that cause students to use higher-order thinking.  

Scenario: One day, you meet a student watching a bird collect twigs and leaves. When asked what he is doing, he replies, “I’m watching that bird build a nest to lay its eggs.”

Question 1: Which of the following is the best description of his reply?  

  1. He is not a careful observer.  
  2. He is stating a conclusion only partly derived from his observation.*  
  3. He is stating a conclusion entirely drawn from his observation.  
  4. He is making no assumptions.

Question 2: Which of the following additional observations would add the most strength to the student’s reply in Question 1?

  1. Observing the bird collecting more twigs and leaves.
  2. Observing the bird laying eggs in the nest.*
  3. Observing the bird feeding its chicks in.
  4. Observing the bird singing near the nest. 

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Table, “Example: 40-Item Exam” showing item counts by cognitive level (Knowledge–Evaluation) across Topics A–D with totals and percentages. Concept discussed below.

Credit: Zimmaro, D.M. (2016, December 1). Writing good multiple-choice exams. The University of Texas at Austin Faculty Innovation Center. 

A test blueprint is simply a chart that helps you organize and strategically distribute the types of questions you want to include about each topic and level of objective. Cognitive levels (from Bloom’s Taxonomy) are shown on the left side of the chart, and topics are listed across the top. Once these are in place, you can develop questions for each level of objective within each topic area, consider the distribution of questions, and adjust as necessary. “Total” columns, for the number and percentage of questions in each cognitive area and in each topic column, can also help you evaluate the overall balance of the assessment. A test blueprint can make developing and maintaining your assessment easier, and revising or adding questions to question banks can be guided by the blueprint.

Development of questions for higher order thinking categories can take time. Familiarity with the verbs and activities associated with each of Bloom’s levels can help (so can a learning designer!).

For instance, one of the verbs associated with the analysis category is “organize,” so an analysis-level question might ask students to consider a group of statements and organize them into a logical order, like this:

Question: If the tectonic forces that created Death Valley continue unchanged for millions of years, which of the following is the most likely outcome?

  1. Death Valley would continue to widen as the Earth's crust is pulled apart.
  2. The valley would fill with water and become a permanent lake as precipitation increases.
  3. The mountains around Death Valley would collapse inward, closing the valley.
  4. The tectonic forces would reverse, pushing the valley floor upward to form a plateau.

Answer: 1

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References/Resources

  • Zimmaro, D.M. (2016, December 1). Writing good multiple-choice exams. The University of Texas at Austin Faculty Innovation Center. chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://ctl.utexas.edu/sites/default/files/writing-good-multiple-choice-exams-fic-120116.pdf

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