How to write good Multiple Choice Questions

Multiple choice questions include a question and multiple possible answer options, from which the user will select their answers from. Multiple choice questions can be created with having only one answer as correct, or multiple correct answers.

Also known as: MCQ, Multiple answer questions, Multiple response questions, objective

Use Multiple Choice Questions to Assess:

Information recall
Application
Evaluation
Understanding concepts

Question Usage Ideas:

Incomplete statements
Best answer
Direct questions
Surveys

Advantages of Multiple Choice Questions:

Test takers can answer these quickly
Easy to grade on paper
Automatically graded online
Test a wide range of material
Questions can easily be reused
Reliable scoring
Handwriting is not judged - great for those who may not have the same writing skills as others.

Disadvantages of Multiple Choice Questions:

Takes time to come up with multiple answer options
No way to determine why specific answers were selected
Can be difficult to word so that all users understand
Users can easily just check options without actually reading the questions.

Tips

Tips for creating Multiple Choice Questions

Avoid using the same correct answer option for each question
Keep answer options to a minimum. Too many becomes confusing
Keep question text clear and to the point
Try to keep all answers the same length
Avoid using “all of the above” - too obvious
Avoid using “none of the above”
Keep distractors plausible
Randomize answer options - will prevent users from memorizing the letters
When using numbers, keep answer options in logical order
Avoid using double negatives
Repeating words/phrases such as “Did you know” - keep this in the question only.

Become a ClassMarker Guru: Pro Tips

Multiple Choice Question Features in ClassMarker.com

You're a Pro if You Know:

How to randomize answer options
You can select one or more correct answer options
How to choose different grading styles for multiple response questions
You can select radio buttons or checkboxes when only one answer is correct
How to add custom feedback for both correct/incorrect answers
Multiple choice Questions automatically graded