week 9 multiple choice testing Flashcards
pros of MCQ
objective and easy, no need for inter-rating reliability
can remove easy or odd questions easily
cons of MCQ
- doesn’t measure partial knowledge = only knowing part of the answer but not confident
how can you measure partial knowledge
confidence marking - assigning confidence to answer chosen
elimination testing - eliminate all options incorrect
complete ordering - rank options from most to least fave
partial ordering - eliminate if confident and rank remaining ones
probability testing - distribute 100 points across options
probability testing
final score is sum of probabilities assigned to correct answer
precision in measuring partial knowledge
examinees tend to like it
in standard format you get 0% if select wrong answer
cons with multiple correct answers
- not much research
- concern that risk-taking students score differently than risk-averse students which has nothing to do with actual knowledge
major problem in MCQ
correct guessing
how to counter effect of correct guessing
formula scoring
1/n-1 where n = number of options
can omit answers to avoid penalty
problems with formula scoring
students don’t like being penalized
test score is influenced by metacognition - eg omitting answer when if they answered it, they would have got it correct
test score is influenced by risk taking abilities
McDaniel et al 2007 method
- web based uni course on brain and behavior
- assigned weekly readings then practiced with MCQ, short-answer quizzing (fill in the blank), rereading (control)
- corrective feedback provided
- some facts not practiced at all
McDaniel et al 2007 results
short answer (cued recall) is best
negative testing effect
chose the wrong answer during retrieval practice, then in final test you choose the wrong answer again because its most familiar
marsh e3t al 2009 method
- ptsp answered SAT MCQ on bio, chem, world and US history
- formula score type so can omit
- filler task
- answer short answer test 40 earlier and 40 new items
marsh et al 2009 results
negative testing effect present
high school junior vs undergrads suffered more and omitted less, rather choose wrong answer then pass.
CORRECTIVE FEEDBACK NEEEDED!!
How does related questions lead to correct choosing
competitive lures between related options leads to elaborative retrieval
deeper retrieval of facts to eliminate least likely option
little et al 2019 method
ptsp completed online MCQ practice first with general knowledge
- elimination testing to encourage processing of all lures
- after distractor task, completed cued-recall test
- previously tested items repeated
- related questions and new questions aka control