Why You Should Embrace Multiple Choice Questions

Multiple choice questions get a bad rap! They’re usually seen as simplistic questions that only test very basic knowledge. And for must of us, they bring back memories of stultifying standardized tests.

But I want to bring back multiple choice! Multiple choice questions – when created properly – can be excellent at assessing knowledge. And assessment – both at the end of your training as well as throughout your training – is absolutely essential for you to ensure that your students are truly learning.

Multiple choice questions can be the trainer’s friend. Here’s why:

• multiple choice quizzes are quick and easy ways to create review opportunities throughout a training
• using multiple choice questions can save you time, effort, and money – because they can be graded quickly by the teacher – or automatically by software online

While you may want to asses your students more formally, you may not want to grade twenty quizzes after teaching a nine hour day. And while you can grade your quizzes as a group in class (which is a nice way to do a review the next day), you may need to use your class time another way.

In our online age, you can now easily assign students an online quiz to take as homework that is graded automatically by  software. And the software can show you trends in understanding, which is helpful for you to direct your training and in-class time. Yay! But software can usually only grade automatically when you are using true false, multiple choice, and multiple answer style questions.

So let’s take advantage of multiple choice, but let’s do it right.

Here are five tips for creating multiple choice questions that don’t suck.

1. Don’t use “all of the above” or “none of the above.”

When you use “all of the above,” students only have to recognize two of the answers are right to click that box. Usually none of the above questions are too obvious. Make ’em work harder than that.

2. Make your answers the same length

It’s sometimes tempting to make the right answer a lot longer or shorter, check this out.

Example:

Why are the yoga sutra important?

1. They explain the secrets of yoga
2. They itemize key yoga poses
3. They articulate the key principles of mindfulness by proposing that we are not the thoughts in our heads.

When one answer is a lot shorter or longer than another, it’s a tip off that it’s the right answer.

3. Use plausible answers

Example:

Who wrote the yoga sutra?

1. Patanjali
2. The Queen of England
3. Oprah
4. Swami Bhajan

If you add in silly answers (or really obviously wrong choices), students can use the process of elimination to find the right one. You want them to answer from knowledge, not because they realize “Queen of England” isn’t a good choice.

4. Use consistent grammar

Use good grammar. Be consistent. Be clear.  You don’t want crappy grammar to get in the way of a student understanding the question.

Example:

What is something the teacher should consider before giving a hands on assist?

1. Time of day
2. Ask the student if they are receptive
3. Is the room crowded?

5. Ask higher level questions

Most importantly, ask higher level questions. With multiple choice, it’s easy to default into asking questions that test memorization.

Let’s look at an example.

What’s a risk factor for warrior two?

1. the knee caving inwardly
2. pressure on the glenohumeral joint
3. cervical compression

That’s a simple question, testing memorization. Add the application of knowledge to turn the question into something more interesting. Something like…

Which of the following cues would be most effective for addressing a common risk factor in warrior 2?

1. press your knee wide until it aligns over the ankle joint
2. hug your shoulder blades onto your back
3. lift your chin slightly as you lengthen the back of your neck

In this second option, the student needs to think beyond the first layer of the question. It will take more work for you to create higher level multiple choice questions, but once you have them locked and loaded, they are yours to use forever!

Happy assessing!

For more info on astute assessment, check out my “Assess for Success” mini course.