multiple essay question

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How would you format one essay that asks two different, separate questions?

Traditionally, I've only written essays that have one thesis statement that are supposed to answer one question. Now I'm being asked to answer two separate prompts in one single essay.

First prompt: Compare/Contrast two works in [textbook A]

Second prompt: Pick two works from one era in [textbook A]

Instructions: Your answer to each question should include a thesis statement that answers the question asked, no introduction other than the thesis statement, and 2-3 fully developed paragraphs that offer specific support for the answer. Be specific in naming literary, art, and musical works as well as in giving details that involve the context for the works you are discussing.

How do I format this? Prof wants two distinct essays in one essay.

• academic-writing

• 2 well, if this can be assumed right it seems that the 2 prompts go hand in hand. One simplying asking you to pick 2 works, the other asking you to compare 2 works. Nothing that you have told us states that the works have to be different for each prompt. Why not use the 2 you select in the 2nd prompt for the first prompt comparison? That pretty much solves your issue. –  ggiaquin16 Commented Oct 18, 2017 at 20:30
• No, they have to be different. I have to answer two separate questions, I cannot reuse the works. –  Hi ho Commented Oct 18, 2017 at 22:14
• Are you sure these aren't either/or prompts --do one or the other? Or prompts for two separate essays, one right after the other? 2-3 paragraphs seems brief to handle both prompts in one. –  Chris Sunami Commented Oct 19, 2017 at 16:11
• Yes I'm sure. Why would I lie about that? Professor says I have to answer both questions in one essay. –  Hi ho Commented Oct 22, 2017 at 4:22

My instincts were exactly like ggiaquin's comment. I am putting it as an answer so you might see it more easily. That is exactly what I would have done, as a student.

Aha, you say you can't do that.

If you cannot do that, I'd write the ~8 paragraph essay as two Qs back to back, and assume I would not get an A. And I would complain just as you are doing.

• I am not entirely convinced that he can't do that. The instructions seem copy pasted in or at the very least he typed it up verbatim. So unless the professor said it verbally he cannot do that, I don't see why this is still not a valid solution. Even if you do it as you suggested with the 8 paragraph or so format, it's not how essays are written and teaching improper mechanics. So I question this whole situation in general. –  ggiaquin16 Commented Oct 19, 2017 at 15:55
• I've been in education (and you've mentioned academics I think) and I've seen fantastic educators. But I've also seen burned out educators. I would still do what you suggested in your comments. It seems like the obvious thing to do. –  SFWriter Commented Oct 19, 2017 at 15:59
• Also to clarify for readers of this post, what I mean by improper is that you don't put a new thesis or any thesis in the middle of a paper. A quick google search will pull up results from various US based universities following that notion. It's OKAY to have 8 paragraphs in an essay, but it is not okay to introduce a new thesis half way through. –  ggiaquin16 Commented Oct 19, 2017 at 16:00
• Yes, I was a tutor in my uni years and never have I seen a question where you were asked to do 2 essays in one. I have seen teachers give 2 prompts and ask people to do 2 essays and to put them in the same word file for sake of conserving time/space but never seen someone ask for 2 prompts be a part of the SAME essay. I don't know if this is a burnt out educator, but there is definitely some piece of information missing because as it stands now, this all seems very off. I suspect this teacher may have also done as I stated earlier asking for 2 essays in 1 document that are separate. –  ggiaquin16 Commented Oct 19, 2017 at 16:03
• I don't know why you think I would lie about this. I've included the information that I was given. I know this formatting is unorthodox which I why I wanted feedback; I've never seen anything like this either. Prof won't clarify. Not every educator is a saint or even wants to help. –  Hi ho Commented Oct 22, 2017 at 4:25

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Evaluation of Modified Essay Questions (MEQ) and Multiple Choice Questions (MCQ) as a tool for Assessing the Cognitive Skills of Undergraduate Medical Students

Objectives:.

Developing and testing the cognitive skills and abstract thinking of undergraduate medical students are the main objectives of problem based learning. Modified Essay Questions (MEQ) and Multiple Choice Questions (MCQ) may both be designed to test these skills. The objectives of this study were to assess the effectiveness of both forms of questions in testing the different levels of the cognitive skills of undergraduate medical students and to detect any item writing flaws in the questions.

A total of 50 MEQs and 50 MCQs were evaluated. These questions were chosen randomly from various examinations given to different batches of undergraduate medical students taking course MED 411–412 at the Department of Medicine, Qassim University from the years 2005 to 2009. The effectiveness of the questions was determined by two assessors and was defined by the question’s ability to measure higher cognitive skills, as determined by modified Bloom’s taxonomy, and its quality as determined by the presence of item writing flaws. ‘SPSS15’ and ‘Medcalc’ programs were used to tabulate and analyze the data.

The percentage of questions testing the level III (problem solving) cognitive skills of the students was 40% for MEQs and 60% for the MCQs; the remaining questions merely assessed the recall and comprehension. No significant difference was found between MEQ and MCQ in relation to the type of questions (recall; comprehension or problem solving x 2 = 5.3, p = 0.07).The agreement between the two assessors was quite high in case of MCQ (kappa=0.609; SE 0.093; 95%CI 0.426 – 0.792) but lower in case of MEQ (kappa=0.195; SE 0.073; 95%CI 0.052 – 0.338). 16% of the MEQs and 12% of the MCQs had item writing flaws.

Conclusion:

A well constructed MCQ is superior to MEQ in testing the higher cognitive skills of undergraduate medical students in a problem based learning setup. Constructing an MEQ for assessing the cognitive skills of a student is not a simple task and is more frequently associated with item writing flaws.

Introduction

The evaluation of the competence of undergraduate medical students is a very critical task, as in the future, these ‘to be physicians’ have to cater with human lives. ( 1 )

At undergraduate level there are three domains of skills to be evaluated i.e. Cognitive, Affective and Psychomotor. Cognitive domain can be evaluated ( 2 ) at different levels including Knowledge, Comprehension, Application, Analysis, Synthesis, and Evaluation. Modified bloom’s taxonomy ( 3 ) identified three levels of cognitive domain. In medical education, the major emphasis is on developing and evaluating the level III or problem solving skills, as most of the physician’s time is spent in analyzing patient’s problems.

Proper cognitive assessment tools reward the students for their higher cognitive skills and abstract thinking. ( 4 ) There are various methods to assess the knowledge domain which include Free response examinations (Long Essay Questions, Short answer Questions, Modified Essay questions), Multiple choice questions, Key feature questions, Self-assessment and peer-assessment. Each of these methods has its pros and cons and is addressed to assess different levels of bloom’s taxonomy. No single method of evaluation is superior to other and probably a reliable and valid evaluation requires a combination of these methods. ( 1 , 4 )

The Multiple choice questions are very popular in evaluation of undergraduate medical students. They are reliable and valid; moreover they are easy to administer to a large number of students. Well constructed MCQs have a greater ability to test knowledge and factual recall but they are less powerful in assessing the problem solving skills of the students. A large proportion of curriculum can be tested in a single sitting. The scoring is very easy and reliable using computer software, but the construction of good MCQs is difficult and needs expertise. Generally MCQs stimulate students to make a superficial and exam oriented study. ( 5 , 6 )

Modified essay questions are short clinical scenarios followed by series of questions with a structured format for scoring. They primarily assess the student’s factual recall but they also assess cognitive skills such as organization of knowledge, reasoning and problem solving. They also address the writing skills and even ethical, social and moral issues and attitudes. MEQs are more flexible and their value is somewhere between essay type questions and MCQ. But they need to be carefully constructed with provision of model answers and training to avoid inter-rater variability. ( 7 , 8 )

In a bird’s eye view, examination and evaluation are a source of anxiety and stress for the undergraduate medical students, but in reality it directs the students to study harder and improve their skills. Therefore, it is imperative not only to stimulate their cognitive skills during the teaching but also to frequently examine their higher mental and reasoning skills. ( 9 , 10 , 11 )

Our objectives were

• To compare MCQ and MEQ in their ability to test different levels of the cognitive domain
• To detect item writing flaws in construction of a question

Material and methods

Study design:.

Cross-sectional survey

50 MCQs and 50 MEQs were chosen randomly from the written examinations delivered to fourth year medical students attending undergraduate internal medicine course at the Department of Medicine, Qassim University. In the 50 MEQs, there were 104 stems. Questions were analyzed individually by two independent assessors as per the ‘preformed criteria’ to label a question with Level I, II or III of the cognitive domain. Questions belonged to various final and midterm examination from 2005 to 2009.

Ethical approval:

No ethical approval was required as no human subjects were involved in the research

Assessment:

Each question was analyzed separately to

Level I Knowledge (recall of information including direct questions asking to check the factual recall, containing words like enumerate; list etc.). Level II Comprehension and application (ability to interpret data; questions including lab data or containing words like analyze). Level III Problem – solving (Use of knowledge and understanding in new circumstances, including scenario based questions which contain case description and lab data asking students to initially make a diagnosis and then to suggest next appropriate investigation; management modalities; counseling etc)

Following were regarded as item writing flaws

• Error in formatting, spelling, grammar
• Technical errors
• Double negatives
• Cascading stems
• Absolute options
• Ambiguous stems
• Repetition of information

The analysis was done by each assessor as per the Performa shown in table (1) .

MCQ /MEQ evaluation form.

Statistical analysis:

Software ‘SPSS 15’ was used for data entry, analysis and interpretation. Kappa test was used to determine the agreement between the two assessors using ‘Med Calc’ software.

Total of 50 questions with 104 stems were included. Analysis is shown in table (2) .

Classification of Questions according to Bloom’s taxonomy.

Total of 50 questions were evaluated. Analysis is shown in table (2) .

Questions were representing different disciplines of Medicine ( graph 1 ). No significant difference was found between MEQ and MCQ in relation to the type of questions (recall; comprehension or problem solving ( x 2 = 5.3, p = 0.07).

The analysis of item writing flaws is shown in table (3) .

illustrates the item flaws of both MEQs and MCQs.

The results of this study show that Multiple choice question is a better test of cognitive skills than the Modified essay question as 60% of the MCQs tested the higher cognitive skills and only 40% of MEQs addressed the cognitive level III of modified Bloom’s taxonomy.

Although when the proportions of the two forms of questions addressing the different levels of cognitive domain were compared, there was no significant statistical difference among the level of cognition tested, as p-value was 0.07. It is also inferred that constructing an MEQ might be technically more difficult than an MCQ as item-writing flaws in MEQs were 16% as compared to MCQ only 12%.

The results of our study are consistent with Edward JP et al 12 who also found MCQ to be superior in testing the level 3 of cognitive domain. The results do not coincide with those of Irwin WG et al 13 who found MEQ to be superior in testing the highest level cognitive skills but they did not choose the questions randomly rather they compared the whole examination papers of various years. They suggest that both MCQ and MEQ may be designed beforehand to test any particular level of Bloom’s taxonomy. Construction of MEQ needs expertise and training, model answers of such questions need meticulous consideration. ( 14 , 15 )

It also seems that some specialty examiners tend to put more stress on Level III testing or it is easier to design such questions for some specialties as most of level III questions in both MCQ and MEQ belonged to cardiology.

It is quite understandable that conduction of a proper assessment is not only dependent on the cognitive aspect of question, but there are so many factors which play a role like, reliability, content and construction validity, financial and human resources.

At the department of Medicine all the questions are constructed by the faculty members then these are put forward to a ‘question review committee’ and after its approval the questions are introduced into the question bank. It was observed during the period of the study that the content and the construction of the questions improved over the years but still individual errors occurred.

The two confounders that played a major role in deciding the level of cognitive domain addressed by each specific type of question were (i) The type of examination to which the question belonged i.e. Midterm or Final (ii) The specialty of the question like cardiology, neurology etc. It may be inferred that in final exams the examiners tend to put the type of questions that address the highest level of cognitive domain (level III) as 80 % of MCQs belonged to the final exams while all MEQs were taken from the Midterm exam papers. This may be one drawback of our study. The total number of questions from which the sample was taken was quite limited which accounts for the small sample size in this study but as more and more questions will be incorporated into the question bank of the department further validation studies will be required.

MCQs were found to be testing the level III of cognitive domain more frequently than MEQs. Training in formulating MCQs and MEQs, more so for MEQs is needed to assure achieving level III of cognitive domain and avoid item writing flaws.

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How to Write a Good Answer to Exam Essay Questions

Last Updated: July 9, 2024 Fact Checked

This article was co-authored by Tristen Bonacci . Tristen Bonacci is a Licensed English Teacher with more than 20 years of experience. Tristen has taught in both the United States and overseas. She specializes in teaching in a secondary education environment and sharing wisdom with others, no matter the environment. Tristen holds a BA in English Literature from The University of Colorado and an MEd from The University of Phoenix. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources. This article has been viewed 649,831 times.

Answering essay questions on an exam can be difficult and stressful, which can make it hard to provide a good answer. However, you can improve your ability to answer essay questions by learning how to understand the questions, form an answer, and stay focused. Developing your ability to give excellent answers on essay exams will take time and effort, but you can learn some good essay question practices and start improving your answers.

Understanding the Question

• Analyze: Explain the what, where, who, when, why, and how. Include pros and cons, strengths and weaknesses, etc.
• Compare: Discuss the similarities and differences between two or more things. Don't forget to explain why the comparison is useful.
• Contrast: Discuss how two or more things are different or distinguish between them. Don't forget to explain why the contrast is useful.
• Define: State what something means, does, achieves, etc.
• Describe: List characteristics or traits of something. You may also need to summarize something, such as an essay prompt that asks "Describe the major events that led to the American Revolution."
• Discuss: This is more analytical. You usually begin by describing something and then present arguments for or against it. You may need to analyze the advantages or disadvantages of your subject.
• Evaluate: Offer the pros and cons, positives and negatives for a subject. You may be asked to evaluate a statement for logical support, or evaluate an argument for weaknesses.
• Explain: Explain why or how something happened, or justify your position on something.
• Prove: Usually reserved for more scientific or objective essays. You may be asked to include evidence and research to build a case for a specific position or set of hypotheses.
• Summarize: Usually, this means to list the major ideas or themes of a subject. It could also ask you to present the main ideas in order to then fully discuss them. Most essay questions will not ask for pure summary without anything else.

• Raise your hand and wait for your teacher to come over to you or approach your teacher’s desk to ask your question. This way you will be less likely to disrupt other test takers.

Forming Your Response

• Take a moment to consider your organization before you start writing your answer. What information should come first, second, third, etc.?
• In many cases, the traditional 5-paragraph essay structure works well. Start with an introductory paragraph, use 3 paragraphs in the body of the article to explain different points, and finish with a concluding paragraph.
• It can also be really helpful to draft a quick outline of your essay before you start writing.

• You may want to make a list of facts and figures that you want to include in your essay answer. That way you can refer to this list as you write your answer.
• It's best to write down all the important key topics or ideas before you get started composing your answer. That way, you can check back to make sure you haven't missed anything.

• For example, imagine that your essay question asks: "Should the FIFA World Cup be awarded to countries with human rights violations? Explain and support your answer."
• You might restate this as "Countries with human rights violations should not be awarded the FIFA World Cup because this rewards a nation's poor treatment of its citizens." This will be the thesis that you support with examples and explanation.

• For example, whether you argue that the FIFA World Cup should or should not be awarded to countries with human rights violations, you will want to address the opposing side's argument. However, it needs to be clear where your essay stands about the matter.
• Often, essay questions end up saying things along the lines of "There are many similarities and differences between X and Y." This does not offer a clear position and can result in a bad grade.

• If you are required to write your answer by hand, then take care to make your writing legible and neat. Some professors may deduct points if they cannot read what you have written.

Staying Calm and Focused

• If you get to a point during the exam where you feel too anxious to focus, put down your pencil (or take your hands off of the keyboard), close your eyes, and take a deep breath. Stretch your arms and imagine that you are somewhere pleasant for a few moments. When you have completed this brief exercise, open up your eyes and resume the exam.

• For example, if the exam period is one hour long and you have to answer three questions in that time frame, then you should plan to spend no more than 20 minutes on each question.
• Look at the weight of the questions, if applicable. For example, if there are five 10-point short-answers and a 50-point essay, plan to spend more time on the essay because it is worth significantly more. Don't get stuck spending so much time on the short-answers that you don't have time to develop a complex essay.

• This strategy is even more important if the exam has multiple essay questions. If you take too much time on the first question, then you may not have enough time to answer the other questions on the exam.

• If you feel like you are straying away from the question, reread the question and review any notes that you made to help guide you. After you get refocused, then continue writing your answer.
• Try to allow yourself enough time to go back and tighten up connections between your points. A few well-placed transitions can really bump up your grade.

Community Q&A

• If you are worried about running out of time, put your watch in front of you where you can see it. Just try not to focus on it too much. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0
• If you need more practice, make up your own questions or even look at some practice questions online! Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0

Tips from our Readers

• Look up relevant quotes if your exam is open notes. Use references from books or class to back up your answers.
• Make sure your sentences flow together and that you don't repeat the same thing twice!

You Might Also Like

• ↑ https://www.linnbenton.edu/student-services/library-tutoring-testing/learning-center/academic-coaching/documents/Strategies%20For%20Answering%20Essay%20Questions.pdf
• ↑ https://success.uark.edu/get-help/student-resources/short-answer-essays.php

About This Article

To write a good answer to an exam essay question, read the question carefully to find what it's asking, and follow the instructions for the essay closely. Begin your essay by rephrasing the question into a statement with your answer in the statement. Include supplemental facts and figures if necessary, or do textual analysis from a provided piece to support your argument. Make sure your writing is clear and to the point, and don't include extra information unless it supports your argument. For tips from our academic reviewer on understanding essay questions and dealing with testing nerves, read on! Did this summary help you? Yes No

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• Focus and Precision: How to Write Essays that Answer the Question

About the Author Stephanie Allen read Classics and English at St Hugh’s College, Oxford, and is currently researching a PhD in Early Modern Academic Drama at the University of Fribourg.

We’ve all been there. You’ve handed in an essay and you think it’s pretty great: it shows off all your best ideas, and contains points you’re sure no one else will have thought of.

You’re not totally convinced that what you’ve written is relevant to the title you were given – but it’s inventive, original and good. In fact, it might be better than anything that would have responded to the question. But your essay isn’t met with the lavish praise you expected. When it’s tossed back onto your desk, there are huge chunks scored through with red pen, crawling with annotations like little red fire ants: ‘IRRELEVANT’; ‘A bit of a tangent!’; ‘???’; and, right next to your best, most impressive killer point: ‘Right… so?’. The grade your teacher has scrawled at the end is nowhere near what your essay deserves. In fact, it’s pretty average. And the comment at the bottom reads something like, ‘Some good ideas, but you didn’t answer the question!’.

If this has ever happened to you (and it has happened to me, a lot), you’ll know how deeply frustrating it is – and how unfair it can seem. This might just be me, but the exhausting process of researching, having ideas, planning, writing and re-reading makes me steadily more attached to the ideas I have, and the things I’ve managed to put on the page. Each time I scroll back through what I’ve written, or planned, so far, I become steadily more convinced of its brilliance. What started off as a scribbled note in the margin, something extra to think about or to pop in if it could be made to fit the argument, sometimes comes to be backbone of a whole essay – so, when a tutor tells me my inspired paragraph about Ted Hughes’s interpretation of mythology isn’t relevant to my essay on Keats, I fail to see why. Or even if I can see why, the thought of taking it out is wrenching. Who cares if it’s a bit off-topic? It should make my essay stand out, if anything! And an examiner would probably be happy not to read yet another answer that makes exactly the same points. If you recognise yourself in the above, there are two crucial things to realise. The first is that something has to change: because doing well in high school exam or coursework essays is almost totally dependent on being able to pin down and organise lots of ideas so that an examiner can see that they convincingly answer a question. And it’s a real shame to work hard on something, have good ideas, and not get the marks you deserve. Writing a top essay is a very particular and actually quite simple challenge. It’s not actually that important how original you are, how compelling your writing is, how many ideas you get down, or how beautifully you can express yourself (though of course, all these things do have their rightful place). What you’re doing, essentially, is using a limited amount of time and knowledge to really answer a question. It sounds obvious, but a good essay should have the title or question as its focus the whole way through . It should answer it ten times over – in every single paragraph, with every fact or figure. Treat your reader (whether it’s your class teacher or an external examiner) like a child who can’t do any interpretive work of their own; imagine yourself leading them through your essay by the hand, pointing out that you’ve answered the question here , and here , and here. Now, this is all very well, I imagine you objecting, and much easier said than done. But never fear! Structuring an essay that knocks a question on the head is something you can learn to do in a couple of easy steps. In the next few hundred words, I’m going to share with you what I’ve learned through endless, mindless crossings-out, rewordings, rewritings and rethinkings.

Top tips and golden rules

I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve been told to ‘write the question at the top of every new page’- but for some reason, that trick simply doesn’t work for me. If it doesn’t work for you either, use this three-part process to allow the question to structure your essay:

1)     Work out exactly what you’re being asked

It sounds really obvious, but lots of students have trouble answering questions because they don’t take time to figure out exactly what they’re expected to do – instead, they skim-read and then write the essay they want to write. Sussing out a question is a two-part process, and the first part is easy. It means looking at the directions the question provides as to what sort of essay you’re going to write. I call these ‘command phrases’ and will go into more detail about what they mean below. The second part involves identifying key words and phrases.

2)     Be as explicit as possible

Use forceful, persuasive language to show how the points you’ve made do answer the question. My main focus so far has been on tangential or irrelevant material – but many students lose marks even though they make great points, because they don’t quite impress how relevant those points are. Again, I’ll talk about how you can do this below.

3)     Be brutally honest with yourself about whether a point is relevant before you write it.

It doesn’t matter how impressive, original or interesting it is. It doesn’t matter if you’re panicking, and you can’t think of any points that do answer the question. If a point isn’t relevant, don’t bother with it. It’s a waste of time, and might actually work against you- if you put tangential material in an essay, your reader will struggle to follow the thread of your argument, and lose focus on your really good points.

Put it into action: Step One

Let’s imagine you’re writing an English essay about the role and importance of the three witches in Macbeth . You’re thinking about the different ways in which Shakespeare imagines and presents the witches, how they influence the action of the tragedy, and perhaps the extent to which we’re supposed to believe in them (stay with me – you don’t have to know a single thing about Shakespeare or Macbeth to understand this bit!). Now, you’ll probably have a few good ideas on this topic – and whatever essay you write, you’ll most likely use much of the same material. However, the detail of the phrasing of the question will significantly affect the way you write your essay. You would draw on similar material to address the following questions: Discuss Shakespeare’s representation of the three witches in Macbeth . How does Shakespeare figure the supernatural in Macbeth ?   To what extent are the three witches responsible for Macbeth’s tragic downfall? Evaluate the importance of the three witches in bringing about Macbeth’s ruin. Are we supposed to believe in the three witches in Macbeth ? “Within Macbeth ’s representation of the witches, there is profound ambiguity about the actual significance and power of their malevolent intervention” (Stephen Greenblatt). Discuss.   I’ve organised the examples into three groups, exemplifying the different types of questions you might have to answer in an exam. The first group are pretty open-ended: ‘discuss’- and ‘how’-questions leave you room to set the scope of the essay. You can decide what the focus should be. Beware, though – this doesn’t mean you don’t need a sturdy structure, or a clear argument, both of which should always be present in an essay. The second group are asking you to evaluate, constructing an argument that decides whether, and how far something is true. Good examples of hypotheses (which your essay would set out to prove) for these questions are:

• The witches are the most important cause of tragic action in Macbeth.
• The witches are partially, but not entirely responsible for Macbeth’s downfall, alongside Macbeth’s unbridled ambition, and that of his wife.
• We are not supposed to believe the witches: they are a product of Macbeth’s psyche, and his downfall is his own doing.
• The witches’ role in Macbeth’s downfall is deliberately unclear. Their claim to reality is shaky – finally, their ambiguity is part of an uncertain tragic universe and the great illusion of the theatre. (N.B. It’s fine to conclude that a question can’t be answered in black and white, certain terms – as long as you have a firm structure, and keep referring back to it throughout the essay).

The final question asks you to respond to a quotation. Students tend to find these sorts of questions the most difficult to answer, but once you’ve got the hang of them I think the title does most of the work for you – often implicitly providing you with a structure for your essay. The first step is breaking down the quotation into its constituent parts- the different things it says. I use brackets: ( Within Macbeth ’s representation of the witches, ) ( there is profound ambiguity ) about the ( actual significance ) ( and power ) of ( their malevolent intervention ) Examiners have a nasty habit of picking the most bewildering and terrifying-sounding quotations: but once you break them down, they’re often asking for something very simple. This quotation, for example, is asking exactly the same thing as the other questions. The trick here is making sure you respond to all the different parts. You want to make sure you discuss the following:

• Do you agree that the status of the witches’ ‘malevolent intervention’ is ambiguous?
• What is its significance?
• How powerful is it?

Step Two: Plan

Having worked out exactly what the question is asking, write out a plan (which should be very detailed in a coursework essay, but doesn’t have to be more than a few lines long in an exam context) of the material you’ll use in each paragraph. Make sure your plan contains a sentence at the end of each point about how that point will answer the question. A point from my plan for one of the topics above might look something like this:

To what extent are we supposed to believe in the three witches in Macbeth ?  Hypothesis: The witches’ role in Macbeth’s downfall is deliberately unclear. Their claim to reality is uncertain – finally, they’re part of an uncertain tragic universe and the great illusion of the theatre. Para.1: Context At the time Shakespeare wrote Macbeth , there were many examples of people being burned or drowned as witches There were also people who claimed to be able to exorcise evil demons from people who were ‘possessed’. Catholic Christianity leaves much room for the supernatural to exist This suggests that Shakespeare’s contemporary audience might, more readily than a modern one, have believed that witches were a real phenomenon and did exist.

My final sentence (highlighted in red) shows how the material discussed in the paragraph answers the question. Writing this out at the planning stage, in addition to clarifying your ideas, is a great test of whether a point is relevant: if you struggle to write the sentence, and make the connection to the question and larger argument, you might have gone off-topic.

Step Three: Paragraph beginnings and endings

The final step to making sure you pick up all the possible marks for ‘answering the question’ in an essay is ensuring that you make it explicit how your material does so. This bit relies upon getting the beginnings and endings of paragraphs just right. To reiterate what I said above, treat your reader like a child: tell them what you’re going to say; tell them how it answers the question; say it, and then tell them how you’ve answered the question. This need not feel clumsy, awkward or repetitive. The first sentence of each new paragraph or point should, without giving too much of your conclusion away, establish what you’re going to discuss, and how it answers the question. The opening sentence from the paragraph I planned above might go something like this:

Early modern political and religious contexts suggest that Shakespeare’s contemporary audience might more readily have believed in witches than his modern readers.

The sentence establishes that I’m going to discuss Jacobean religion and witch-burnings, and also what I’m going to use those contexts to show. I’d then slot in all my facts and examples in the middle of the paragraph. The final sentence (or few sentences) should be strong and decisive, making a clear connection to the question you’ve been asked:

  Contemporary suspicion that witches did exist, testified to by witch-hunts and exorcisms, is crucial to our understanding of the witches in Macbeth.  To the early modern consciousness, witches were a distinctly real and dangerous possibility – and the witches in the play would have seemed all-the-more potent and terrifying as a result.

Step Four: Practice makes perfect

The best way to get really good at making sure you always ‘answer the question’ is to write essay plans rather than whole pieces. Set aside a few hours, choose a couple of essay questions from past papers, and for each:

• Write a hypothesis
• Write a rough plan of what each paragraph will contain
• Write out the first and last sentence of each paragraph

You can get your teacher, or a friend, to look through your plans and give you feedback. If you follow this advice, fingers crossed, next time you hand in an essay, it’ll be free from red-inked comments about irrelevance, and instead showered with praise for the precision with which you handled the topic, and how intently you focused on answering the question. It can seem depressing when your perfect question is just a minor tangent from the question you were actually asked, but trust me – high praise and good marks are all found in answering the question in front of you, not the one you would have liked to see. Teachers do choose the questions they set you with some care, after all; chances are the question you were set is the more illuminating and rewarding one as well.

Image credits: banner ; Keats ; Macbeth ; James I ; witches .

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Center for Teaching

Writing good multiple choice test questions.

Constructing an Effective Stem

Constructing effective alternatives.

• Additional Guidelines for Multiple Choice Questions

Considerations for Writing Multiple Choice Items that Test Higher-order Thinking

Additional resources.

Multiple choice test questions, also known as items, can be an effective and efficient way to assess learning outcomes. Multiple choice test items have several potential advantages:

Reliability: Reliability is defined as the degree to which a test consistently measures a learning outcome. Multiple choice test items are less susceptible to guessing than true/false questions, making them a more reliable means of assessment. The reliability is enhanced when the number of MC items focused on a single learning objective is increased. In addition, the objective scoring associated with multiple choice test items frees them from problems with scorer inconsistency that can plague scoring of essay questions.

Validity: Validity is the degree to which a test measures the learning outcomes it purports to measure. Because students can typically answer a multiple choice item much more quickly than an essay question, tests based on multiple choice items can typically focus on a relatively broad representation of course material, thus increasing the validity of the assessment.

The key to taking advantage of these strengths, however, is construction of good multiple choice items.

A multiple choice item consists of a problem, known as the stem, and a list of suggested solutions, known as alternatives. The alternatives consist of one correct or best alternative, which is the answer, and incorrect or inferior alternatives, known as distractors.

1. The stem should be meaningful by itself and should present a definite problem. A stem that presents a definite problem allows a focus on the learning outcome. A stem that does not present a clear problem, however, may test students’ ability to draw inferences from vague descriptions rather serving as a more direct test of students’ achievement of the learning outcome.

2. The stem should not contain irrelevant material , which can decrease the reliability and the validity of the test scores (Haldyna and Downing 1989).

3. The stem should be negatively stated only when significant learning outcomes require it. Students often have difficulty understanding items with negative phrasing (Rodriguez 1997). If a significant learning outcome requires negative phrasing, such as identification of dangerous laboratory or clinical practices, the negative element should be emphasized with italics or capitalization.

4. The stem should be a question or a partial sentence. A question stem is preferable because it allows the student to focus on answering the question rather than holding the partial sentence in working memory and sequentially completing it with each alternative (Statman 1988). The cognitive load is increased when the stem is constructed with an initial or interior blank, so this construction should be avoided.

1. All alternatives should be plausible. The function of the incorrect alternatives is to serve as distractors,which should be selected by students who did not achieve the learning outcome but ignored by students who did achieve the learning outcome. Alternatives that are implausible don’t serve as functional distractors and thus should not be used. Common student errors provide the best source of distractors.

2. Alternatives should be stated clearly and concisely. Items that are excessively wordy assess students’ reading ability rather than their attainment of the learning objective

3. Alternatives should be mutually exclusive. Alternatives with overlapping content may be considered “trick” items by test-takers, excessive use of which can erode trust and respect for the testing process.

4. Alternatives should be homogenous in content. Alternatives that are heterogeneous in content can provide cues to student about the correct answer.

5. Alternatives should be free from clues about which response is correct. Sophisticated test-takers are alert to inadvertent clues to the correct answer, such differences in grammar, length, formatting, and language choice in the alternatives. It’s therefore important that alternatives

• have grammar consistent with the stem.
• are parallel in form.
• are similar in length.
• use similar language (e.g., all unlike textbook language or all like textbook language).

6. The alternatives “all of the above” and “none of the above” should not be used. When “all of the above” is used as an answer, test-takers who can identify more than one alternative as correct can select the correct answer even if unsure about other alternative(s). When “none of the above” is used as an alternative, test-takers who can eliminate a single option can thereby eliminate a second option. In either case, students can use partial knowledge to arrive at a correct answer.

7. The alternatives should be presented in a logical order (e.g., alphabetical or numerical) to avoid a bias toward certain positions.

8. The number of alternatives can vary among items as long as all alternatives are plausible. Plausible alternatives serve as functional distractors, which are those chosen by students that have not achieved the objective but ignored by students that have achieved the objective. There is little difference in difficulty, discrimination, and test score reliability among items containing two, three, and four distractors.

Additional Guidelines

1. Avoid complex multiple choice items , in which some or all of the alternatives consist of different combinations of options. As with “all of the above” answers, a sophisticated test-taker can use partial knowledge to achieve a correct answer.

2. Keep the specific content of items independent of one another. Savvy test-takers can use information in one question to answer another question, reducing the validity of the test.

When writing multiple choice items to test higher-order thinking, design questions that focus on higher levels of cognition as defined by Bloom’s taxonomy . A stem that presents a problem that requires application of course principles, analysis of a problem, or evaluation of alternatives is focused on higher-order thinking and thus tests students’ ability to do such thinking. In constructing multiple choice items to test higher order thinking, it can also be helpful to design problems that require multilogical thinking, where multilogical thinking is defined as “thinking that requires knowledge of more than one fact to logically and systematically apply concepts to a …problem” (Morrison and Free, 2001, page 20). Finally, designing alternatives that require a high level of discrimination can also contribute to multiple choice items that test higher-order thinking.

• Burton, Steven J., Sudweeks, Richard R., Merrill, Paul F., and Wood, Bud. How to Prepare Better Multiple Choice Test Items: Guidelines for University Faculty, 1991.
• Cheung, Derek and Bucat, Robert. How can we construct good multiple-choice items? Presented at the Science and Technology Education Conference, Hong Kong, June 20-21, 2002.
• Haladyna, Thomas M. Developing and validating multiple-choice test items, 2 nd edition. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 1999.
• Haladyna, Thomas M. and Downing, S. M.. Validity of a taxonomy of multiple-choice item-writing rules. Applied Measurement in Education , 2(1), 51-78, 1989.
• Morrison, Susan and Free, Kathleen. Writing multiple-choice test items that promote and measure critical thinking. Journal of Nursing Education 40: 17-24, 2001.

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How to Answer Essay Questions – The Ultimate Guide

• Posted by Brian Stocker MA
• Date November 30, 2007
• Comments 7 comments

Everyone Loves Essay Questions!

“I hate essays!” This battle cry is famous to most students. That’s because essay questions are either easy or difficult. Either way, there’s no certain formula. Even if you think you know the answer - don’t be overconfident - the critical part is how you make your essay worth reading. So how do you do it?

Audio Version of this Post

Tips for Writing an Essay

Read the question more than once. Some questions can be tricky so make sure you understand it to the letter. A lot of students commit error by simply not reading instructions very well. They read and then write a long essay, only to realize very late that they did not understand the question correctly.

Familiarize yourself with your professor or teacher’s style of organization, if you can. As students, it’s your role to know how your teachers want their essays answered.

Mentally go through your lecture notes before writing anything on your paper.

Create an outline of thoughts and related topics in connection with the essay question. By doing this you are helping yourself create a more organized answer.

Construct an idea in each paragraph. Go back to your essay outline if you think you are repeating yourself or not making sense at all.

Use the terminology of the course . Be professional in knowing what type of words to use in a particular topic or subject.

Read and go back to your previous paragraphs after you are finished with one paragraph. This will help you determine your flow of thought and if you are really making a point or giving an answer.

Don’t include ideas that are off-topic.

If there are too many ideas in your outline , cut out the least important ones. As much as possible, make your idea concrete and pointed, with arguments or statements that is easy to understand.

The body of your essay should have a summary or statement.

Support your summary or statement with adequate details and specifics. If you do not know how to add details, just expand on your generic idea.

Avoid jumping from one point to another.

Avoid vague descriptions if necessary . Include specifics to get your message across.

Review the question again and again so you will not lose your thread of thinking.

If you have time to make revisions, do so.

Use all the time you have to complete your essay. Review and re-check your answers before submitting your paper.

If you have nothing to write and don’t know what to write , don’t leave your paper blank. Write something at least.

Get the Complete Guide to Studying

Get the complete guide to taking notes, taking a test complete guide to multiple choice, essay check list.

Here is a great Checklist for answering Essay Questions from Tennessee State University:

Use the following as a guide when writing answers to discussion questions and as a checklist after you have written your answer.

1. Do I understand the question?  What am I being asked to do? 2. Do I have a plan?  What are my major points and how am I going to present them? 3. Does the reader know, just from reading the first sentence of my essay, both the question and how I will answer it? 4. Are my major points clear and do they stand out? 5. Do I support my argument with facts and examples? 6. Do I make clear and sensible transitions between major points? 7. Is my answer clear to someone who knows nothing about this? 8. Have I answered the question completely?  Have I fully covered all of the major points required to completely answer the question? 9. Is there irrelevant material? 10. Do I have a conclusion and summary statement? 11. Have I proofed my essay for common spelling and grammatical errors? 12. Is my handwriting legible?  Is there room for comments or additions?

Glossary of Essay Exam Terms

When taking an exam the first thing you should do is familiarize yourself with all instructions. At times this can be confusing especially if you do not understand the terms. Below you will find some common terms used on essay exams. Learning these terms is a key step in successful completion of most essay exams.

• Compare (also Compare with): Discuss the similarities between two or more given subjects.
• Contrast: Discuss the differences in two or more given subjects.
• Criticize: Explain the value of a finding or theory. Include both negative and positive aspects based on implementation. This could be the ease of which it is applied, examples of false findings, etc…
• Define: Describe precisely a term’s meaning as it applies specifically to a given subject.
• Describe: Use exact detail to explain a given term. This may call for the use of examples, definitions, or discussion of the term.
• Diagram: Use a visual representation of relevant information to explain implementation of a term. This usually calls for an explicit chart or graph which is thoroughly labelled. In some cases it may call for a detailed plan as well.
• Discuss: The literal meaning of discuss is talk about. To do this in an exam you must thoroughly explain your subject with words.
• Enumerate: Form a list of relevant points and explain each point. This may result in an outline like answer.
• Evaluate: Discuss the pros and cons of the application of your given subject from a professional point of view. This differs from criticize because personal opinion should be avoided unless instructions specify otherwise.
• Explain: Define the given material and give examples of how and why it is important to the subject.
• Illustrate: Use a visual aid or a clearly defined example to explain a given subject.
• Interpret: Explain the given question, include you personal feelings on the subject as well as a solution.
• Justify: Use factual information to argue you view of the situation presented in a given problem.
• List: Brief but thorough list of information that explains the given topic.
• Outline: much like writing an outline for a paper. Answer the question by creating an outline that highlights the main ideas and key points of those ideas.
• Prove: Discuss the topic in a way that readers are convinced to support or reject the idea discussed. This is done through presentation of facts or the step by step illustration of logical thinking.
• Relate: Discuss the connection between two or more events, people, problems, etc…
• Review: Close examination of a problem accompanied by brief comments that explain the main points.
• State (also Give, Specify, or Present): Explain the major points of a subject in brief for. There is typically no need for further explanation.
• Summarize: Create a brief description that highlights the major points of your subject.
• Trace: Explain the progress of the given subject from conception to current date. Highlight anything that is considered a major topic as well as the reason for any changes.

Don’t!

Last piece of advice – Don’t get your parents to edit it!

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Every thing was educational. Had a good feeling on how to deliver good papers.

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This is a great tool for us.

i learned a lot – – super

I still hate essays tho

I am a big fan.

Above all are logically important and desirably topics which is value for everyone,thanks.

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Exam Questions: Types, Characteristics, and Suggestions

Examinations are a very common assessment and evaluation tool in universities and there are many types of examination questions. This tips sheet contains a brief description of seven types of examination questions, as well as tips for using each of them: 1) multiple choice, 2) true/false, 3) matching, 4) short answer, 5) essay, 6) oral, and 7) computational. Remember that some exams can be conducted effectively in a secure online environment in a proctored computer lab or assigned as paper based or online “take home” exams.

Multiple choice

Multiple choice questions are composed of one question (stem) with multiple possible answers (choices), including the correct answer and several incorrect answers (distractors). Typically, students select the correct answer by circling the associated number or letter, or filling in the associated circle on the machine-readable response sheet.

Example : Distractors are:

A) Elements of the exam layout that distract attention from the questions B) Incorrect but plausible choices used in multiple choice questions C) Unnecessary clauses included in the stem of multiple choice questions Answer: B

Students can generally respond to these type of questions quite quickly. As a result, they are often used to test student’s knowledge of a broad range of content. Creating these questions can be time consuming because it is often difficult to generate several plausible distractors. However, they can be marked very quickly.

Tips for writing good multiple choice items:

Suggestion : After each lecture during the term, jot down two or three multiple choice questions based on the material for that lecture. Regularly taking a few minutes to compose questions, while the material is fresh in your mind, will allow you to develop a question bank that you can use to construct tests and exams quickly and easily.

True/false questions are only composed of a statement. Students respond to the questions by indicating whether the statement is true or false. For example: True/false questions have only two possible answers (Answer: True).

Like multiple choice questions, true/false questions:

• Are most often used to assess familiarity with course content and to check for popular misconceptions
• Allow students to respond quickly so exams can use a large number of them to test knowledge of a broad range of content
• Are easy and quick to grade but time consuming to create

True/false questions provide students with a 50% chance of guessing the right answer. For this reason, multiple choice questions are often used instead of true/false questions.

Tips for writing good true/false items:

Suggestion : You can increase the usefulness of true/false questions by asking students to correct false statements.

Students respond to matching questions by pairing each of a set of stems (e.g., definitions) with one of the choices provided on the exam. These questions are often used to assess recognition and recall and so are most often used in courses where acquisition of detailed knowledge is an important goal. They are generally quick and easy to create and mark, but students require more time to respond to these questions than a similar number of multiple choice or true/false items.

Example: Match each question type with one attribute:

• Multiple Choice a) Only two possible answers
• True/False b) Equal number of stems and choices
• Matching c) Only one correct answer but at least three choices

Tips for writing good matching items:

Suggestion:  You can use some choices more than once in the same matching exercise. It reduces the effects of guessing.

Short answer

Short answer questions are typically composed of a brief prompt that demands a written answer that varies in length from one or two words to a few sentences. They are most often used to test basic knowledge of key facts and terms. An example this kind of short answer question follows:

“What do you call an exam format in which students must uniquely associate a set of prompts with a set of options?” Answer: Matching questions

Alternatively, this could be written as a fill-in-the-blank short answer question:

“An exam question in which students must uniquely associate prompts and options is called a ___________ question.” Answer: Matching.

Short answer questions can also be used to test higher thinking skills, including analysis or evaluation. For example:

“Will you include short answer questions on your next exam? Please justify your decision with two to three sentences explaining the factors that have influenced your decision.”

Short answer questions have many advantages. Many instructors report that they are relatively easy to construct and can be constructed faster than multiple choice questions. Unlike matching, true/false, and multiple choice questions, short answer questions make it difficult for students to guess the answer. Short answer questions provide students with more flexibility to explain their understanding and demonstrate creativity than they would have with multiple choice questions; this also means that scoring is relatively laborious and can be quite subjective. Short answer questions provide more structure than essay questions and thus are often easy and faster to mark and often test a broader range of the course content than full essay questions.

Tips for writing good short answer items:

Suggestion : When using short answer questions to test student knowledge of definitions consider having a mix of questions, some that supply the term and require the students to provide the definition, and other questions that supply the definition and require that students provide the term. The latter sort of questions can be structured as fill-in-the-blank questions. This mix of formats will better test student knowledge because it doesn’t rely solely on recognition or recall of the term.

Essay questions provide a complex prompt that requires written responses, which can vary in length from a couple of paragraphs to many pages. Like short answer questions, they provide students with an opportunity to explain their understanding and demonstrate creativity, but make it hard for students to arrive at an acceptable answer by bluffing. They can be constructed reasonably quickly and easily but marking these questions can be time-consuming and grader agreement can be difficult.

Essay questions differ from short answer questions in that the essay questions are less structured. This openness allows students to demonstrate that they can integrate the course material in creative ways. As a result, essays are a favoured approach to test higher levels of cognition including analysis, synthesis and evaluation. However, the requirement that the students provide most of the structure increases the amount of work required to respond effectively. Students often take longer to compose a five paragraph essay than they would take to compose five one paragraph answers to short answer questions. This increased workload limits the number of essay questions that can be posed on a single exam and thus can restrict the overall scope of an exam to a few topics or areas. To ensure that this doesn’t cause students to panic or blank out, consider giving the option of answering one of two or more questions.

Tips for writing good essay items:

Suggestions : Distribute possible essay questions before the exam and make your marking criteria slightly stricter. This gives all students an equal chance to prepare and should improve the quality of the answers – and the quality of learning – without making the exam any easier.

Oral examinations allow students to respond directly to the instructor’s questions and/or to present prepared statements. These exams are especially popular in language courses that demand ‘speaking’ but they can be used to assess understanding in almost any course by following the guidelines for the composition of short answer questions. Some of the principle advantages to oral exams are that they provide nearly immediate feedback and so allow the student to learn as they are tested. There are two main drawbacks to oral exams: the amount of time required and the problem of record-keeping. Oral exams typically take at least ten to fifteen minutes per student, even for a midterm exam. As a result, they are rarely used for large classes. Furthermore, unlike written exams, oral exams don’t automatically generate a written record. To ensure that students have access to written feedback, it is recommended that instructors take notes during oral exams using a rubric and/or checklist and provide a photocopy of the notes to the students.

In many departments, oral exams are rare. Students may have difficulty adapting to this new style of assessment. In this situation, consider making the oral exam optional. While it can take more time to prepare two tests, having both options allows students to choose the one which suits them and their learning style best.

Computational

Computational questions require that students perform calculations in order to solve for an answer. Computational questions can be used to assess student’s memory of solution techniques and their ability to apply those techniques to solve both questions they have attempted before and questions that stretch their abilities by requiring that they combine and use solution techniques in novel ways.

Effective computational questions should:

• Be solvable using knowledge of the key concepts and techniques from the course. Before the exam solve them yourself or get a teaching assistant to attempt the questions.
• Indicate the mark breakdown to reinforce the expectations developed in in-class examples for the amount of detail, etc. required for the solution.

To prepare students to do computational questions on exams, make sure to describe and model in class the correct format for the calculations and answer including:

• How students should report their assumptions and justify their choices
• The units and degree of precision expected in the answer

Suggestion : Have students divide their answer sheets into two columns: calculations in one, and a list of assumptions, description of process and justification of choices in the other. This ensures that the marker can distinguish between a simple mathematical mistake and a profound conceptual error and give feedback accordingly.

If you would like support applying these tips to your own teaching, CTE staff members are here to help.  View the  CTE Support  page to find the most relevant staff member to contact.

• Cunningham, G.K. (1998). Assessment in the Classroom. Bristol, PA: Falmer Press.
• Ward, A.W., & Murray-Ward, M. (1999). Assessment in the Classroom. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing Co.

This Creative Commons license  lets others remix, tweak, and build upon our work non-commercially, as long as they credit us and indicate if changes were made. Use this citation format:  Exam questions: types, characteristics and suggestions . Centre for Teaching Excellence, University of Waterloo .

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Writing Multiple-Choice Questions for Higher-level Thinking

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Contributor

Mike Dickinson

Freelance Instructional Designer

We eLearning developers are used to the question, “Which is better, eLearning or classroom instruction?” The answer is, “It depends.” It’s the same answer if one asks, “Which are better, multiple-choice or essay questions?” Either question type is useful for assessing a variety of levels of thinking, depending on how well the designer crafts the questions. Designing multiple-choice questions is not as daunting a task as one might think.

What is higher-level thinking?

What do we mean by higher-level thinking? Benjamin Bloom described six levels of cognitive behavior, listed here from the most basic – Knowledge – at the bottom to the most complex – Evaluation – at the top:

• Application
• Comprehension

Bloom’s taxonomy offers one way of looking at increasingly complex cognitive abilities. For example, Knowledge and Comprehension mean a person can recall facts or paraphrase a concept. Synthesis, on the other hand, means a person can create something new, such as an essay or a painting. (Please see the list of References at the end of this article for the sources of ideas presented here.)

J. P. Guilford offered another way of looking at cognition with his description of convergent and divergent production . Convergent thinking means someone is working with knowledge, processes, concepts, etc, that exist; it has a certain correctness about it. When applied to test questions, convergent thinking means there is a preexisting correct answer. Verbs for convergent thinking include select , identify , calculate , label , and diagnose . Conversely, divergent thinking means there is not a preexisting correct answer. The person must take existing knowledge and create new knowledge. As Marie Hoepfl explains, verbs for divergent thinking objectives include create (a poem or story), compose (a song), etc.

Mapping Guilford’s concepts onto Bloom’s taxonomy, convergent thinking applies to Bloom’s first four levels of cognitive behavior, that is, up through Analysis, and divergent thinking applies to Bloom’s top two levels, Synthesis and Evaluation. See Table 1.

This combination thus suggests that the designer can write multiple-choice questions for Bloom’s first four levels of cognitive behavior (Knowledge, Comprehension, Application, and Analysis) since they require a predictable or calculable answer.

On the other hand, Bloom’s top two levels – Synthesis and Evaluation – being divergent thinking, are best tested with fill-in or essay questions since a predetermined correct answer does not exist. 

It starts with the objectives

Before we look at specific techniques, let’s be clear about one thing. We’re not talking about making multiple-choice tests artificially difficult. Rather, when the learning objectives dictate assessments at higher levels, we need the tools to meet that requirement. In the eLearning world, we are pretty much confined to multiple-choice or similar selected-response questions. Even those instructors who conduct classroom sessions may want to augment essay questions with multiple-choice in order to take advantage of some of the latter’s efficiencies. For example, compared to essay questions, multiple-choice questions can be graded faster and more reliably by people other than the instructor, and by the computer. They can also cover a broader scope of the subject in the same amount of time it would take a student to complete one essay question.

Writing higher-order multiple-choice questions

Let’s look at the way thinking skills progress, using the cold and flu for context (Table 2). At the Knowledge level we are asking the learner to merely identify or select symptoms of a cold. At the Comprehension level we might want the learner to match symptoms with their respective ailment. At the Application level the learner must do something (or determine what they would do in real life) with the knowledge they possess. Notice that even though we’re talking about diagnosis and interpretation, there is still a predetermined correct answer. That is, this still represents convergent thinking.

Now consider Bloom’s two highest levels: Synthesis and Evaluation. These are divergent thinking. At the Synthesis level we would be asking a person to develop a new protocol for treating the cold, and at the Evaluation level we would ask them to assess the effectiveness of that protocol. Neither of those outcomes can be predetermined. Thus they are not suitable for multiple-choice questions; later I’ll suggest a way multiple-choice questions support pseudo assessment of those levels.

Specific techniques

Here are some specific techniques gleaned from the literature and my own experience.

Transform existing items

You can transform existing items that were written for lower cognitive levels such as recall of facts, according to guidelines from Penn State’s Schreyer Institute. One note of caution: even if your question is written at a higher level of knowledge, if you use statements or examples that were mentioned in reading assignments or the presentation, then the student may be doing nothing more than recall.

One way to move up from the knowledge level to the comprehension level is to ask the learner to distinguish whether statements are consistent with a principle, concept, or rule. For example, say you had a knowledge-level question that merely asked the learner to select the common symptoms of the flu from a list. You could transform the question by describing a patient who presents with certain symptoms and asking the learner to determine whether those symptoms are consistent with the flu or not. Scenarios or situations like this are good ways to set up questions to assess higher-level thinking.

You could raise the question another notch by having the learner compare and contrast symptoms. For example, rather than just determining if the patient appears to have the flu, you could have the learner determine whether the patient is likely to have a cold, the flu, or severe allergies. Obviously a question like this requires careful selection of terminology so the question truly distinguishes between those learners with complete vs. partial knowledge.

So, to generalize, if you have an existing question that states the rule and then asks the learner to identify one characteristic of that rule or concept, you can often flip it by presenting the characteristic in the question stem, and then asking the learner to identify the rule or concept.

I used this technique a lot in compliance training. Compliance dilemmas do not present themselves in the real world with their label. They present themselves through people’s actions and words, and then we have to recognize what kind of situation is developing. So in our compliance training we described workplace scenarios and then asked the learner to identify what kind of compliance issue was developing and what was the appropriate response. This not only raised the questions to higher level thinking, it made the training much more realistic than merely categorizing or labeling terms.

Use plausible distractors and new examples  

Another way to transform existing questions is to ensure you are using plausible distractors. You can often do this with anticipated wrong answers. Here is an example:

Calculate the median of the following numbers: 15, 27, 27, 44, 67, 75, and 81.

The student must recall the definition of median and then apply that definition to the list of numbers. You will recall that the median is the number at the midpoint of a distribution. That number is 44 in this question. A common mistake is to confuse the definitions of median and mean (average). Hopefully our instruction will have helped learners understand the difference, but to be sure, the mean (48) is one of the distractors. So is the mode, the number with the most instances, or 27 in this case. So we have one correct choice and four distractors, two of which are plausible if the learner is not clear on the definition of these terms.

Interpret charts and graphs  

We have probably all experienced questions on standardized tests, such as the SAT or GRE in the U.S., which showed two or three charts and graphs and asked questions that required us to interpret the meaning. If the subject matter allows, this is a good way to increase the level of thinking.

Premise-choice or Multi-logic thinking

Aiken described a premise-choice technique and Morrison and Walsh described multi-logical thinking. I think they are roughly the same technique.

In this kind of question the stem contains two premises and the student must select the correct conclusion or solution. For example, let’s say we need to assess the learner’s knowledge of team-building processes. One premise could be a team development model consisting of four phases, and the second premise could be different ways of communicating in each of those phases.

A knowledge or comprehension level question might name a phase and ask the learner to select characteristics of that phase from a list. A higher level question could describe the observed behaviors of team members and ask the learner to identify the preferred communication process. To answer a question like this, the learner has to first classify the team’s stage and then apply the communication rule.

Premise-choice or multi-logical questions should require a high level of discriminating judgment. These questions often use words in the stem such as best , most important , first , or most correct .

Bury the verb!

Recently I recognized a rather simple way to write multiple-choice questions for higher-level thinking. This method is totally contrary to what my English teacher taught me. Since I live in Texas, I’ll call this the Texas two-step of higher-level assessment. As the name implies, it consists of two steps:

• Then bury that verb by changing it to a noun and putting a convergent verb in front of it.

Often this will mean changing the verb to a “-tion” derivative. Here are three examples using this technique:

• Select the best description .
• Identify the most accurate interpretation .
• Select a correctly constructed sentence

Depending on whether the verb you bury is convergent or divergent, this technique may be a pseudo measure, but if you must use multiple-choice questions, or if you want to increase the span of their capability, this is a practical way to do it.

Don’t give away the farm!

After going to the trouble of crafting multiple-choice questions for higher levels of thinking, be careful you don’t give away the farm. In my research for this article, I was surprised by the number of poorly written multiple-choice questions I found while randomly searching for ideas among online multiple-choice tests. It’s out of scope for this article, but I urge you to review guidelines for basic multiple-choice item construction. It is easy to find such resources on the Web.

Use higher-order tests for teaching

Finally, don’t overlook the value of higher-level multiple-choice questions for teaching. In areas where the target audience has some degree of prior knowledge, or where their life experience is relevant, I often make online courses denser by using multiple-choice exercises instead of the more traditional present-and-test format. This technique is also useful when there is room for judgment, or the preferred choice is conditional and you want the student to understand how different circumstances can affect the preferred action.

For example, a few years ago I developed a scenario-based online course on preventing sexual harassment. One of the company’s tenets was that a person should try to resolve an issue with another employee directly rather than elevating it to management. We wanted to reinforce that expectation while honoring those who may not feel comfortable taking such a direct route in a sensitive situation. So the course accepted both the preferred and other acceptable choices, with feedback that was supportive and instructive.

Remember to analyze results

Your best intentions notwithstanding, you don’t really know how well a question is going to perform until you have data to analyze after learners have taken the test. You don’t need to do a sophisticated analysis, but as a minimum you should tally up how many times each choice was selected and what proportion of the respondents got the question right. This data can reveal things like questions that are too easy or too difficult, and if distractors are working the way you intended or not. And especially, for questions that appear to be too difficult, you should investigate further to determine if the question is faulty, or if the instruction itself needs improvement.

Aiken, Lewis R., (1982). Writing multiple-choice items to measure higher-order educational objectives. Educational and Psychological Measurement , 1982, Vol. 42, pp. 803-806.

Bloom, B. S., Englehart, M. D., Furst, E. J., Hill, W. H., & Krathwohl, D. R. (1956). Taxonomy of educational objectives. The classification of educational goals: Handbook I. Cognitive domain. New York: David McKay.

Bloom’s Taxonomy, downloaded from Wikipedia 11/8/2011, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloom's_Taxonomy

Guilford, J.P., (1967). The nature of human intelligence , New York, McGraw-Hill

Hoepfl, Marie C. (1994) Developing and evaluating multiple-choice tests. The Technology Teacher , April 1994, pp. 25-26.

Morrison, Susan, and Kathleen Walsh Free, (2001) Writing multiple-choice test items that promote and measure critical thinking. Journal of Nursing Education , January 2001, Vol. 40, No. 1, pp. 17-24.

Schreyer Institute for Teaching Excellence at Penn State, Writing multiple-choice items to assess higher order thinking . Downloaded Nov. 1, 2011.

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Multiple Choice Questions: Benefits, Debates, and Best Practices

Who knew that a question type could be so shrouded in controversy? The multiple choice question (MCQ) may be a “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” favorite, but it’s also the most widely debated question type when it comes to efficacy and outcomes reporting. Why all the buzz? The multiple choice question is forever associated with standardized tests, Scantron sheets, #2 pencils, and all of the  above . But like any question type, there are benefits and downfalls, there's a time and place, and there are a slew of best practices. Let’s weigh the pros and cons and figure out when to best use this traditional testing favorite.

The Multiple-Benefit Question Type

Like any question type, the format alone is useless without proper usage, wording, and subject pairing to make it effective. The following benefits make multiple choice an attractive option for fact-based content.

• Easy on the Grader Think about the instructor with no TA and 500 students in their 101 course. Essays and short answer questions, while effective, will inevitably delay grading. Auto-graded multiple-choice questions allow instructors to test their students quickly and efficiently, without hiring additional graders.
• Time and Scope: There’s a reason why MCQs are a default for most standardized testing. By nature, MCQs allow for fast testing across a vast expanse of content. According to Vanderbilt University, “because students can typically answer a multiple choice item much more quickly than an essay question, tests based on multiple choice items can typically focus on a relatively broad representation of course material, thus increasing the validity of the assessment. ”

• Flexibility Perhaps it isn’t the nature of the question but what we are asking that allows us to think of this question type as so rigid. There are options to expand to different Bloom’s Taxonomy levels in am MCQ. While many default to questions that test both understanding and remembering facts, a well-worded question can test on application and analysis.
• Single/Multiple Answers A single answer allows for simple weeding out of incorrect answers. However, with multiple correct answers (and this doesn’t mean “D. All of the above”) present, you can eliminate the process of elimination.
• Measurable and Reliable With the focus on efficacy measurement in schools increasing, being able to have large amounts of objective testing data that show students' grasp and retention of content is pivotal for an institution.

The Multiple Layers of Controversy

All benefits aside, MCQs are widely debated for their efficacy and often considered a poor question type to gauge a student’s level of critical thinking, making them far better suited for lower-level Bloom's questioning. The following are some of the pitfalls mentioned by leading MCQ opponents.

• Development Time For the question author, a well-crafted MCQ isn’t always just about writing the best correct answer, it’s creating deeply convincing false answers, or distractors. This takes more time than a simple fill-in-the-blank or essay question. Too many sloppy questions have been written in the past that give the correct answer away or that give a freebie distractor away as a definitely wrong answer.
• Working Backwards from Wrong According to the National Center for Fair and Open Testing , “Multiple choice items can be easier than open-ended questions asking the same thing. This is because it is harder to recall an answer than to recognize it. Test-wise students know that it is sometimes easier to work backwards from the answer options, looking for the one that best fits. It also is possible to choose the 'right' answer for the wrong reason.”
• Beating the Odds  You may have heard these question types called “multiple guess questions.” Of course, guessing is present in any question, though MCQs allow for even the most clueless learner to have a 25% chance. If they can remove even one distractor, their odds have immediately increased to 33%. The option for guessing is present in plenty of question types… but here, the right answer is literally on the page. May the odds be ever NOT in their favor.
• Diversify Your Question Types With the majority of standardized tests heavily reliant on multiple-choice, deliberate choices must be made as to when to use MCQs and MCQs should be interspersed with other question types that assess students on their abilities to create, evaluate, and formulate their own responses to situational questions.

Your Lifelines: Best Practices for MCQ Authoring

Pros and cons aside, the MCQ is still a formidable option for testing. When used in moderation, with a diverse cast of other question types, and well-crafted for optimal learning, MCQs can remain steadfast against the tide of push-back. To better assist you, the content developer, with your multiple-choice assessment authoring, keep the following in mind:

• Move Beyond the “Above” “All of the above” and “None of the above” have a negative effect on your testing. While one allows students to gain credit when they recognize at least two correct choices, the other rewards them for not formalizing what the correct answer is at all. Too often, questions are authored with the traditional “above” distractor. However, with digital randomization features, what is above may actually be below.
• The Power of Distractors A well developed MCQ not only tests students on correct answers, it puts to rest commonly chosen incorrect answers by adding them in as distractors. Choose your distractor options carefully. Be consistent in your options, make them each plausible and relevant to the subject matter being tested. A key term from two chapters ago is a dead giveaway. Like matching questions , you want to keep your options homogenous with an objective list format such as numerical or alphabetical.
• Randomize Multiple-choice questions have grown a lot smarter. Choose an assessment building tool, such as GT's MyEcontentFactory , that allows for randomization of distractors. Not only does randomization act as a built-in cheating prevention tool, it also keeps your choice organization objective. No learner will be cracking that code.
• Move beyond text We often think in text, but, according to eLearningIndustry.com , a great way to test on higher levels of analysis includes adding a chart, graph or image to a multiple-choice question.
• absolutes like always and never
• long-winded distractors
• multiple-multiple choices, such as " C. Choices A and B"
• incomplete questions that just seem to ________
• negatives, such as " all of the following are... except" and "which of the following are NOT..."

For more best practices and examples of great MCQs at various levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy, be sure to visit the following links:

• University of Texas at Austin
• Vanderbilt University
• Brigham Young University

Crafting great assessments isn't always easy, but beginning with the right authoring tool from the start can help the content developer, instructors who rely on assessments to accurately measure outcomes, and the students themselves. 

Did you know that you can make multiple choice questions in GT's MyEcontentFactory? This is just one of many assessment types that our assessment tool facilitates. Try it today - contact us for a demo.

Which side of the MCQ aisle are you? Let us know in the comments section below!

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Short answer and essay questions

Short answer and essay questions are types of assessment that are commonly used to evaluate a student’s understanding and knowledge.

Tips for creating short answer and essay questions

e.g., What is __? or how could __ be put into practice?

• Consider the course  learning outcomes . Design questions that appropriately assess the relevant learning objectives.
• Make sure the  content measures knowledge  appropriate to the desired learner level and learning goal.
• When students think critically they are required to  step beyond recalling factual information , incorporating evidence and examples to corroborate and/or dispute the validity of assertions/suppositions and compare and contrast multiple perspectives on the same argument.

e.g., paragraphs? sentences? Is bullet point format acceptable or does it have to be an essay format?

• Specify how many  marks each question is worth .
• Word limits  should be applied within Canvas for discursive or essay-type responses.
• Check that your  language and instructions  are appropriate to the student population and discipline of study. Not all students have English as their first language.
• Ensure the  instructions to students are clear , including optional and compulsory questions and the various components of the assessment.

Questions that promote deeper thinking

Use “open-ended” questions to provoke divergent thinking.

These questions will allow for a variety of possible answers and encourage students to think at a deeper level. Some generic question stems that trigger or stimulate different forms of critical thinking include:

• “What are the implications of …?”
• “Why is it important …?”
• “What is another way to look at …?”

Use questions that are deliberate in the types of higher order thinking to promote/assess

Rather than promoting recall of facts, use questions that allow students to demonstrate their comprehension, application and analysis of the concepts.

Generic question stems that can be used to trigger and assess higher order thinking

Comprehension.

Convert information into a form that  makes sense to the individual .

• How would you put __ into your own words?
• What would be an example of __?

Application

Apply abstract or theoretical principles to  concrete ,  practical  situations.

• How can you make use of __?
• How could __ be put into practice?

Break down  or  dissect  information.

• What are the most important/significant ideas or elements of __?
• What assumptions/biases underlie or are hidden within __?

Build up  or  connect  separate pieces of information to form a larger, more coherent pattern

• How can these different ideas be grouped together into a more general category?  

Critically judge  the validity or aesthetic value of ideas, data, or products.

• How would you judge the accuracy or validity of __? 
• How would you evaluate the ethical (moral) implications or consequences of __?

Draw conclusions about  particular instances  that are logically consistent.

• What specific conclusions can be drawn from this general __? 
• What particular actions would be consistent with this general __? 

Balanced thinking

Carefully consider arguments/evidence  for  and  against  a particular position.

• What evidence supports and contradicts __? 
• What are arguments for and counterarguments against __? 

Causal reasoning

Identify  cause-effect relationships  between different ideas or actions.

• How would you explain why __ occurred? 
• How would __ affect or influence __? 

Creative thinking

Generate  imaginative  ideas or  novel  approaches to traditional practices.  

• What might be a metaphor or analogy for __? 
• What might happen if __? (hypothetical reasoning)

Redesign test questions for open-book format

It is important to redesign the assessment tasks to authentically assess the intended learning outcomes in a way that is appropriate for this mode of assessment. Replacing questions that simply recall facts with questions that require higher level cognitive skills—for example analysis and explanation of why and how students reached an answer—provides opportunities for reflective questions based on students’ own experiences.

More quick, focused problem-solving and analysis—conducted with restricted access to limited allocated resources—will need to incorporate a student’s ability to demonstrate a more thoughtful research-based approach and/or the ability to negotiate an understanding of more complex problems, sometimes in an open-book format.

Layers can be added to the problem/process, and the inclusion of a reflective aspect can help achieve these goals, whether administered in an oral test or written examination format.

		Alternative format, focusing on explanation
	The strongest and most resilient connective tissue is A. adipose tissue B. reticular connective tissue C.  D. elastic connective tissue E. areolar connective tissue What is the strongest and most resilient connective tissue? Answer:  Why is fibrocartilage tissue the strongest and most resilient connective tissue? Comparing adipose tissue and fibrocartilage tissue, discuss reasons for relative strength and resilience of these connective tissues. Example 2: Analytic style multiple choice question or short answer In a study aimed at identifying factors associated with risk of developing dementia, a group of elderly people with a formal diagnosis of dementia were compared with a group of elderly people without dementia for a range of factors related to health, lifestyle and occupation. The patients with dementia were matched with those without dementia by age, sex and area of residence. Data collection was by interview. For the patients with severe dementia, where the dementia interfered with data collection, surrogates (usually a family member) assisted with data collection. This study is a A.  B. Cohort study C. Cross-sectional survey D. Field study What type of study is this? Answer:  In a case-control study aimed at identifying factors associated with risk of developing dementia, a group of elderly people with a formal diagnosis of dementia were compared with a group of elderly people without dementia for a range of factors related to health, lifestyle and occupation. The patients with dementia were matched with those without dementia by age, sex and area of residence. Data collection was by interview. For the patients with severe dementia, where the dementia interfered with data collection, surrogates (usually a family member) assisted with data collection. What makes this a case control study? In a study aimed at identifying factors associated with risk of developing dementia, a group of elderly people with a formal diagnosis of dementia were compared with a group of elderly people without dementia for a range of factors related to health, lifestyle and occupation. The patients with dementia were matched with those without dementia by age, sex and area of residence. Data collection was by interview. For the patients with severe dementia, where the dementia interfered with data collection, surrogates (usually a family member) assisted with data collection. What type of study is this? Why do you think this? Acknowledgement: Deakin University and original multiple choice questions: Jennifer Lindley, Monash University. Setting word limits for discursive or essay-type responses Try to set a  fair and reasonable word count  for long answer and essay questions. Some points to consider are: Weighting  – what is the relative weighting of the question in the assessment? Level of study  – what is the suggested word count for written assessments in your discipline, for that level of study? Skills development  – what skills are you requiring students to demonstrate? Higher level cognitive skills, such as evaluation and analysis, tend to require a lengthier word count in order to adequately respond to the assessment prompt. Referencing  – will you require students to  reference their sources ? This takes time, which should be accounted for in the total time to complete the assessment. References generally would not count towards the word count. Include clear marking guidelines for referencing in rubrics, including assessing skills such as critical thinking and evaluation of information. Communicate your expectations around word count to students in your assessment instructions, including how you will deal with submissions that are outside the word count. E.g.,  Write 600-800 words evaluating the key concepts of XYZ. Excess text over the word limit will not be marked. Let students know how to check the word count in their submission: Show  word count in Inspera  – question type: Essay. Multi-choice questions Write MCQs that assess reasoning, rather than recall. Page updated 16/03/2023 (added open-book section) What do you think about this page? Is there something missing? For enquiries unrelated to this content, please visit the Staff Service Centre This form is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. The Learning Strategies Center Meet the Staff –Supplemental Course Schedule AY Course Offerings Anytime Online Modules Winter Session Workshop Courses –About Tutoring –Office Hours and Tutoring Schedule –LSC Tutoring Opportunities –How to Use Office Hours –Campus Resources and Support –Student Guide for Studying Together –Find Study Partners –Productivity Power Hour –Effective Study Strategies –Concept Mapping –Guidelines for Creating a Study Schedule –Five-Day Study Plan –What To Do With Practice Exams –Consider Exam Logistics –Online Exam Checklist –Open-Book Exams –How to Tackle Exam Questions –What To Do When You Get Your Graded Test (or Essay) Back –The Cornell Note Taking System –Learning from Digital Materials –3 P’s for Effective Reading –Textbook Reading Systems –Online Learning Checklist –Things to Keep in Mind as you Participate in Online Classes –Learning from Online Lectures and Discussions –Online Group Work –Learning Online Resource Videos –Start Strong! –Effectively Engage with Classes –Plans if you Need to Miss Class –Managing Time –Managing Stress –The Perils of Multitasking –Break the Cycle of Procrastination! –Finish Strong –Neurodiversity at Cornell –LSC Scholarship –Pre-Collegiate Summer Scholars Program –Study Skills Workshops –Private Consultations –Resources for Advisors and Faculty –Presentation Support (aka Practice Your Talk on a Dog) –About LSC –Meet The Team –Contact Us How to Tackle Exam Questions Learn more about how to tackle different kinds of exams and exam questions. We cover the following topics on exam preparation on this page: Quantitative Questions Multiple Choice Questions Essay Questions First, Let’s Think About De-Coding Different Types of Exam Questions It’s helpful to understand the kinds of question that are asked on a exam, because the response you need to come up with depends on the type of question. Knowing about different types of exam questions can help you activate appropriate strategies for formulating answers and reduce exam-taking anxiety. Exam questions generally fall into one of three categories: 1 “Green Light” Go right ahead! These are factual questions, and the answers are straight-forward. You either know the answer or you don’t; it’s right there in your head or it’s not. Some green light questions can be very difficult, and your ability to recall details is often tested with this typeof question. Study for this type of question by using recitation, making flash cards, quizzing yourself or a study partner, etc. If you don’t know the answer to a green light question right away, circle it and move on; often the answer will pop into your head later on during the exam. “Yellow Light” These questions are more detailed than green light questions, but are based on the same idea: you either know the answer or you don’t. Often you’ll have to put multiple or “green light” details together. Similar strategies work for yellow and green questions, but with yellow light questions you’ll need to recall many ideas, concepts, formulas, etc., just to answer one question. These questions ask you to make inferences or apply your knowledge to new situations, which is sometimes called “critical thinking”. You need to know the material being covered to answer these questions at the “green light” level, but the exam question is not asking you to simply regurgitate it. You will need to take what you know and use it in ways you have not yet used it. This type of question sometimes flummoxes students, because they are surprised to they are being asked a question that wasn’t exactly covered in class. Remember that with red light questions you are not supposed to already know the answer. You have to come up with the answer yourself, it is not already in your head. (You will need to know the basic information, though, to be able to answer this type of question.) Red light questions are asked more frequently in college than in high school. To study for red light questions, make diagrams or concept maps that link ideas or topics from the course together. Think about how what you’re learning relates to what you’ve learned in other classes. Sit down with friends or classmates and talk about how one might use information from the class in a job setting. See this link for a pdf of  Decoding exam questions. How to Tackle: Problem-Solving and Quantitative Questions Study for problem-based exams by practicing (new!) problems As you work on the problems, remember: DO let yourself be stuck.* (yes, we mean that!) DON’T sneak a peak at the answer if you get stuck. (keep trying!) Check your answer only after you’ve put something–anything–down. Think partial credit, which is better than no credit if you freeze when you get stuck on hard problems on the test. * You need to get your “stuck” muscles stronger so you know what to do on tests when you feel stuck. Watch: LSC’s Mike Chen Shares “The Key to Problem-Solving Tests” Taking problem-based exams 1. Understand the problem: Determine what you are supposed to find, what you need to find it, and what the unknown is (and if there is extra information). Consider whether drawing a sketch will help. Also – note each part of the question. Not answering each part is an easy way to lose points. 2. Determine a way to solve the problem: Write down all that is given or known. Draw a sketch when appropriate to show relations. Write down all relevant formulas. 3. Carry out the procedure you have devised: For numerical problems, try and estimate an answer first. This will help you to check your work later. Neat, careful work keeps you from making mistakes, and allows you to find them when you do make them (show your units!!). Additionally, when the instructor can see your work clearly, he or she may give you partial credit for what you do know, even if your ultimate answer is incorrect. 4. Check your Answers: This requires the same quality of thought originally used to solve the problem. Is your answer what you thought it would be in your original estimate? Is it a quantity that makes sense? Is your answer in the correct units? If your answer does not seem reasonable, rework the problem. How to Tackle: Multiple Choice Questions 1. Read the stem: First, read the stem and make sure you understand what it is getting at. Look out for double negatives or other twists in wording before you consider the answer. 2. Try to come up with the correct answer: Before you look at the answer choices, try to come up with the correct answer. This will help you to rule out choices that are similar to the correct answer. Now read and consider each option carefully. 3. Look for clues in the stem: Look for clues in the stem that suggest the correct answer or rule out any choices. For example, if the stem indicates that the answer is plural you can rule out any answers that are singular. The basic rule is: the correct answer must make sense grammatically with the stem. Options which fail this exam can be ruled out. 4. Cross off any options you know are incorrect: As you rule out options cross them off with your pencil. This will help you focus on the remaining choices and eliminates the chance of returning to an item and selecting an option you had already eliminated. 5. Come back to items you were unsure of: Put a mark next to any questions you are unsure of. If you complete the entire exam with time to spare, review these questions – you will often get clues (or even answers) from other questions. Take a look at some additional information on difficult “ Multiple Choice Tests ” (opens a PDF). How to Tackle: Essay Questions The best way to  prepare  for essay tests is to practice writing essays. Anticipate questions : Make outlines of possible essay topics using your course materials so you know you’ve got a good grasp of what might be on the test. Then recreate your outlines from memory (unless it’s an open-notes test). Practice writing  at least one full essay; be mindful of the time you spend practicing and think about how much time you will have during the exam. It is also important to think about  how  you are organizing the information you are including in your essay — for example, if you are asked to compare and contrast two theories as they relate to an issue, you might want to define each of them, describe the issue, and then compare and contrast them. If your exam is closed book,  memorize key events, facts, and names  that you will need to support your argument. If it is open-notes, then make sure you develop good outlines. When you are  taking  essay tests: Manage your time  well. As with all exams, if there are multiple essay questions, be sure to look at them all at the beginning (taking note of the points each is worth), and prioritize the order you answer the questions. Read the directions  carefully. Ask yourself honestly: are you answering the  actual  question on the test, or the question you  want  to be on the test?  (tip: instructors know when you aren’t really answering the exact question, so make sure you are addressing the actual question and don’t just write random information that is unrelated to the question.) Before you write the essay,  decide on your argument  and  quickly list your supporting evidence  (it is ok to do a brain dump of all the important information that you want to include so that you have it handy when you begin writing). Make a quick outline  of what you are going to write to organize your thoughts and arguments. Write! And, make your point right away – you don’t want to get to the end of a timed essay test with your amazing argument still unmade! If you have time, go back and quickly  proof-read  your essay for errors. You might want to take a look at some “ Words to Watch for in an Essay ” (opens a PDF). References: 1 Taffy E. Raphael, Teaching Question Answer Relationships, Revisited, The Reading Teacher, Vol. 39, No. 6 (Feb., 1986), pp. 516-522. Ellis, D. (1998). Becoming a Master Student. Houghton Mifflin: Boston IELTS Preparation with Liz: Free IELTS Tips and Lessons, 2024 Test Information FAQ Band Scores IELTS Candidate Success Tips Computer IELTS: Pros & Cons How to Prepare Useful Links & Resources Recommended Books Speaking Part 1 Topics Speaking Part 2 Topics Speaking Part 3 Topics 100 Essay Questions On The Day Tips Top Results Advanced IELTS 100 IELTS Essay Questions Below are practice IELTS essay questions and topics for writing task 2. The 100 essay questions have been used many times over the years. The questions are organised under common topics and essay types. IELTS often use the similar topics for their essays but change the wording of the essay question. In order to prepare well for writing task 2, you should prepare ideas for common topics and then practise applying them to the tasks given (to the essay questions). Also see model essays and tips  for writing task 2. Below you will find: Essay Questions By Topic Essay Questions by Essay Type (for example Opinion, Discussion etc) Please also note that my new Grammar E-book is now available in my store along with my Ideas for Essay Topics E-book and Advanced Writing Lessons. To visit store, click here: IELTS LIZ STORE 1) Common IELTS Essay Questions IELTS practice essay questions divided by topic. These topics have been reported by IELTS students in their tests. Essay questions have been recreated as accurately as possible. Art   (5 essay questions) Business & Money   (17 essay questions) Communication & Personality   (20 essay questions) Crime & Punishment   (12 essay questions) Education   (17 essay questions) Environment   (12 essay questions) Family & Children   (8 essay questions) Food & Diet (13 essay questions) Government (6 essay questions) Health   (9 essay questions) Housing, Buildings & Urban Planning (8 essay questions) Language (6 essay questions) Leisure (1 essay question) Media & Advertising   (12 essay questions) Reading  (5 essay questions) Society   (10 essay questions) Space Exploration (3 questions) Sport & Exercise   (6 essay questions) Technology  (6 essay questions) Tourism and Travel   (11 essay questions) Transport  (7 essay questions) Work (17 essay questions) 2) IELTS Essay Questions by Essay Type  There are 5 main types of essay questions in IELTS writing task 2 (opinion essays, discussion essay, advantage/disadvantage essays, solution essay and direct question essays). Click on the links below to see some sample essay questions for you to practice with at home. Opinion Essay Model Answer with Useful Tips Discussion Essay Model Answer with Useful Tips Solution Essay Model Answer with Useful Tips Direct Questions Model Essay  Adv/Disadv Model Essay with Useful Tips 3) Recent Essay Topics You can also track recent essay topics on this page: IELTS ESSAY TOPICS 2024 Note: you must also prepare all other topics on the page above because questions are recycled each year. FREE SUBSCRIBE Subscribe to get new lessons & tips by email. Email Address Subscribe ADVANCED IELTS LESSONS Recent New Lessons Test yourself with linking words, ielts speaking part 2 cue card topics – 2024, new reading exercise for you (july 2024), ielts gt writing task 1 letter: using the prompts for a high score, ielts writing task 1: multiple charts, graphs and tables. Click Below to Learn: IELTS Test Information Writing Task 1 Writing Task 2 Copyright Notice Copyright © Elizabeth Ferguson, 2014 – 2024 All rights reserved. Privacy Policy & Disclaimer Click here:  Privacy Policy  Click here: Disclaimer Return to top of page Copyright © 2024 · Prose on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in Educational Assessment Advantages and Disadvantages of Different Types of Test Questions October 23, 2018 Maryellen Weimer, PhD It’s good to regularly review the advantages and disadvantages of the most commonly used test questions and the test banks that now frequently provide them. Multiple-choice questions Quick and easy to score, by hand or electronically Can be written so that they test a wide range of higher-order thinking skills Can cover lots of content areas on a single exam and still be answered in a class period Disadvantages Often test literacy skills: “if the student reads the question carefully, the answer is easy to recognize even if the student knows little about the subject” (p. 194) Provide unprepared students the opportunity to guess, and with guesses that are right, they get credit for things they don’t know Expose students to misinformation that can influence subsequent thinking about the content Take time and skill to construct (especially good questions) True-false questions Quick and easy to score Considered to be “one of the most unreliable forms of assessment” (p. 195) Often written so that most of the statement is true save one small, often trivial bit of information that then makes the whole statement untrue Encourage guessing, and reward for correct guesses Short-answer questions Quick and easy to grade Quick and easy to write Encourage students to memorize terms and details, so that their understanding of the content remains superficial Essay questions Offer students an opportunity to demonstrate knowledge, skills, and abilities in a variety of ways Can be used to develop student writing skills, particularly the ability to formulate arguments supported with reasoning and evidence Require extensive time to grade Encourage use of subjective criteria when assessing answers If used in class, necessitate quick composition without time for planning or revision, which can result in poor-quality writing Questions provided by test banks Save instructors the time and energy involved in writing test questions Use the terms and methods that are used in the book Rarely involve analysis, synthesis, application, or evaluation (cross-discipline research documents that approximately 85 percent of the questions in test banks test recall) Limit the scope of the exam to text content; if used extensively, may lead students to conclude that the material covered in class is unimportant and irrelevant We tend to think that these are the only test question options, but there are some interesting variations. The article that promoted this review proposes one: Start with a question, and revise it until it can be answered with one word or a short phrase. Do not list any answer options for that single question, but attach to the exam an alphabetized list of answers. Students select answers from that list. Some of the answers provided may be used more than once, some may not be used, and there are more answers listed than questions. It’s a ratcheted-up version of matching. The approach makes the test more challenging and decreases the chance of getting an answer correct by guessing. Remember, students do need to be introduced to any new or altered question format before they encounter it on an exam. Editor’s note: The list of advantages and disadvantages comes in part from the article referenced here. It also cites research evidence relevant to some of these advantages and disadvantages. Reference: McAllister, D., and Guidice, R.M. (2012). This is only a test: A machine-graded improvement to the multiple-choice and true-false examination. Teaching in Higher Education, 17 (2), 193-207. Reprinted from The Teaching Professor, 28.3 (2014): 8. © Magna Publications. All rights reserved. Stay Updated with Faculty Focus! Get exclusive access to programs, reports, podcast episodes, articles, and more! Opens in a new tab Welcome Back Username or Email Remember Me Already a subscriber? log in here. Purdue Online Writing Lab Purdue OWL® College of Liberal Arts Writing Essays for Exams Welcome to the Purdue OWL This page is brought to you by the OWL at Purdue University. When printing this page, you must include the entire legal notice. Copyright ©1995-2018 by The Writing Lab & The OWL at Purdue and Purdue University. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, reproduced, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without permission. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our terms and conditions of fair use. What is a well written answer to an essay question? Well Focused Be sure to answer the question completely, that is, answer all parts of the question. Avoid "padding." A lot of rambling and ranting is a sure sign that the writer doesn't really know what the right answer is and hopes that somehow, something in that overgrown jungle of words was the correct answer. Well Organized Don't write in a haphazard "think-as-you-go" manner. Do some planning and be sure that what you write has a clearly marked introduction which both states the point(s) you are going to make and also, if possible, how you are going to proceed. In addition, the essay should have a clearly indicated conclusion which summarizes the material covered and emphasizes your thesis or main point. Well Supported Do not just assert something is true, prove it. What facts, figures, examples, tests, etc. prove your point? In many cases, the difference between an A and a B as a grade is due to the effective use of supporting evidence. Well Packaged People who do not use conventions of language are thought of by their readers as less competent and less educated. If you need help with these or other writing skills, come to the Writing Lab How do you write an effective essay exam? Read through all the questions carefully. Budget your time and decide which question(s) you will answer first. Underline the key word(s) which tell you what to do for each question. Choose an organizational pattern appropriate for each key word and plan your answers on scratch paper or in the margins. Write your answers as quickly and as legibly as you can; do not take the time to recopy. Begin each answer with one or two sentence thesis which summarizes your answer. If possible, phrase the statement so that it rephrases the question's essential terms into a statement (which therefore directly answers the essay question). Support your thesis with specific references to the material you have studied. Proofread your answer and correct errors in spelling and mechanics. Specific organizational patterns and "key words" Most essay questions will have one or more "key words" that indicate which organizational pattern you should use in your answer. The six most common organizational patterns for essay exams are definition, analysis, cause and effect, comparison/contrast, process analysis, and thesis-support. Typical questions "Define X." "What is an X?" "Choose N terms from the following list and define them." Q: "What is a fanzine?" A: A fanzine is a magazine written, mimeographed, and distributed by and for science fiction or comic strip enthusiasts. Avoid constructions such as "An encounter group is where ..." and "General semantics is when ... ." State the term to be defined. State the class of objects or concepts to which the term belongs. Differentiate the term from other members of the class by listing the term's distinguishing characteristics. Tools you can use Details which describe the term Examples and incidents Comparisons to familiar terms Negation to state what the term is not Classification (i.e., break it down into parts) Examination of origins or causes Examination of results, effects, or uses Analysis involves breaking something down into its components and discovering the parts that make up the whole. "Analyze X." "What are the components of X?" "What are the five different kinds of X?" "Discuss the different types of X." Q: "Discuss the different services a junior college offers a community." A: Thesis: A junior college offers the community at least three main types of educational services: vocational education for young people, continuing education for older people, and personal development for all individuals. Outline for supporting details and examples. For example, if you were answering the example question, an outline might include: Vocational education Continuing education Personal development Write the essay, describing each part or component and making transitions between each of your descriptions. Some useful transition words include: first, second, third, etc. in addition Conclude the essay by emphasizing how each part you have described makes up the whole you have been asked to analyze. Cause and Effect Cause and effect involves tracing probable or known effects of a certain cause or examining one or more effects and discussing the reasonable or known cause(s). Typical questions: "What are the causes of X?" "What led to X?" "Why did X occur?" "Why does X happen?" "What would be the effects of X?" Q: "Define recession and discuss the probable effects a recession would have on today's society." A: Thesis: A recession, which is a nationwide lull in business activity, would be detrimental to society in the following ways: it would .......A......., it would .......B......., and it would .......C....... . The rest of the answer would explain, in some detail, the three effects: A, B, and C. Useful transition words: consequently for this reason as a result Comparison-Contrast "How does X differ from Y?" "Compare X and Y." "What are the advantages and disadvantages of X and Y?" Q: "Which would you rather own—a compact car or a full-sized car?" A: Thesis: I would own a compact car rather than a full-sized car for the following reasons: .......A......., .......B......., .......C......., and .......D....... . Two patterns of development: Full-sized car Disadvantages Compact car Useful transition words on the other hand unlike A, B ... in the same way while both A and B are ..., only B .. nevertheless on the contrary while A is ..., B is ... "Describe how X is accomplished." "List the steps involved in X." "Explain what happened in X." "What is the procedure involved in X?" Process (sometimes called process analysis) This involves giving directions or telling the reader how to do something. It may involve discussing some complex procedure as a series of discrete steps. The organization is almost always chronological. Q: "According to Richard Bolles' What Color Is Your Parachute?, what is the best procedure for finding a job?" A: In What Color Is Your Parachute?, Richard Bolles lists seven steps that all job-hunters should follow: .....A....., .....B....., .....C....., .....D....., .....E....., .....F....., and .....G..... . The remainder of the answer should discuss each of these seven steps in some detail. following this after, afterwards, after this subsequently simultaneously, concurrently Thesis and Support "Discuss X." "A noted authority has said X. Do you agree or disagree?" "Defend or refute X." "Do you think that X is valid? Defend your position." Thesis and support involves stating a clearly worded opinion or interpretation and then defending it with all the data, examples, facts, and so on that you can draw from the material you have studied. Q: "Despite criticism, television is useful because it aids in the socializing process of our children." A: Television hinders rather than helps in the socializing process of our children because .......A......., .......B......., and .......C....... . The rest of the answer is devoted to developing arguments A, B, and C. it follows that A. Which of the following two answers is the better one? Why? Question: Discuss the contribution of William Morris to book design, using as an example his edition of the works of Chaucer. a. William Morris's Chaucer was his masterpiece. It shows his interest in the Middle Ages. The type is based on medieval manuscript writing, and the decoration around the edges of the pages is like that used in medieval books. The large initial letters are typical of medieval design. Those letters were printed from woodcuts, which was the medieval way of printing. The illustrations were by Burn-Jones, one of the best artists in England at the time. Morris was able to get the most competent people to help him because he was so famous as a poet and a designer (the Morris chair) and wallpaper and other decorative items for the home. He designed the furnishings for his own home, which was widely admired among the sort of people he associated with. In this way he started the arts and crafts movement. b. Morris's contribution to book design was to approach the problem as an artist or fine craftsman, rather than a mere printer who reproduced texts. He wanted to raise the standards of printing, which had fallen to a low point, by showing that truly beautiful books could be produced. His Chaucer was designed as a unified work of art or high craft. Since Chaucer lived in the Middle Ages, Morris decided to design a new type based on medieval script and to imitate the format of a medieval manuscript. This involved elaborate letters and large initials at the beginnings of verses, as well as wide borders of intertwined vines with leaves, fruit, and flowers in strong colors. The effect was so unusual that the book caused great excitement and inspired other printers to design beautiful rather than purely utilitarian books. From James M. McCrimmon, Writing with a Purpose , 7th ed. (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1980), pp. 261-263. B. How would you plan the structure of the answers to these essay exam questions? 1. Was the X Act a continuation of earlier government policies or did it represent a departure from prior philosophies? 2. What seems to be the source of aggression in human beings? What can be done to lower the level of aggression in our society? 3. Choose one character from Novel X and, with specific references to the work, show how he or she functions as an "existential hero." 4. Define briefly the systems approach to business management. Illustrate how this differs from the traditional approach. 5. What is the cosmological argument? Does it prove that God exists? 6. Civil War historian Andy Bellum once wrote, "Blahblahblah blahed a blahblah, but of course if blahblah blahblahblahed the blah, then blahblahs are not blah but blahblah." To what extent and in what ways is the statement true? How is it false? For more information on writing exam essays for the GED, please visit our Engagement area and go to the Community Writing and Education Station (CWEST) resources. How to Write a Thesis That Answers Multiple Questions As part of their entrance exams, many colleges ask students to compose an essay whose thesis statement responds to multiple questions. To respond to multiple questions in an exam prompt, your thesis must first be broad and inclusive enough to cover all the aspects of the assigned topic. For example, in the prompt, “Discuss beekeeping as a successful business model. In your discussion, make sure you address bee management, sales of bee products, and the environmental impact of beekeeping," your thesis might read: “Successful beekeeping can be a good business for a greener environment." Explore this article Determine Your Tone Connect Core Concepts Condense Your Essay Topic Combining Unrelated Ideas 1 Determine Your Tone Decide if you are going to respond in explanatory writing, analytic writing or persuasive writing. If you write your response in explanatory writing, your thesis will be based on factual information and your tone will be formal and impartial. If your response is analytical, your thesis will describe how you will evaluate multiple issues of the topic presented to you. If you decide to respond in persuasive writing, you will support your claims with personal experience, as well as outside sources. In this case, your tone can be more informal and partial. The thesis sentence, “Successful beekeeping can be a good business for a greener environment,” can work for all three types of rhetorical modes. 2 Connect Core Concepts The subjects that you'll need to summarize in a thesis statement may not be related, but you should try to find the common denominator among them. If they do not share a common thread, you can at least find any core concepts that combine them all together. For example, the core concept in the beekeeping article is “beekeeping as a successful business model,” which means you'd need to incorporate this core in your thesis statement. To include the subjects described in the intro, your thesis cannot be too narrow. For example, “Successful beekeeping will generate revenues from selling honey, wax and pollen,” doesn't incorporate all the elements you need. This limited thesis ignores the biological aspects of the profession, as well as the environmental impact of beekeeping, as requested in the original prompt. Similarly, your thesis should not be a sweeping generalization like this: “Beekeeping is good for everything.” Such a thesis is too broad and fails to address the the topic in its entirety. 3 Condense Your Essay Topic Since a thesis statement reflects the main idea of your paper, condensing several hundred words into a mere handful can be difficult. Try writing down the gist of your thesis in two to three sentences. Once you have this distillation, condense it further to come up with your one-sentence thesis statement. 4 Combining Unrelated Ideas Often, the subjects your essay's thesis statement will need to address will contain underlying common denominators. However, when you cannot detect such a common thread, you can simply state the obvious in your thesis: “Beekeeping is a multifaceted business demanding expertise in bee biology, business and marketing acumen, and knowledge of environmental science,” for instance. 1 Indian River State College: Writing an Effective Thesis Statement: p. 1 About the Author Dr. Yoon Kim earned a Ph. D. in English from Oklahoma State University. His editing experience includes Ph.D. dissertations (English), and senior professor’s research articles (Psychology and Education) that are published in peer-reviewed professional journals. Related Articles How to Critique a Dissertation What Is the Chemical Formula for Magnesium Nitrate... 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Accessibility Terms of Use Privacy Policy Copyright Policy Manage Preferences © 2020 Leaf Group Ltd. / Leaf Group Media, All Rights Reserved. Based on the Word Net lexical database for the English Language. See disclaimer . To read this content please select one of the options below: Please note you do not have access to teaching notes, multiple choice questions and essay questions in curriculum. Journal of Applied Research in Higher Education ISSN : 2050-7003 Article publication date: 24 April 2020 Issue publication date: 20 January 2021 Multiple-choice questions (MCQs) and essays and short answer questions are the most common assessment protocols instructors use in their classrooms. However, the reliability and validity of these assessment protocols are controversial. The current study employed a survey research design using Qualtrics to determine the faculty and student perspective on using MCQs and essay and short answer questions in their courses as well as their rationale for the preference. Design/methodology/approach Eighty-five students and 67 faculty within the social sciences discipline participated in the study. 65% of the students strongly preferred MCQs over essays and short answer questions. However, faculty did not show a strong preference for one or the other form of assessment (52.30% selected essays and short answer questions, and 47.69% preferred MCQs) in their courses. The study also explores why the students and faculty prefer one form of assessment over the other. Research limitations/implications The findings of this study helped to understand the current assessment practices in a classroom from a faculty and student perspective. Originality/value This is one of few studies that evaluated the faculty as well as student perspective on the use of MCQs and essays and short answer questions in the curriculum across the social science discipline. Multiple-choice questions Essays and short answer questions Student perspective Faculty perspective Acknowledgements The author would like to thank Ramesh Kaipa for his comments and Rebecca Birdwell for her assistance in collecting the data. Kaipa, R.M. (2021), "Multiple choice questions and essay questions in curriculum", Journal of Applied Research in Higher Education , Vol. 13 No. 1, pp. 16-32. https://doi.org/10.1108/JARHE-01-2020-0011 Emerald Publishing Limited Copyright © 2020, Emerald Publishing Limited Related articles All feedback is valuable. Please share your general feedback Report an issue or find answers to frequently asked questions Contact Customer Support You're signed out Sign in to ask questions, follow content, and engage with the Community Canvas Instructor Instructor Guide How do I create an Essay quiz question? Subscribe to RSS Feed Printer Friendly Page Report Inappropriate Content in Instructor Guide Note: You can only embed guides in Canvas courses. Embedding on other sites is not supported. Community Help View our top guides and resources:. To participate in the Instructure Community, you need to sign up or log in: 327 IMAGES Multiple essay writing How to Answer Extended-Response or Essay Questions Preparing for IELTS Writing: Books, Tips, & Topics Multiple Choice Questions Argumentative Essay General Guidelines for Answering Essay Questions 001 Answering Questions In Essay Format Previous Year Tnpsc Group Ii COMMENTS How would you format one essay that asks two different, separate questions? Traditionally, I've only written essays that have one thesis statement that are supposed to answer one question. Now I'm being asked to answer two separate prompts in one single essay. First prompt: Compare/Contrast two works in [textbook A] Second prompt: Pick two works from one era in [textbook A] PDF PREPARING EFFECTIVE ESSAY QUESTIONS Multiple-choice questions, matching exercises, and true-false items are all examples of selected response test items because they require students to choose an answer ... the essay question is constructed in such a way that it allows for different responses and response patterns. Students can provide a wide variety of examples to illustrate the ... Evaluation of Modified Essay Questions (MEQ) and Multiple Choice Modified Essay Questions (MEQ) and Multiple Choice Questions (MCQ) may both be designed to test these skills. The objectives of this study were to assess the effectiveness of both forms of questions in testing the different levels of the cognitive skills of undergraduate medical students and to detect any item writing flaws in the questions. How to Write a Good Answer to Exam Essay Questions: 13 Steps Start with an introductory paragraph, use 3 paragraphs in the body of the article to explain different points, and finish with a concluding paragraph. It can also be really helpful to draft a quick outline of your essay before you start writing. 3. Choose relevant facts and figures to include. Focus and Precision: How to Write Essays that Answer the Question 2) Be as explicit as possible. Use forceful, persuasive language to show how the points you've made do answer the question. My main focus so far has been on tangential or irrelevant material - but many students lose marks even though they make great points, because they don't quite impress how relevant those points are. Writing Good Multiple Choice Test Questions 1. Avoid complex multiple choice items, in which some or all of the alternatives consist of different combinations of options. As with "all of the above" answers, a sophisticated test-taker can use partial knowledge to achieve a correct answer. 2. Keep the specific content of items independent of one another. How to Answer Essay Questions Create an outline of thoughts and related topics in connection with the essay question. By doing this you are helping yourself create a more organized answer. Construct an idea in each paragraph. Go back to your essay outline if you think you are repeating yourself or not making sense at all. Exam Questions: Types, Characteristics, and Suggestions Examinations are a very common assessment and evaluation tool in universities and there are many types of examination questions. This tips sheet contains a brief description of seven types of examination questions, as well as tips for using each of them: 1) multiple choice, 2) true/false, 3) matching, 4) short answer, 5) essay, 6) oral, and 7) computational. Writing Multiple-Choice Questions for Higher-level Thinking For example, compared to essay questions, multiple-choice questions can be graded faster and more reliably by people other than the instructor, and by the computer. They can also cover a broader scope of the subject in the same amount of time it would take a student to complete one essay question. Writing higher-order multiple-choice questions ... Multiple Choice Questions: Benefits, Debates, and Best Practices Beating the Odds You may have heard these question types called "multiple guess questions.". Of course, guessing is present in any question, though MCQs allow for even the most clueless learner to have a 25% chance. If they can remove even one distractor, their odds have immediately increased to 33%. Short answer and essay questions Why is fibrocartilage tissue the strongest and most resilient connective tissue? Alternative format 2. Comparing adipose tissue and fibrocartilage tissue, discuss reasons for relative strength and resilience of these connective tissues. Example 2: Analytic style multiple choice question or short answer. Answering Short-Answer Essays Contrary to true/false or multiple choice questions, your essay answer must go beyond a simple statement of fact. The professor is looking for the correct answer, yes, but more importantly, for your understanding of the answer. ... With the essay question (short or long), how well you document your answer will often make the difference between ... How to Tackle Exam Questions How to Tackle: Essay Questions The best way to prepare for essay tests is to practice writing essays! Anticipate questions: Make outlines of possible essay topics using your course materials so you know you've got a good grasp of what might be on the test.Then recreate your outlines from memory (unless it's an open-notes test). Practice writing at least one full essay; be mindful of the ... Florida Board of Bar Examiners Study Guides. The Florida Bar Examination Study Guide is updated with the essay questions from the last examination twice annually. The sample multiple-choice questions included in the guide are updated periodically. Each guide is in PDF format and between 200k and 400k in size. March 2024 Study Guide (February 2023 and July 2023 essays) 100 IELTS Essay Questions 100 IELTS Essay Questions. Below are practice IELTS essay questions and topics for writing task 2. The 100 essay questions have been used many times over the years. The questions are organised under common topics and essay types. IELTS often use the similar topics for their essays but change the wording of the essay question. Advantages, Disadvantages of Different Types of Test Questions Maryellen Weimer, PhD. It's good to regularly review the advantages and disadvantages of the most commonly used test questions and the test banks that now frequently provide them. Can be written so that they test a wide range of higher-order thinking skills. Can cover lots of content areas on a single exam and still be answered in a class period. Free CSET Multiple Subjects Test Practice Test (2024) The format for the CSET Multiple Subjects exam generally consists of multiple choice questions, with a couple of essay questions. Each of these three tests has a number of multiple choice questions, ranging from 39 to 52 questions, and three to four short essay questions. The Writing Skills subtest contains two long-form essay questions. Essays for Exams Most essay questions will have one or more "key words" that indicate which organizational pattern you should use in your answer. The six most common organizational patterns for essay exams are definition, analysis, cause and effect, comparison/contrast, process analysis, and thesis-support. Definition. Typical questions. PDF Do Essay and Multiple-choice Questions Measure the Same Thing ... tests: On the one hand, essay questions are thought to assess important learning outcomes that are not well-addressed by multiple-choice (MC) questions. On the other hand, essay questions are much more costly to grade. In addition, the marking of essay questions is less reliable due to the subjective nature of the questions. How to Write a Thesis That Answers Multiple Questions As part of their entrance exams, many colleges ask students to compose an essay whose thesis statement responds to multiple questions. To respond to multiple questions in an exam prompt, your thesis must first be broad and inclusive enough to cover all the aspects of the assigned topic. For example, in the prompt, ... Multiple choice questions and essay questions in curriculum Purpose. Multiple-choice questions (MCQs) and essays and short answer questions are the most common assessment protocols instructors use in their classrooms. However, the reliability and validity of these assessment protocols are controversial. The current study employed a survey research design using Qualtrics to determine the faculty and ... Home Welcome to the Criminal Procedure Library Guide designed to assist J.D. students in mastering course material. This guide offers a comprehensive collection of resources including case briefs, outlines, study aids/hornbooks, practice multiple-choice questions, practice essay questions, and CALI lessons. How do I create an Essay quiz question? To add a custom name to your quiz question, enter the name in the question text field [1]. Custom names can help you identify quiz questions more easily. Regardless of the question name, students always see quiz questions in numerical order (i.e. Question 1, Question 2). Click the drop-down menu and select the Essay question type [2]. Statistical analysis can detect when ChatGPT is used to cheat on ... Use of AI tools such as ChatGPT to cheat on multiple-choice exams has largely gone ignored. ... much of the concern related to its impact on cheating has focused on essays, essay exam questions ... essay homework paper phd project resume review speech study