Haladyna T. M. et al. (2019): “The evidence is mounting regarding the guidance to employ more three-option multiple-choice items. From theoretical analyses, empirical results, and practical considerations, such items are of equal or higher quality than four- or five-option items, and more items can be administered to improve content coverage.”
Hey, don’t look at us like that – we’re nerds, of course we read the papers!
If your questions test irrelevant phone numbers turkey or trivial information, then the results from your eLearning assessment won’t represent what your learner knows and can do.
Ask yourself:
Is my question clearly testing one of my learning objectives?
Is my learning objective aimed at a high enough level to make sure my learners can do what they need to do after taking the course?
Check out the following diagram for a quick explanation of learning levels:
Remember: The learner can recall or recognise information they learned. However, they may not truly understand that information. Understand: The learner has a much more in-depth understanding of the information they learned than at the Remember level. Apply: The learner can apply the information they learned in the real-world to solve real-life problems and carry out real-life tasks
This is a modified version of the classic Bloom’s Taxonomy as suggested by multiple-choice question expert Patti Shank in her excellent book Write Better Multiple-Choice Questions To Assess Learning. In the past few years some assessment experts like Patti have been exploring alternatives to Bloom’s Taxonomy – but, that’s a topic for another day!