10 Tips for Writing Multiple Choice Questions

Multiple Choice Questions are a great way to test and certify members of your organization, but it’s important to test for the right information. It’s not enough if your team members know how to pass a test. They need to be able to recall and apply what they learn

Here are our best tips for writing Multiple Choice Questions that engage your users and help them excel in their work:

1. Keep Option Lengths Similar
Avoid making your correct answer the long or short answer.

2. Balance the Placement of the Correct Answer
Correct answers are usually the second or third option, but you can occasionally make them first or last, too.

3. Be Grammatically Correct
Use simple, precise, and unambiguous wording. Have someone review the test in advance, so they can find clues, grammatical mistakes, and punctuation errors.

4. Avoid Clues to the Correct Answer
Avoid answering one question in the test by giving the answer somewhere else in the test.  As well, avoid extremes: never, always, only.

5. Avoid Negative Questions
Users may be able to find incorrect answers without knowing the correct answer. Most test experts agree negative questions should be avoided.

6. Use Only One Correct Option
The item should include one and only one correct, or clearly best answer and alternatives should be mutually exclusive while not overlapping.

7. Avoid the “All of the Above” Option
Users need to recognize only two correct options to get the right answer.

8.  Avoid the “None of the Above” Option
You will never know if students know the correct answer.

9. Use Memory Plus Questions
These questions require users to recall principles, rules or facts in a real-life context. Write the question in a typical life context that requires the user to first recall the facts and then apply it to the situation.

MEMORY PLUS EXAMPLE:

1. Joe’s breakfast this morning included one glass of orange juice (from concentrate), one slice of toast, a small bowl of bran cereal and a grapefruit. What “whole food” did Joe eat for breakfast?(Memory Plus Question Format)

a. orange juice
b. toast
c. bran cereal
d. grapefruit

2. Which item is the best characterization of a whole food? (Basic question format)

a. toast
b. bran cereal
c. orange juice
d. grapefruit


10.  When using Veelo for Exams or Certifications, introduce the test with an objective and provide clear instructions.

EXAMPLES:

Questions 1 - 10 are multiple-choice questions designed to assess your ability to remember or recall basic and foundational components of your Week 1 Training. Please read each question carefully before selecting your final answer.

Questions 1 - 10 are multiple-choice questions designed to assess your ability to think critically about the subject.  Be aware that some questions may seem to have more than one right answer, but you are to look for the one that makes the most sense and is the most correct. Please read each question carefully before selecting your final answer.

Other Helpful Links:

Adding Knowledge Checks to a PAK

Creating and Editing To-Do's