The Multiple Choice Test:
(1) Remember why profs give multiple choice
tests.
These kinds of exams are easy to grade, so if you’re in a large
class, chances are you’re in for a large number of multiple choice questions.
If you walk into a large lecture hall the first day of class, then you can
almost be assured that your exams will be multiple choice or some version of
it, using a bubble sheet for the answers. Remember also that these exams can be
a real pain in the neck to make out, so your prof is probably not particularly
happy about the exam either, except to the extent that he or she doesn’t have
to prepare a show just to keep you entertained and hopefully make you educated
for 50 minutes. So the main objective is ease of grading and not necessarily
evaluating your knowledge or understanding. A second objective is to separate
students into groups based on class performance. That is, the prof needs some
written evidence to support a decision to award some grade. Again, this second
objective has little or nothing to do with your learning, but everything to do
with your formal record in college.
(2) Remember that multiple choice tests are
actually more exercises in reading than in whatever subject the class concerns.
Students tend to forget this principle, and as a result, end up
losing points unnecessarily. So whatever course you’re taking, study it the
same way you would a foreign language first, then deal with the subject matter
itself. In other words, you have to know the words in order to understand the
language. To illustrate this point, here are a couple of multiple choice
questions from one of my recent exams. The subject is embryological
development.
1. In Protostomia, you would expect (a) the
blastopore to become the anus (b) the anus to become the blastopore (c) the
mouth to become the blastopore (d) the blastopore to become the mouth (e) the
mouth to develop from mesoderm.
2. In radially cleaving embryos (a) the
fate of blastomeres is established in the first cell division (b) the fate of
the blastopore is established by the 4-cell stage (c) the fate of blastomeres
is not determined until at least after the first few cell divisions (d) the
archenteron develops from mesoderm (e) none of these.
Now,
here are the same questions but with the vocabulary words (foreign language of
biology) replaced with gibberish:
1. In wnitlnlcy, you would expect (a) the
xclapic to become the ipxhp (b) the nmnm to become the xclapic (c) the trtrtz
to become the xclapic (d) the xclapic blastopore to become the trtrtz (e) the
trtrtz to ghjklnm from cvbzoupwty.
2. In prritzx rucbwyx eicvbasms (a) the
ewrt of hklwuciths is plknytxcvb in the first pgksl rycbnqtzx (b) the ewrt of
the xclapic is plknytxcvb by the 4-pgksl wtxvnqm (c) the ewrt of hklwuciths is
not etdsytpmlk until at least after the first few pgksl rycbnqtzxs (d) the
tcbnsxuiqb ghjklnms from cvbzoupwty (e) none of these.
Obviously there is no way you’re going to be able to answer such
questions, or even to guess intelligently, until you learn what those words
mean and can use them in sentences in the same manner as does the writer of
such questions.
There will be some classes in which multiple choice questions
actually require that you solve a problem of some other kind in order to find
the correct answer. Chemistry and physics courses are notorious for these kinds
of questions. Depending on how long the exam is, such tests, and multiple
choice tests in general, may place a real premium on the speed with which you work,
regardless of your intelligence or preparation. This premium on speed is
especially evident in large classes.
(3) Remember that often, if not usually,
multiple choice questions are simply complete sentences that are either true or
false.
In the above examples all you have to do is look at the
introductory phrase and the answers to realize that each of the five answers,
when combined with the introductory phrase, makes a complete sentence. Then all
you have to decide is whether each complete sentence is either true or false
(typically easier said than done). When introductory phrase + answer make a
false sentence that fact is usually revealed by a key word or two.
(4) Key words are the key to answering
multiple choice questions.
In the first of the above questions, “Prostomia” is the key word
because the very definition of that term is choice (a). In the second of those
questions, “radially” and “fate” are the two key words, leading immediately to
choice (c). Even though the subject is biology in this case, the principles
apply to almost every course in which multiple choice questions are given on
exams. If you visit your prof after performing poorly on a multiple choice
exam, chances are that he or she will pull out a copy of the exam and start
through a few questions, circling key words in the process. Looking for key
words is a way of learning to read such exams the same way your prof does.
(5) Try not to change correct answers to
incorrect ones.
Every time I get a bubble sheet back from the graders, I see
questions that students have changed from right to wrong. I’m not really sure
why this change happens, but when I talk to these students, it seems like
they’re trying to outguess me instead of dealing with the question itself. So
my advice is to always read the question literally, and not try to guess what
the prof might or might not have intended.
Only the most bored and sadistic profs try to devise trick
questions or demand that you read their minds in order to answer correctly. The
vast majority of profs are busy as hell, irritated because they have to make
out an exam, and eager to get the test over so they can get back to this major
ego trip called “lecturing.” So they’re not likely to waste time trying to make
questions ambiguous and obscure psychic exercises, at least on purpose; most of
them, however, are quite capable of writing such questions by accident or out
of self-delusion, thinking they are perfectly clear.
(6) If you’re allowed to comment on
questions, do it.
If you’re unsure about a particular answer or feel like a
question is not a good one, then always (always!) make the comment in writing,
using the phrase “I answered question with choice ___ because . . .” In most
cases, you’ll get the question correct anyway because thinking through your
reasons helps you with the rationale for choosing between options.
(7) Make sure you answer all the questions.
Again, this is a very simple rule, although some profs are very
devious and try to design multiple choice tests that either penalize you for
guessing or give you choices that specify two or more other choices. My advice
is to avoid these profs if at all possible.
(8) Always, ALWAYS, keep your exams if
allowed to, record the correct answers, and use these old exams to study for
the final.
You’d be surprised at how many students ignore this obvious
rule. Profs can be quite lazy and therefore use the same questions over and
over again. I’ve often used the same test questions multiple times and even
given students the questions in advance. Statistically, this behavior on my
part makes little or no difference in class averages because so many students
ignore my advice to study the questions before the test.
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