The purpose of the research is to examine the effect of different response formats on student performance on introductory accounting exam questions. The study analyzes 1104 accounting students' responses to quantitative questions presented in two formats: multiple-choice and fill-in. Findings indicate that response format impacts student…

Learning science requires higher-level (critical) thinking skills that need to be practiced in science classes. This study tested the effect of exam format on critical-thinking skills. Multiple-choice (MC) testing is common in introductory science courses, and students in these classes tend to associate memorization with MC questions and may not…

Multiple-choice item-writing guideline research is in its infancy. Haladyna (2004) calls for a science of item-writing guideline research. The purpose of this study is to respond to such a call. The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of student ability and method for varying the location of correct answers in classroom multiple-choice…

There is much debate on the merits and pitfalls of standardized tests for college admission, with questions regarding the format (multiple-choice versus constructed response), cognitive complexity, and content of these assessments (achievement versus aptitude) at the forefront of the discussion. This study addressed these questions by…

The reliability and validity of multiple-choice tests were computed as a function of the number of options per item and student ability for 435 parochial high school juniors, who were administered the Washington Pre-College Test Battery. Results suggest the efficacy of the three-option item. (SLD)

A study correlated the results of 25 medical school course examinations (largely multiple-choice), a standardized critical thinking inventory, undergraduate and medical school grade point averages, and medical college admissions test scores for 196 preclinical medical students. Findings suggest that objective multiple-choice examinations can at…

Presented at the Annual National Council on Measurement in Education (NCME) in New York in March 2008. This presentation explores how different item weighting can affect the effective weights, validity coefficents and test reliability of composite scores among test takers.