A common feature of many assessment plans is the use of multiple-choice questions. Although there are criticisms of multiple-choice questions, this assessment format is here to stay--multiple-choice questions are effective means of evaluation in large classes, central to many licensing and entry exams, used in most adaptive learning platforms, and…

Knowledge tracing (KT) is a method to evaluate a student's knowledge state (KS) based on their historical problem-solving records by predicting the next answer's binary correctness. Although widely applied to closed-ended questions, it lacks a detailed option tracing (OT) method for assessing multiple-choice questions (MCQs). This paper introduces…

The rapid advancement of artificial intelligence technologies, their pervasive use in every field, and the growing understanding of the benefits they bring have led actors in the education sector to pursue research in this field. In particular, the use of artificial intelligence tools has become more prevalent in the education sector due to the…

Taking a test improves memory for that tested information, a finding referred to as the testing effect. Multiple-choice tests tend to produce smaller testing effects than do cued-recall tests, and this result is largely attributed to the different processing that the two formats are assumed to induce. Specifically, it is generally assumed that the…

This paper describes an experience based on the use of an active method in which students of a basic physics course prepare multiple choice questions (MCQs) to prepare for exams in the subject. The objective of the research was to provide the students with a method that would enhance their desire to learn physics, and consequently lead to an…

While generating multiple-choice questions has been shown to promote deep learning, students often fail to realize this benefit and do not willingly participate in this activity. Additionally, the quality of the student-generated questions may be influenced by both their level of engagement and familiarity with the learning materials. Towards…

This paper reports on the development and piloting of a new model of multiplechoice question (MCQ) assessment used in two undergraduate degree modules at a tertiary university. The new model was purposefully designed to promote deeper learning closely aligned with the SOLO taxonomy. Students were invited to participate in an exploratory…

While research and practice centred around students and academics working together to co-create in the higher level sector has increased, co-creation in assessment remains relatively rare in a higher education context. It is acknowledged in the literature that deeper comprehension of content can be realised when students author their own questions…

Suppose learners use their free time to go online to review course materials, and they do so by taking optional tests that consist of multiple-choice questions (MCQs). What will happen if, for every practice question, there is always a choice (out of four possible choices) that is marked as "the (current) hot choice?" Will this make any…

Diagnostic assessments are intended to support teachers' instructional decision making by providing instructionally relevant information. In this article, we propose that using cognitive theories of learning to design diagnostic assessments can provide teachers with two diagnostic outcomes: (a) the location of a student's thinking within the…

College students were trained on a hierarchical mapping technique designed to facilitate prose processing. The students studied a geology passage and five days later were given four types of tests. The treatment group significantly outperformed a control group; the major differences were attributable to concept cloze and essay exams. (Author/RD)

The selection of wrong answers for multiple choice tests appears not to be blind guessing, as the current theory assumes, but represents systematic choice based upon the ways in which learners extract meaning and solve problems. It appears the departures from "expected" answers arise when the learner interprets the question in a manner different…