Multiple-choice questions are not the pariah of all test questions. They can make students think and measure their mastery of material. But they can also do little more than measure mastery of memorization. Memorizing is usually an easier option than thinking and truly understanding.
Biologist Kathrin Stanger-Hall wondered what would happen if she changed the exam format in her large introductory biology courses. Would a change in format, specifically the inclusion of short-answer questions, affect how students studied? Would having to construct responses improve scores on the final exam? And, perhaps most important, would it improve performance on multiple-choice questions that tested higher-level thinking skills? Read more...
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