Multiple Choice Exams

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Learning Strategies

Whether you love them or hate them there are specific techniques you can use to be successful when answering multiple choice questions. Multiple choice exams are not simply about recognition, the information in the questions can be complex and involve thinking for synthesis, analysis and application. Sometimes the material can be unrecognizable, and being unprepared can make them even more challenging. Multiple choice exams require careful reading a= nd analysis of the question and possible answers.

Strategies for Writing Multiple Choice Exams

· &n= bsp; Start with the multiple choice questions, just reading the question and alternatives can help you recall informat= ion needed for completing the other questions

· &n= bsp; First, cover up the answers and read the question. Take a guess ab= out what the answer will be. = Only then should you uncover and read all the options. This is especially helpful if your strength is essay exams

· &n= bsp; Read the questions carefully.

· &n= bsp; Answer the questions that you are 100% s= ure of first and put a “?” next to the ones that require more thought

· &n= bsp; Eliminate any alternatives that you know= are not correct

· &n= bsp; Read the stem with each alternative, loo= k at what sounds correct and eliminate any that are not grammatically correc= t

· &n= bsp; Look for negatives in the stem, such as “not”, “none”, “neither”, “never”, then the correct answer must be a fact or absolute, this is also true for superlatives, such as “every”, “all”, “always”, and in the social sciences absolutes are rare.

· &n= bsp; Consider the “all of the aboveR= 21; or “none of the above” options; examine the answers to see = if all of them or none of them totally applies.

· &n= bsp; Never change your initial answer unless = you can find a clear reason why your first response is incorrect. We tend to second guess ourselves and change answers that are actually correct the first time!

· &n= bsp; Always do the practice questions in your study guide, text book website etc,- sometimes multiple choice questions are created by the publisher of the text book and the profess= or chooses the ones they want, therefore you can sometimes find your pract= ice questions on the exam

For more information plea= se see the following websites:

http://www.yorku.ca/cdc/lsp/eponline/exam4.htm

http://www.socialpsychology.org/testtips.htm

h= ttp://www.sdc.uwo.ca/learning/mcwrit.html

http://www.studygs.net/tsttak3.htm

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