Research shows that way too many multiple-choice questions have serious writing flaws that damage assessment quality and validity, making the data from these questions hard or impossible to interpret. Poorly written multiple-choice questions can cause serious problems for participants and organizations, so we need to avoid them!  

In this session, we’ll analyze some of the top multiple-choice question-writing flaws, including using all of the above and none of the above as answer choices. You’ll gain practice, leave with a helpful job aid to remind you, and improve your multiple-choice question-writing skills.

In this session, you’ll:

• Analyze why writing flaws can damage assessment validity and fairness.
• Analyze some of the top multiple-choice question-writing flaws.
• Practice fixing these multiple-choice question-writing flaws.

Patti Shank PhD is the author of Write Better Multiple-Choice Questions to Assess Learning, Write and Organize for Deeper Learning, Practice and Feedback for Deeper Learning, and Manage Memory for Deeper Learning. She’s an internationally recognized instructional designer, researcher, and learning analyst who makes these tactics clear and actionable in her books and courses.

Books by Patti Shank, Ph.D., CPT