Multiple-Choice Testing: Question and Response Position

Bresnock, Anne E.; Graves, Philip E.; White, Nancy

doi:10.2307/1182299

Cited by 9 publications

(12 citation statements)

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“…However, they noted that questions have been raised regarding whether the order of test items influences student performance. Others like Bresnock, Graves and White [5] have expressed similar reservations.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 92%

The Impact of Item Position in Multiple-choice Test on Student Performance at the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) Level

Ollennu¹,

Etsey²

2015

ujer

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The study investigated the impact of item position in multiple-choice test on student performance at the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) level in Ghana. The sample consisted of 810 Junior Secondary School (JSS) Form 3 students selected from 12 different schools. A quasi-experimental design was used. The instrument for the project was a multiple-choice test consisting of 40 items in each of English Language, Mathematics and Science. The items were arranged using the difficulty order to obtain the three treatments i.e. Random (RDM), Easy-to-Hard (ETH) and Hard-to-Easy (HTE). The data collected were subjected to statistical analysis using ANOVA at .05 level of significance. The results of the analysis indicate that for English Language, Mathematics and Science at the BECE level, when item order was altered, the difference in performance was statistically significant. The study led to the conclusion that the proposition of using reordering of items of an objective test to curb examination malpractice may not be the best after all especially in English Language, Mathematics and Science at the BECE level. It was therefore recommended that other methods should be investigated for the purpose.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 92%

The Impact of Item Position in Multiple-choice Test on Student Performance at the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) Level

Ollennu¹,

Etsey²

2015

ujer

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“…One answer order effect that may be important at an exam level exists when one version of the exam contains a significantly larger number of correct answers in the first position, while the other version contains a large number of correct answers in the last position . This observation may correspond to intuition about test taking.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Investigating Factors That Influence Item Performance on ACS Exams

2012

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General chemistry tests from the Examinations Institute of the Division of Chemical Education of the American Chemical Society have been analyzed to identify factors that may influence how individual test items perform. In this paper, issues of item order (position within a set of items that comprise a test) and answer order (position of correct answer relative to incorrect distractors) are discussed. Answer order is identified as potentially important, particularly for conceptually based items. When the correct answer appears earlier among the answer choices, there is some greater propensity for student performance to be better. Item-order effects are also possible, particularly when students encounter several challenging items consecutively. Performance on the next item may be lower than expected, possibly because of cognitive-load effects. In this paper, issues of item order (position within a set of items that comprise a test) and answer order (position of correct answer relative to incorrect distractors) are discussed. Answer order is identified as potentially important, particularly for conceptually based items. When the correct answer appears earlier among the answer choices, there is some greater propensity for student performance to be better. Item-order effects are also possible, particularly when students encounter several challenging items consecutively. Performance on the next item may be lower than expected, possibly because of cognitive-load effects.

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“…There has also been a considerable amount of research investigating the impact of changing distractor position on the difficulty level of multiple-choice items and test scores. Some researchers focused on the optimal ordering of distractors (e.g., Mosier & Price, 1945; Tellinghuisen & Sulikowski, 2008), whereas the other have evaluated the effects of altering the position of the correct answer relative to the positions of distractors (e.g., Attali & Bar-Hillel, 2003; Bresnoc, Graves, & White, 1989; Cizek, 1994; McNamara & Weitzman, 1945). One of the earliest studies on distractor positions was conducted by McNamara and Weitzman (1945).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…An interesting finding from McNamara and Weitzman’s (1945) study was that when the correct answer was next to the last response option (i.e., the third position in a four-option item or the fourth position in a five-option item), the items became more difficult. Bresnoc et al (1989) reported that undergraduate students who took an economics exam performed better when the correct answer was placed in the first position, whereas the same students performed worse when the correct answer was placed in the last position. The researchers argued that students tend to fail to choose the correct answer presented in the last position because reading the preceding distractors may lead to confusion.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Developing, Analyzing, and Using Distractors for Multiple-Choice Tests in Education: A Comprehensive Review

Gierl

Bulut

Guo

et al. 2017

Review of Educational Research

161

116

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Multiple-choice testing is considered one of the most effective and enduring forms of educational assessment that remains in practice today. This study presents a comprehensive review of the literature on multiple-choice testing in education focused, specifically, on the development, analysis, and use of the incorrect options, which are also called the distractors. Despite a vast body of literature on multiple-choice testing, the task of creating distractors has received much less attention. In this study, we provide an overview of what is known about developing distractors for multiple-choice items and evaluating their quality. Next, we synthesize the existing guidelines on how to use distractors and summarize earlier research on the optimal number of distractors and the optimal ordering of distractors. Finally, we use this comprehensive review to provide the most up-to-date recommendations regarding distractor development, analysis, and use, and in the process, we highlight important areas where further research is needed.

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Multiple-Choice Testing: Question and Response Position

Cited by 9 publications

References 0 publications

The Impact of Item Position in Multiple-choice Test on Student Performance at the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) Level

The Impact of Item Position in Multiple-choice Test on Student Performance at the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) Level

Investigating Factors That Influence Item Performance on ACS Exams

Developing, Analyzing, and Using Distractors for Multiple-Choice Tests in Education: A Comprehensive Review

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