How to Write Multiple Choice Exams


You will be expected to demonstrate your Social Studies knowledge,skills,and understandings through a variety of multiple choice questions. Multiple choice questions are asked throughout the course.

Part B of the Alberta Provincial Diploma exam consists of 60 multiple choice questions worth 50% of your Provincial Diploma mark.

There are several types of multiple choice questions. Some are designed to test your knowledge and others are designed to test your ability to evaluate and synthesize the information that is presented. Some are based on a source and others are not. While there is no substitute for knowing your subject, there are some skills and attitudes that you can obtain that will make test writing easier.

  • First, begin with a positive attitude. You have spent years developing your skills and knowledge in Social Studies. You have written many tests and quizzes. See the exam as a challenge to be surmounted!
  • Second, take your time. Skim the entire exam before you start, noting any areas that might be challenging such as long readings.
  • Third, use your test paper in a way that works for you. If you need to write on it to make review notes, cross out incorrect answers, or highlight areas you need to go back to, go ahead.

A question stem is the actual question being asked. Sometimes it has a question mark at the end, or sometimes it is the first part of a sentence that the correct answer completes.

A distracter is the name given to the alternatives from which you must choose the correct answer. They are called "distracters" because they are designed to do just that-distract you from choosing the right answer.

A source or selection is the required information you will need to complete a source based question. It may be a reading passage, an image, a graph, a chart, a diagram or a cartoon.

Understanding and Analysis These questions test your knowledge of important events, ideas, and people.

 Example:
  1. Economist John Maynard Keynes greatly influenced the evolution of economic liberalism by advocating for

A. governments to use fiscal and monetary policies to more closely regulate the economy and thus prevent excessive fluctuations in the economic cycle
B. corporations to work cooperatively rather than competitively to ensure that the prices for goods and services could be set by their collective decisions
C. consumers to be informed as to the environmental and labour practices of businesses and make ethical decisions when purchasing goods and services
D. labourers to use collective action to bring about the nationalization of the productive forces of the nation and thus ensure sustainable economic growth

Evaluation and Synthesis These questions test your ability to apply your knowledge and skills. You will need to select the best answer from several options by discriminating between several alternatives that have an element of truth. These questions include bold-faced terms such as most, mainly, or primarily. Often, all the alternatives are correct to some degree, but one of them will be best because of the context established by the question.


Use the following information to answer question 2.

Some scholars have adamantly argued that a number of the founding fathers of the American government in the eighteenth century were significantly influenced by their observations and knowledge of the First Nations societies to which they had been exposed as members of early colonial American society. These scholars contend that the democratic structures and civil liberties of the United States were developed by these men using their learning of First Nations societies to inform their creation of the foundation documents of the United States. Other scholars dispute such claims, in some cases making the accusation that revisionist history is being created to achieve political aims. These scholars argue that the constitutional foundations for the government of the United States were influenced almost exclusively by ideas that evolved in Western civilization from the time of ancient Greece through the Enlightenment period. Complicating the debate is the fact that none of the founding fathers or First Nations representatives can be questioned in an effort to discover what role First Nations societies played or did not play in the creation of the government of the United States.


 
  1. If this source was being considered for use in a research project, it would be most appropriately used

A. as a summation of the arguments of one side on an important issue
B. to identify resources from which research information can be gathered
C. as a primary document that can be quoted and cited as historical evidence
D. to establish the context for which exploration of an issue can be undertaken

DO

DON'T
  1. Make sure you understand the question being asked. If you find it confusing, review what you know and to reword the question on paper or in your head. Highlight terms in bold and other key words to help clarify the meaning of the question.
  2. Read the question in full and formulate an answer before reading the distracters. Select the alternative that is closest to your own.
  3. In the stem, pay attention to words such as most, primarily and mainly. These terms indicate distractors that may only be partially correct. You must discriminate between the alternatives and select the one that is the most correct.
  4. In the distracters, watch for terms such as as always or never. They may indicate a false option. Look for options such as often or sometimes because they are more likely true.
  5. In a source based question, read the question before you read the source so that you are clear about what you are looking for. In a source based question, analyze the source carefully. Look for details in the text or image. Make sure to read any footnotes, descriptions or captions for images as they will help you find the correct answer.
  6. Consider all the alternatives carefully before choosing the answer you think is best. If two of the possible choices seem to have exactly the same meaning, look for subtle differences.
  7. If there are none, disqualify both of them.
  1. Panic! Remain calm and go through the exam to find questions you are comfortable with. Answer those first.
  2. Spend too much time on questions you don't know. If you are stuck on a question, eliminate the alternatives that you know are incorrect. Choose from the ones that are left, using a logical guessing strategy.
  3. Leave any questions blank even if you are unsure of the correct answer. A penalty is not given for guessing the answer.
  4. Change your answers unless you have a good reason for changing an answer. Do not change an answer on a hunch.
  5. Waste your time looking for patterns of As, Bs, Cs, and Ds. There are none.