Multiple Choice Questions

The original version of each question is followed by the problems with it and a possible corrected version. Note that there are many ways in which each question might be corrected. The corrections here are not necessarily the best or most creative. See what you can come up with!

1. Benjamin Franklin:

a. was an inventor
b. was one of the Founding Fathers
c. helped establish America's first public library
d. all of the above
e. none of the above

Problems:

1. The stem does not pose a complete question

2. "All of the above" and "None of the above" are used as options

Possible Correction:

1. Benjamin Franklin was a successful inventor. Which of the following inventions is he most famous for?

a. electricity
b. the lightning rod
c. the steam engine
d. the telephone

2. Which is the best definition for a vein?

a. A blood vessel carrying blood going to the heart.
b. A blood vessel carrying blue blood.
c. A blood vessel carrying impure blood.
d. A blood vessel carrying blood away from the heart.

Problems:

1. Recurring words in each of the options

2. Perhaps plausible distractors (really - blue blood?)

Possible Correction:

2. The vein is a blood vessel in the human body that does which of the following?

a. filters and purifies blood
b. distributes blood to the extremities
c. carries blood to the heart
d. connects a capillary to an artery

3. Which of these animals is NOT a carnivore?

a. bear
b. eagle
c. deer
d. hawk
e. wolf

Problems:

1. The stem is negatively worded

2. You might also argue that the options are not part of a homogenous set

Possible Correction:

3. Are the following animals carnivores, herbivores, or omnivores? Circle C for carnivores, H for herbivores, or O for omnivores.

a. bear
C
H
O
b. cougar
C
H
O
c. deer
C
H
O
d. moose
C
H
O
e. wolf
C
H
O

4. What was a result of the supreme court decision in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka?

a. initiation of a draft lottery
b. establishment of legal abortion clinics
c. reading of suspect’s rights upon arrest
d. desegregation of public schools

Problems:

1. There is a clue to the answer in the stem (education - public schools)

Possible Correction:

4. What was a result of the supreme court decision in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka?

a. public schools were no longer segregated by race
b. public employees were allowed to work in religious schools
c. schools were allowed to censor for valid educational reasons
d. school districts were required to provide busing for private school students

5. Magnets are materials that attract iron or steel. Magnets have several different uses including adhering items to refrigerators, holding cabinet doors closed, finding North, and even creating electricity and healing ailments! One object that can be magnetized is a _______. This is done by rubbing the object on one of the magnet's _______.

a. nail; atoms
b. egg; poles
c. fork; atoms
d. nail; poles

Problems:

1. There is not grammatical consistency between the stem and some of the options

2. There are numerous superfluous words in the stem

3. The question is attempting to address more than one problem.

4. An egg is not really a plausible distracter.

Possible Correction:

5. Which of the following objects can be magnetized?

a. paper clip
b. sewing needle
c. craft wire
d. nail

Before you write your own multiple choice questions, I'd like to provide a few more guidelines on writing good distracters and writing questions that assess more than factual recall. Click Next below to continue.