I happen to think most multiple choice tests do not help students to think. For instance:
Between 1960 and 1990, what inventions most changed the way people in the United States work?
A. The Type-Writer
B. The Computer
C. The Superconductor
D. The Radio
This question, using the qualifier “most changed” will confuse the majority of students who take the test. I remember, time after time, in high school when subjective questions like this were asked, but the teacher only wanted one answer. I might be able to explain how the type-writer changed society, how the computer changed society, how the superconductor changed society, and how the radio changed society, but on what criteria am I supposed to judge “most changed.” Each invention changed the way people work in different ways, but to try and define “most changed” is a subjective question. A teacher might arbitrarily give us an “answer” to the question, but it would just be fact to be memorized. In other words, this question does not test the way a student thinks, but tests to see if a student can listen and repeat what a teacher wants.
Or take this question:
O Freedom!
O Freedom!
O Freedom over me!
And before I’d be slave
I’d be buried in my grave,
And go home to my Lord and be Free!
This song was associated with:
A. the temperance movement
B. the civil rights movement
C. pioneers on the Oregon Trail.
D. Farmers in the dust bowl during the great depression
The student is not being tested on their knowledge of the civil rights movement, but whether, by process of elimination, they can find the “right” answer. The question really does not test knowledge because students can find the answer without knowing anything any of the movements. They would probably already know from the past that Freedom and “lord” are part of the African-American community and thus they would choose answer B.
We need to think of better ways to assess students based on student thinking (rather than just being able to repeat things back to teachers).
