Below is a quick activity that is easily adaptable for most class settings. It maximizes the effectiveness of multiple-choice questions and is a wonderful way for students and teachers to assess student learning. I really like this activity, because unlike most involving multiple-choice questions, this template makes use of all answer choices and requires students effortfully work with all of the material.
Another reason I really like this is its ability to cover a lot of material in a few questions. If you have 10 questions with 5 answer choices, the students could feasibly interact with 50 different snippets of material. As you can see below, the student has to interact with the question stems in various ways:
- With the correct answer the student must either provide a memory aid they used to help them choose this answer OR provide a sketch that illustrates the term or concept covered.
- With the incorrect answers, students must:
- Use the ‘trickiest’ incorrect answer to describe why this answer is most likely to trip up students and potentially lead students to choosing this answer.
- Rewrite the question to make this incorrect answer the correct answer.
- Give an example relating this answer to the student’s life.
- Link this answer to information from a previous lesson/unit or to information learned from another class.
How can you use this in your class?
How could you modify the template for use as a study guide, for homework, or as a quiz grade in class?
What other ideas do you have to help students interact with the answers?
