Are Multiple Choice Questions Testing All Levels of Bloom's Taxonomy?

According to Ron Berk (a keynote speaker and Professor Emeritus of Johns Hopkins University), the multiple choice question "holds world records in the categories of most popular, most unpopular, most misused, most loved and most hated" of all test questions.  Because of the many students teachers see each day and the little time teachers have to make tests and then grade them, multiple choice questions have become one of the favorite type of testing questions in education.  We see them on state assessments, national assessments, ACT tests, college tests, driving license tests, etc.  However, those who consistently use them aren't all that crazy about them and with good cause.

First of all, answering multiple choice questions doesn't teach students how to formulate answers; it teaches them how to select answers.  Many times choosing the right answer is more a literary skill rather than of content knowledge.  Multiple choice questions promote guessing, and if a guess is right, students get credit for something they didn't know.  Moreover, the instructor is deceived into thinking the student understands the concepts being tested.

Many multiple choice questions do not challenge students to think.  Instead they encourage the students to memorize.  In my opinion, test bank questions are the worst.  A simple analysis of this type of question in a variety of disciplines suggests that about 85% of the multiple choice questions test lower level knowledge, levels I (remembering) or II (understanding) of Bloom's Taxonomy.

I can do it!

When I first started at the community college where I teach math, the math assessments which the department used were mostly multiple choice.  I asked about testing our students using levels V or VI of Bloom's and the reaction I received was disheartening.  One instructor implied that our math students would be unable to answer such questions.  I guess his expectations were a great deal lower than mine. I am positive he hadn't read an article by two professors at Kansas State University.

According to Victoria Clegg and William Cashin of K.U., "Many college teachers believe the myth that the multiple choice question is only a superficial exercise - a multiple guess - requiring little thought and less understanding from the student.  It is true that many multiple choice items are superficial, but that is the result of poor test craftsmanship and not an inherent limitation of the item type.  A well designed multiple choice item can test high levels of student learning, including all six levels of Bloom's Taxonomy of cognitive objectives."  (Idea Paper No. 16, Sept. 1986)

So what are some things that make challenging multiple choice questions? Let's take a multiple choice test to help us answer that question.

Choose the best answer.  Which multiple choice question is the hardest to answer?

1. The one where it’s absolutely obvious that all choices are wrong answers.
2. The one where the question and/or answers are so badly written that two or more answers could be correct depending on how the student interprets the question.
3. The one where the list of possible answers are true or false; it depends on how the the student reads the question.
4. The one question where it is really two questions in one, but the options only answer one part of the question.
5. All of the above – except that there is no "all of the above" option given.

I trust you see the humor in this question.  Unfortunately, I have seen one or all of the above on math tests given in our department.

Now let's look at two different multiple choice questions from a mealworm test available on Teachers Pay Teachers.  The first one is pretty straight forward and requires little thinking on the part of the student. On Bloom's, it would represent a level I question - remembering.

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Which tool will help you best see the mealworm up close?

1. Ruler
2. Mirror
3. Hands Lens
4. Eyedropper

The next question from the same test requires the student to understand what a good scientific investigative question is. This would be a level IV question which is analyzing.

Which question can be answered by investigating?

1. Will the mealworm eat the fruit?
2. How far can a mealworm travel?
3. Will more mealworms go to the paper with an apple slice on it or to the one with no fruit on it.
4. Why do mealworms move?

How about this one from a butterfly test?  (also available on TPT)  What level of Bloom's does it represent?

How does the life cycle of a butterfly differ from the life cycle of a frog?

1. Only the butterfly has an egg.

   

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2. Only the butterfly has an adult stage.
3. Only the frog has a tadpole.
4. Only the frog has a pupa.

Again it is level IV because the student is asked to compare; yet, this test is for the grades 3-5 while the meal worm test is for grades 5-8.  I give you examples from both so you can see that challenging multiple choice questions can be written for most grade levels.

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If you would like help writing good, challenging questions of all kinds, you might check out Bloom's Taxonomy Made Simple.  It is a five page handout that breaks the six levels of Bloom's down into workable, friendly parts, using the familiar story of The Three Little Pigs. Examples of good ideas of how to write assessment questions using all six levels of Bloom's are given.  For your practice, a follow-up activity of 16 questions is included.

Getting Students to Work Together in Cooperative Groups

One of my colleagues completed a Leadership Project with her ten students that I want to share with you. She had two similar 100 piece puzzles. (The puzzles are fairly inexpensive at Walmart or Dollar General.) Kay took these two similar puzzles which had alike colors/pictures on them and mixed them up. She then separated them into two baggies, and put each baggie in one of the original two boxes.

The class numbered off, 1-2-1-2...and so on, and then separated into two groups. At first, the students thought this was going to be a race to see which group could complete their puzzle first; however, each group started at the same time, writing the starting time on the board. After that, Kay didn’t say a word, and answered no questions! She simply observed the students. The students tried asking her, "Hey we don’t have all the edges; these pieces don’t match; are these the right puzzles?" Something is wrong; what's up?"

Kay waited to see who would take the lead to combine the groups, and how they joined. She wondered, "Would they join peacefully? Would they gather and form one group; two new groups; work together, or divide again?"  As she continued to observe, she began to write names on the board of those who were positive and took leadership. She then wrote the time on the board when they commenced to form one group.

When they finished, she held a Socratic Seminar (an Avid strategy) about how they felt concerning the activity. One student, who did not want to join a group in the beginning, became so involved during the project that he actually was the leader in getting the groups together.  It was one of those fantastic teacher moments!

Kay's students learned quite a bit from the activity since in reality, this is how life, social, and work environments are. She pointed out that they may not have a project that is going well, but by joining together with another group, you can problem solve, gain assistance, and acquire more pieces to your puzzle to accomplish your project.

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Since working together doesn't seem to be a skill that comes naturally, I use this activity with my college freshman as they begin their final group projects. Plus, as you think about your class and are puzzled about how you can get your students to work well in cooperative groups, keep this activity in mind.  It might just put the pieces together for you.

If your class enjoys cooperative learning, try this rubric for grading co-op groups.

Using the Periodic Table to Create Science Bulletin Boards

Only $4.00

As many of you know, my husband teaches middle school science. He has never been one to do bulletin boards, never has been and never will be. My daughter (also a teacher) and I usually construct them for him. For many months now, I have been looking for individual tiles of the periodic table.  I saw a bulletin board on Pinterest (one of my favorite places to gather ideas) that I wanted to recreate for my husband's science lab. I finally turned to Teachers Pay Teachers (where I should have gone in the first place) and asked in the Forum if anyone had such an item. I found that The Triple Point had just what I was looking for. It was a set containing 118 images of Periodic Table tiles, one for each of the 118 elements. Since the resource was only $4.00, I purchased and downloaded it immediately.

After copying the individual tiles onto card stock and laminating them for durability, I laid out the bulletin board (see below). To be honest, my husband did staple everything onto the board as well as arrange the other items. Didn't he do a great job?

In case you can't read the meme in the middle, it says, "That will be $5.00 for the Electrons; the Neutrons are Free of Charge." After all, every classroom needs a little bit of humor!

A Dinner Dilemma - Using Math to Solve How Many Bites a Child Must Eat at Dinner

Using Math to Solve
How Many Bites a
Child Must Eat

Being a grandparent lets you try some new discipline methods that you never thought of as a parent. My grandchildren don't always like what I serve for dinner (Unbelievable, isn't it?); so, many times some food is left on their plates. My children want their children to at least take a bite of everything on their plate which often times feels like a monumental task for our grandchildren. The solution? I have an oversized sponge die on hand for such occasions. The child who doesn't want to eat something rolls the die, and the number that comes up is how many bites they must take before dessert is served. Now, the child must argue with the die and not the parent or me! (It's difficult to argue with an inanimate object.)

Besides taking care of a dinner dilemma, my grandchildren are learning to subitize sets. (Oh, there's the math part of this article!) Since there are no numbers on the die, only dots, the child must count the dots to find out the number. Surprisingly, even the youngest are learning to recognize the dot patterns and can state the number of dots without counting. This indicates they are learning to subitize sets, a necessary prerequisite to memorizing the math facts, especially the multiplication tables. If you aren't sure what subitizing sets means, go back and read my blog posting entitled Can't Memorize Those Dreaded Math Facts. In the meantime, enjoy a new way to enjoy dinner because it is pretty dicey!

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You might like a math game that uses dice. It is called Bug Ya and can be purchased at my TPT store. Three games are included in the four page math resource packet. One is for addition and subtraction; the second is for multiplication, and the third game involves the use of money. The second and third games may involve subtraction with renaming and addition with regrouping based on the numbers that are used. All the games have been developed to extend the recall of facts through playful and intelligent practice. Be sure and download the preview.