Writing test questions

I had to write chapter review questions for a high school bio textbook I worked on last year. According to the publisher, I was a champion question writer, but those questions were all short answer or paragraph answer, not multiple choice. It sounds like yours might be multiple choice.

These web sites about how to write better test questions might help you:

http://www.indiana.edu/~best/write_better_tests.shtml#II-1

http://www.oir.uiuc.edu/dme/exams/ITQ.html

http://www.jmu.edu/assessment/resources/ItemWriting_MC.htm

If you look at table 1 on the first website, it lists various skills to test: knowledge (recall) comprehension, applications, synthesis of information, etc. The guidance I was given for writing test questions was to have one or two recall questions, and then pick several that showed the student could synthesize, apply and evaluate information. I found it helpful to have think of questions in those terms. (the website has some examples)

My own bias is to try to make the students think. For example, on chapter that discussed feedback mechanisms that keep the body in balance, an example I discussed in the text was why you could not hold your breath until you die. To test the concept, I asked a review question something like: A body was found in a lake. At the autopsy, no water was found in the lungs. What does this tell you about how this person died? (the answer, in case anyone cares, is that the person cound not have drowned. If he had, biological mechanisms would have caused him to inhale, and he would have breathed water into his lungs.

My goal is always to have the students look at the question and go What the ####? We didn't learn that. Oh, wait a minute, I know, I know and then have the satisfaction of putting information together to get the answer. I think questions that ask for straight spitting up of an answer right in the book are both boring and demeaning to the student - plus the information is quickly forgotten. If the students have to work at the answer a bit they end up with more solid mastery of the information. Every question should be a little mini-puzzle.


Hope some of this helps