Writing Objective Test Questions
Xiufeng Liu, PhD
Director, Office of Educational Innovation & Assessment
Professor, Department of Learning & Instruction
What is objective assessment?
A test consisting of questions or items that are highly
structured and have only one right or best answer
determined in advance. Examples:
 Multiple-choice
 True-false
 Matching
Hierarchy of Learning Outcomes
Objective Assessment is Effective for Measuring
Lower Levels of Cognitive Learning Outcomes
 Knowing
 Recall a definition, a term or a fact
 Recognize a symbol
 Understanding
 Explain how things work
 Interpret a diagraph
 Compare and contrasts two entities
 Applying
 Use a procedure to solve a problem
 Make a prediction
GUIDELINE FOR WRITING
MULTIPLE-CHOICE
QUESTIONS
Guideline 1: The stem of an item should be meaningful by
itself and should present a definite problem
South America…
a. Is a flat, arid country.
b. Imports coffee from the
United States.
c. Has a larger population
than the United States.
d. Was settled mainly by
colonists from Spain*.
Most of South America was
settled by colonists from?
a. England
b. France
c. Holland
d. Spain*
Guideline 2: Make all choices plausible to uninformed
students
What are electrons?
a. Negative particles*
b. Positive particles
c. Neutral particles
d. Mechanical tools
What are electrons?
a. Negative particles*
b. Positive particles
c. Neutral particles
Guideline 3: The stem should be concise, free of irrelevant
materials, and include as much information as possible
Most of South America was
settled by colonists from Spain.
How would you account for the
large number of Spanish colonists
settling there?
a. They were adventurous.
b. They were in search of
wealth.*
c. They wanted lower taxes.
d. They were seeking religious
freedom.
Why did Spanish colonists settle
most of South America?
a. They were adventurous.
b. They were in search of
wealth.*
c. They wanted lower taxes.
d. They were seeking religious
freedom.
Guideline 4: Avoid extraneous clues to the correct and
incorrect choices
An electric transformer can be
used
a. for storing electricity.
b. to increase the voltage of
alternating current.*
c. it converts electrical energy
into mechanical energy.
d. alternating current is changed
to direct current.
An electric transformer can be
used to
a. store electricity.
b. increase the voltage of
alternating current.*
c. convert electrical energy into
mechanical energy.
d. change alternative current to
direct current.
Guideline 5: Avoid using the “none of the above”, “all of
the above” and “I don’t know” alternatives
Which of the following agencies
should you contact to find out
about a tornado warning in your
locality?
a. Farm bureau
b. Post office
c. Weather Bureau
d. None of the above*
Which of the following agencies
should you contact to find out
about a tornado warning in your
locality?
a. Farm bureau
b. Post office
c. Radio station*
c. Weather Bureau
Practice
Write a multiple-choice question on any topic you are
familiar with. Exchange with the person sitting next
to you to critique each other’s question.
Guidelines for Writing Matching
Questions
 1. Use only homogeneous materials in both the
premises and responses
 2. Include an unequal number of responses and
premises, and instruct students that responses may
be used once, more than once, or not at all
 3. Arrange the list of responses in a logical order
when appropriate
A Sample Matching Question
On the line to the left of each achievement listed in
column A, write the letter of the person’s name in
Column B who is noted for that achievement. Each
name in Column B may be used once, more than
once, or not at all.
Column A
_A_ 1. Invented the telephone
_B_ 2. Discovered America
_C_ 3. First United States astronaut
to orbit the earth
_F_ 4. First president of the United
States
Column B
A. Alexander Graham Bell
B. Christopher Columbus
C. John Glenn
D. Abraham Lincoln
E. Ferdinard Magellan
F. George Washington
G. Eli Whitney
Guidelines for Writing T-F Questions
1. Avoid broad general statements if they are to be judged true or false.
Poor: The president of the United States is usually elected to that office. T F
Better: The president of the United States is elected to that office. T
F
2. Avoid double negative statements.
Poor: None of the steps in the experiment was unnecessary. T F
Better: All of the steps in the experiment were necessary. T F
3. If opinion is stated, attribute it to some source.
Poor: Adequate medical care can be best provided through socialized
medicine. T F
Better: The American Medical Association favors socialized medicine as the
best means of providing adequate medical care.
T F
Guidelines for Writing T-F Questions
4. Avoid complex sentences
Poor: Whales are mammals because they are large. T
Better: Whales are mammals.
T F
F
5. Avoid long sentences
Poor: Despite the theoretical and experimental difficulties of
determining the exact pH value of a solution, it is possible to
determine whether a solution is acid by the red color formed
on litmus paper when it is inserted into the solution. T F
Practice
Write a true-false and a matching question on a topic
you are familiar with. Exchange with the person
sitting next to you to critique each other’s
questions.
Useful Resources
1. Anderson, L. W.; Krathwohl, D. R. (eds.) (2001). A taxonomy for learning, teaching, and
assessing: A revision of Bloom's taxonomy of educational objectives. New York: Longman
2. Bloom, B. S., et al., (eds.). (1956). Taxonomy of educational objectives: Handbook I:
Cognitive domain. New York: David McKay Company.
3. Haladyna, T. M., & Downing, S. M. (1989a). A taxonomy of multiple-choice itemwriting rules. Applied Measurement in Education, 2(1), 37-50.
4. Haladyna, T. M., & Downing, S. M. (1989b). Validity of a taxonomy of multiple-choice
item-writing rules. Applied Measurement in Education, 2(1), 51-78.
5. Haladyna, T. M., Downing, S. M., & Rodriguez, M. C. (2002). A review of multiplechoice item-writing guidelines for classroom assessment. Applied Measurement in
Education, 15(3), 309-334.