20 tips on writing good multiple-choice questions for your next exam
Terms used in multiple choice questions

Tips for writing multiple-choice question “items”
- Test for a single, clearly defined learning outcome for the course
- Be concise and clear
- Use vocabulary at the students’ level and check for misspellings
- Order items by difficulty, use Bloom’s Hierarchy to support this
- Avoid letting the item give a hint for other items
Tips for writing question “stems”
- Provide a complete direct question
- The President of the United States during World War I was ___________?(less effective)
- Who was President of the United States during World War? (more effective)
- Include only relevant information
- Be brief and avoid unnecessary complexity
- Ask for the correct answer, not the wrong answer
- Avoid absolute terms such as always, never, or all
- Avoid vague terms such as seldom, few, or many
- Provide most of the information allowing for shorter options
Tips for writing “options”
- Use at least three options to mitigate guessing, more if you can meet tips 14-20
- Ensure each multiple choice question distractor is plausible and is parallel to the answer
- Check that there is only one right option
- Avoid all or none of the above
- Mix up the correct answer position
- Follow a logical order (e.g., numerical or chronological)
- Keep options similar in length
- Ensure options don’t overlap
Happy grading,
Mark from GradeHub
Zimmaro, Dawn M (2004). Writing Good Multiple-Choice Exams. Retrieved September 4, 2015 from University of Texas Web site at https://ctl.utexas.edu/sites/default/files/writing-good-multiple-choice-exams-04-28-10.pdf
Burton, Steven J. et al. How to Prepare Better Multiple-Choice Test Items: Guidelines for University Faculty. Retrieved September 4, 2015 from Brigham Young University Web site at https://testing.byu.edu/handbooks/betteritems.pdf