According to Wikipedia, multiple choice is a form of assessment in which respondents are asked to select the best possible answer (or answers) out of the choices from a list.
I will not be discussing about how to develop or what are the advantages or disadvantages of using such kind of test - it's another topic and i think educators are well-versed about it. This post is about making your multiple choice exam easy to check.
I've got this idea when I was in another College, I was at the Registrar and the staff there are checking the Entrance Examination of the applicants. I've asked if they have a template for checking but they've replied that they have the difficulty in punching the hole. Their idea was to punch the hole for the correct answer in the answer sheet, usually this is done using 'katol'.
My suggestion was what if we do the other way around, instead of the correct answer, let's consider the wrong answers! - and fortunately, it's successful! Here's the step-by-step procedure;
Step 1: Test Construction
Step 2: Prepare the Answer Sheet
Step 3: Prepare the Negative
What is the Negative?
Using your answer sheet, shade those letters that corresponds to the wrong answers. That means that the one left unshaded is the CORRECT answers, thus the name used is Negative.
Step 4: Photocopy the Negative in a clear Acetate
Make sure that your photocopied Acetate is exactly the same as your original Negative, not enlarged or reduced.
Step 5: Check their Answer Sheets Using your Acetate
Do this by overlaying the acetate to their answer sheet. If your student is perfect the overlays of acetate and the answer sheet should look dark or black. This is because in their answer sheet they have shaded the CORRECT answer and in your Negative, you have shaded the WRONG answers. If one letter in an item appears white, that means that they have shaded the wrong answer. Count these letters that appeared white, these are the mistakes and deduct it to the number of items and that's the score!
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| Test Construction |
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| Preparing the Answer Sheet |
What is the Negative?
Using your answer sheet, shade those letters that corresponds to the wrong answers. That means that the one left unshaded is the CORRECT answers, thus the name used is Negative.
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| Preparing the Negative |
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| Don't forget the important stats at the bottom |
Make sure that your photocopied Acetate is exactly the same as your original Negative, not enlarged or reduced.
Step 5: Check their Answer Sheets Using your Acetate
Do this by overlaying the acetate to their answer sheet. If your student is perfect the overlays of acetate and the answer sheet should look dark or black. This is because in their answer sheet they have shaded the CORRECT answer and in your Negative, you have shaded the WRONG answers. If one letter in an item appears white, that means that they have shaded the wrong answer. Count these letters that appeared white, these are the mistakes and deduct it to the number of items and that's the score!
