Michelle Gallen :: Blog :: Possible Multiple Choice Quiz Ban

http://www.liquidelearning.com/2008/08/possible-multiple-choice-quiz-b

I recently read about Naomi Gadian, a medical student with dyslexia. She's taking legal action to try and prevent the use of multiple choice exams as part of doctors' training.

Naomi believes that multiple choice exams discriminate against dyslexics and wants the General Medical Council to scrap them. If she wins her case, all medical schools might have to drop the exams.

But it's not just medical schools who'll have to change. Institutions across the world rely on simplistic multiple choice quizzes to test learner's knowledge. It's how the UK government tests learner drivers. So as Naomi Gadian's solicitor, John MacKenzie, has pointed out, "Every professional body or employer who relies for a professional qualification, or as a promotional gateway, on multiple choice questions is heading for a fall."

Is it true that students with dyslexia are discriminated against in multiple choice quizzes? I'm not sure.

Students with dyslexia are usually allowed extra time in written exams. Multiple choice quizzes are no different. Students with dyslexia get extra time to complete these. However, a student with dyslexia may struggle in particular with multiple choice exams due to the particular eye control it takes to read AND select the correct option.

It doesn't state anywhere if Naomi is struggling with a paper exam or a PC exam. But I'm assuming it's e-learning. Today, most e-learning content produced by professional bodies or employers is screenreader compatible. It's designed to be accessible to blind or visually impaired students. In fact, any learner can choose to read text with the assistance of a screen reader. The correct answer can be typed in. There are lots of ways in which a student with dyslexia can get assistance in completing a multiple choice exam to the best of their ability, so I'm not sure how this case will proceed.

However, Naomi doesn't just seem to be questioning how the questions are delivered. She's also questioning whether testing a doctor's knowledge using multiple choice questions is valid.

The BBC quoted Naomi as saying "In normal day life, you don't get given multiple choice questions to sit. Your patients aren't going to ask you 'here's an option and four answers. Which one is right?'"

I hope not. Any time I've been to hospital or my doctor's surgery, I've given the doctor as much information as I can about my problem. Then I've expected the doctor to generate a list of possible options, which they may or may not share with me. I get to wait as they select the option they think is the most likely one.

So it seems to me that multiple choice questions are not the best way to test doctors for this type of knowledge. Multiple choice questions ask a question and provide the user with a list of possible answers.

However, user input quizzes (whether spoken or typed) more accurately reflect the situation Naomi describes. But would she be happier if user input questions were used? User input questions simply ask a question and require the user to come up with an answer. User input questions are an awful lot harder than multiple choice questions. It's sometimes hard to find the right answer when staring at a blank sheet, or at an empty screen. User input questions reflect real life.

I think that the real reason much e-learning relies on the multiple choice question format is that it's easy to write. And it's easy to assess. And I think multiple choice questions are easier for learners to pass - the odds of getting it right are usually 1/4. Much e-learning is over-reliant on multiple choice quizzes. It's easy. It's sometimes lazy.

But ban them and what happens?