Vb. Best Practices in Writing MCQs
A. Question Structure- Stem
2) Avoid unnecessary verbosity or irrelevant information.
2) Avoid unnecessary verbosity or irrelevant information.
The text discusses the concept of verbosity in multiple-choice questions (MCQs) and emphasizes the importance of concise and straight-to-the-point stems. It also highlights the need to recognize and eliminate irrelevant information in MCQ stems, as it can act as a distraction and hinder students' ability to answer the question accurately. Additionally, the text mentions the advanced consideration of streamlining stems to ensure they are free of biases or extraneous information that could potentially mislead students.
BASIC Information
Verbosity refers to the use of more words than necessary. In the context of MCQs, a verbose stem is one that includes excessive or redundant information. An effective stem is concise and straight to the point, avoiding any superfluous details.
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How2MCQ – Tips for efficiently writing meaningful automarkable questionsA concise stem ensures clarity. A verbose stem can confuse students and may cause them to spend too much time deciphering the question instead of demonstrating their knowledge.
INTERMEDIATE Information
Purpose of the Stem: The stem should focus on the central idea or concept being tested. If a detail doesn't directly contribute to the student's ability to answer the question, it's probably irrelevant.
Distraction: Unnecessary information can act as a distractor, taking away from the primary focus of the question.
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Verbosity, window dressing, and red herrings do they make a better test item?Self-review: After writing a stem, go back and review each piece of information, asking, "Is this detail necessary for answering the question?"
Peer review: Sometimes, a fresh set of eyes can quickly identify and eliminate redundant or unnecessary information.
A stem with irrelevant details: "Considering the medical history of a 70-year-old patient who used to be a librarian and loves gardening, and now presents with tremors, rigidity, and bradykinesia, what's the probable diagnosis?"
A streamlined version: "A 70-year-old patient presents with tremors, rigidity, and bradykinesia. What's the probable diagnosis?"
ADVANCED Information
A great MCQ stem not only presents a clear task but also ensures it's free of any biases or extraneous information that might inadvertently provide hints or mislead students.
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Predicting the Difficulty of Multiple Choice Questions in a High-stakes Medical ExamScenario-Based Stems: When using clinical scenarios, ensure the background given is directly relevant to the question's focus. Sometimes a detailed scenario is necessary for context, but every detail must serve a purpose.
Beware of Cultural Biases: Make sure the information isn't inadvertently introducing cultural biases which can be deemed irrelevant or misleading for a subset of students.
Randomized Review: Occasionally, order the stems in a random sequence and review. This change in context can help you spot verbose details that you might've missed earlier.
Verbose Scenario: "A patient, Mr. Smith, who just returned from his vacation in Hawaii where he enjoyed surfing, presents with severe sunburns, dehydration, and a wound on his leg. Given his symptoms, which of the following is the immediate concern?"
Refined Scenario: "A patient presents with severe sunburns, dehydration, and a wound on his leg after a vacation. What is the immediate concern?"
In this example, while the vacation context can be relevant, specifics like "Mr. Smith", "Hawaii", and "surfing" might be extraneous and don't necessarily add value to the question's primary focus.