Select all that apply

[Anon1787]

Since being forced to administer exams on the LMS I have been including questions using the "select all that apply" option. Some students--and not just the worst performing ones who benefit most from guessing--have expressed strong objections to multiple answer questions as opposed to standard multiple choice questions. Thoughts?

[sprout]

Since being forced to administer exams on the LMS I have been including questions using the "select all that apply" option. Some students--and not just the worst performing ones who benefit most from guessing--have expressed strong objections to multiple answer questions as opposed to standard multiple choice questions. Thoughts?

For the most part, I'd tell them to suck it up.  (Nicely, and professionally, of course.)

However, if the LMS grades 'all-or-nothing', I'm more sympathetic to complaints.  My LMS does partial credit - gives credit for correct selections and takes credit away for incorrect selections.  I wouldn't use this type of question if partial credit weren't an option.

[kiana]

I use these questions but I manually grade them on anything but homework (homework they can just hit "try again"). The computer does all or nothing when grading them.

They tend to be worth about half as many points as there are answer selections and I remove one point (bottoming out at 0) for each incorrectly togged one. So if there are 4 answers, 2 of which are correct, it's a 2 point question. You get 0 for leaving it blank, 0 for choosing all, and 1/2 if you choose one of the two answers that apply but not the other.

[polly_mer]

I use these questions but I manually grade them on anything but homework (homework they can just hit "try again"). The computer does all or nothing when grading them.

They tend to be worth about half as many points as there are answer selections and I remove one point (bottoming out at 0) for each incorrectly togged one. So if there are 4 answers, 2 of which are correct, it's a 2 point question. You get 0 for leaving it blank, 0 for choosing all, and 1/2 if you choose one of the two answers that apply but not the other.

I used to do one point for each option toggled correctly.  A question with five options (I often included none of the above and used it not infrequently) would be worth five points and students could see that upfront.  However, one has to toggle everything correctly to get full credit.  An incorrect answer toggled to selected is a point lost as is a correct answer not selected.  By selecting everything, one generally got about half correct, but a 50% is not a passing grade.

Per the other thread, eventually I went to having an explanation for all options that were selected and then a selected answer with an incorrect explanation was only half a point--to get the whole point, a student had to give a correct explanation.  Blindly guessing then yielded about 25%, which is really not passing.

[Puget]

My guess as to why they don't like it is that they have honed their strategies for regular multiple choice (eliminating answers, etc.) through SAT prep courses and so forth, and don't like being forced to actually learn the material.

From me, such comments only earn students a mini-lecture on the science of learning and memory and the purpose of testing, and an offer to discuss their study strategies for the next exam.

[Aster]

It's a valid and commonly used assessment measure. If you want to use it, it's totally fine.

Otherwise, the only meaningful feedback I can think to offer is to make sure that for any assessment measure that you use, that you clearly articulate the instructions to your students on how to correctly complete and submit the assessment. For assessments operated within an LMS system, extra troubleshooting on the professor's end is often needed to ensure that things work correctly.

[fishbrains]

Since being forced to administer exams on the LMS I have been including questions using the "select all that apply" option. Some students--and not just the worst performing ones who benefit most from guessing--have expressed strong objections to multiple answer questions as opposed to standard multiple choice questions. Thoughts?

I beg of you to send the following email:

Students have which of the following valid options if they object to multiple-answer questions:

A. Continue guessing at answers in their usual manner
B. Learn the course material to gain confidence in their answers
C. Hold-in their breaths indefinitely until the professor changes the test format
D. Participate in Zoom study sessions and chapter reviews
E. Offer the professor $100 per question to change the format of test questions
F.  A, B, and C
G. A, B, and D
H. C and E
I.  A, B, C, D, and E
J.  None of the above

Okay, I think I'm going to have to double-dog dare you to send the email.  :)

[mamselle]

Chuckle.

^Like.

M.

[the_geneticist]

Since being forced to administer exams on the LMS I have been including questions using the "select all that apply" option. Some students--and not just the worst performing ones who benefit most from guessing--have expressed strong objections to multiple answer questions as opposed to standard multiple choice questions. Thoughts?

I've used those question types and the "partial credit" option in the CMS.  I like Polly's idea of 5 options = it's worth 5 points, 1 for each correctly toggled response.  I've seen colleagues try this in a really messy way where the penalty for guessing can give you a negative score.  Or where each correct response is worth 2/3 of a point so you get scores like 76.6666666%
Figure out the logistics behind the scoring first, make them clear to the students, and use them.  Do not tell them how many choices are correct or students will waste time trying to figure out if it's worth guessing or not (or if there is no penalty for incorrect answers, they will just pick all of the choices).

[Parasaurolophus]

It's totally fine, just harder.

Like Polly, I give one point per correct answer.

[mythbuster]

If you use these, I strongly suggest grading them yourself. Canvas has these but the penalty for choosing an incorrect answer is worth as much as the bonus for choosing a correct answer. So if you choose one correct and one incorrect, you earn no points.

I stopped using them and instead started including standard one choice MC with way more than 5 options, along the lines of what fishprof posted above.

[Anon1787]

I have been using the partial credit option on the LMS and the instructions to every quiz/test mentions that fact. The grade grubber has generously given me the option to replace multiple answer questions with short answer or multiple choice questions. But if there are good pedagogical reasons for not using multiple answer questions, I am content to stop using them.

I'm sorely tempted to send fishbrains' email.

[OneMoreYear]

I have been using the partial credit option on the LMS and the instructions to every quiz/test mentions that fact. The grade grubber has generously given me the option to replace multiple answer questions with short answer or multiple choice questions. But if there are good pedagogical reasons for not using multiple answer questions, I am content to stop using them.

I'm sorely tempted to send fishbrains' email.

I had an entire class (OK, it was probably several loud, pushy students, but it felt like the whole class) give me significant push back on multiple answer.  I was using Polly's grading method.  So, the next test, I converted them all of the multiple answer to sets of true/false questions. 
So, instead of a multiple answer question like this:

What are the correct descriptions of the cat on my desk (choose all that apply):
A. The cat is sleeping
B. The cat is black.
C. The cat is laying on top of my grading pile
D. The cat responds to her name.
(A, B, and C are correct)

I wrote sets of true false questions:

This set of questions is about the cat on my desk:
The cat on my desk is sleeping: T/F
The cat on my desk is black: T/F
The cat on my desk is laying on top of my grading pile: T/F
The cat on my desk response to her name: T/F

I'm pretty sure they still thought I was mean, but nobody complained about the true-false questions.

[mamselle]

There must be some way to characterize those differences....that's really interesting.

Is it the Piagetian thing of being able to do one thing at a time (i.e., get each T/F distinction separately) but not combining them (i.e., several descriptions may apply together rather than just singly to the same situation?)...so, additive but not multiplicative thinking, maybe?

There's something like that going on, it seems like....very insightful that you were able to convert the question like that and then compare the responses.

M.

[Hibush]

I have been using the partial credit option on the LMS and the instructions to every quiz/test mentions that fact. The grade grubber has generously given me the option to replace multiple answer questions with short answer or multiple choice questions. But if there are good pedagogical reasons for not using multiple answer questions, I am content to stop using them.

I'm sorely tempted to send fishbrains' email.

I had an entire class (OK, it was probably several loud, pushy students, but it felt like the whole class) give me significant push back on multiple answer.  I was using Polly's grading method.  So, the next test, I converted them all of the multiple answer to sets of true/false questions. 
So, instead of a multiple answer question like this:

What are the correct descriptions of the cat on my desk (choose all that apply):
A. The cat is sleeping
B. The cat is black.
C. The cat is laying on top of my grading pile
D. The cat responds to her name.
(A, B, and C are correct)

I wrote sets of true false questions:

This set of questions is about the cat on my desk:
The cat on my desk is sleeping: T/F
The cat on my desk is black: T/F
The cat on my desk is laying on top of my grading pile: T/F
The cat on my desk response to her name: T/F

I'm pretty sure they still thought I was mean, but nobody complained about the true-false questions.

The mathematically inclined will quickly realize that the multiple-choice question with five non-exclusive answers is really five true-false questions on the same subject. That should be fine as long as the instructor realizes that is what they are doing and structure the grading accordingly.

Fishbrains has a completely different model, with only one of the ten answers being the correct one.