Binary-Choice Items

Binary-Choice Items:
This type of tests gives students two options to select from. An example would be true/false, fact/opinion, yes/no, right/wrong. Pros and cons to this type of test:

A positive would be that it is fast and a student can answer many questions in a short amount of time.

A weakness would be that a student has a 50/50 chance to get the correct answer. However, the more questions on a binary choice test, the greater the accuracy. A student can only be “lucky” so often before their luck wears out.

Guidelines for Binary Choice Items:

• Phrase your items to suggest a wrong answer. A question should not be so blatantly true or false. A student who has not studied will guess the wrong answer if they have not obtained the knowledge.
• Rarely use negative statements or double negatives. When inserting “not” in a true statement a student is more than likely to put false even though they know the correct answer
• Focus on a single concept. Never have a statement where ½ of the question is right ant ½ is wrong. The presence of two concepts in a statement regardless if both are true or both are false is very difficult for a student to answer.
• Have approximately equal numbers of true and false statements. It doesn’t have to be exactly half, but should be close.
• Keep item length similar for both true and false statements. Teachers tend to make true statements lengthier.

You want to make sure that you construct your test in a way that is clear and easy for the students to understand. You also want to make sure that it measures their knowledge and that no questions confuse the students and those who are “guessing” will have a tough time.