Writing multiple-choice test items to measure student learning in higher education is a challenge. Based on extensive scholarly research and experience, the author describes various item formats, offers guidelines for creating these items, and provides many examples of both good and bad test items. He also suggests some shortcuts for developing…

College students were presented with a series of four problems, each presented in four different formats: verbally, in abstract symbols, in negative abstract symbols, and in geometric figures. Problem-solving performance was evaluated in terms of the sequence of questions that a subject asks in order to solve a problem. They were also tested by…