How to write multiple-choice tests that grade well
Choices per question, marking in pen, voided questions, a different weight per item: the decisions made while writing the test are what make grading calm or full of exceptions.
A well-written test grades fast — and not only because of an automatic grader. It holds for grading by hand too. What changes with automatic grading is that the cost of a bad decision shows up immediately, across the whole stack.
Choose the number of choices per question
There is no single right number. True or false wants two. A comprehension question wants four or five. A vocabulary question with many near-misses may want six. The common mistake is picking one number and forcing it onto every question, leaving filler choices nobody ever picks.
A filler choice is not neutral: it takes up room on the sheet and drops out of the student's reasoning, but it is still a bubble that can be marked by accident. If the question has three plausible answers, leave three.
Say how to mark, on the test itself
One line in the header solves half of all reading problems:
- Fill the bubble in completely — not an X, not a slash.
- Blue or black pen. Pencil works, but it erases and smudges.
- Made a mistake? Do not erase — cross out the whole question and write the answer beside it, for the teacher to grade by hand.
An erased mark is the most common source of the ambiguous-question warning: enough graphite is left for the old bubble to look half filled, and the new one is filled too. The grader does not choose between them — it warns you and hands the decision back.
A different weight per item
If three questions demand far more than the rest, they probably are worth more. Deciding that before the test is applied beats adjusting the score afterwards: the calculation is recorded with the test instead of living in your head on a Sunday.
The same goes for questions with more than one correct answer. Decide in advance whether a partial answer is worth half or nothing — and write it on the test, so the student knows what marking two means.
Voiding a question after the fact
It happens: a question turns out ambiguous, or the wording had an error. Voiding it means giving the point to everyone, and the simplest way to do that without regrading is to leave the question in the answer key with every choice marked correct — any mark then scores, and a student who left it blank is not punished for your mistake.
Leave room for the name
The sheet has a handwritten name field, and the camera does not read it — you do, while checking. Ask for block capitals. That is the difference between a class summary that makes sense and a list of scores with no owner.