Article Analysis Essay on "The Positive and Negative Consequences of Multiple-Choice Testing"

Introduction

In the article "The positive and negative consequences of multiple-choice testing," the researchers undertook the study to investigate the influence or the effect of multiple-choice tests on the knowledge of students. In the study in the study, the researchers warned the participants of guessing their answers; however, the results of the study prove that despite the warning, the participants provide incorrect answers in both the questions they had studied in class and the ones they had not studied. Thus, multiple-choice testing proved to have a negative influence on the student's studies and created false knowledge. The fact that multiple-choice tests have many answers lead distraction and eventually make students choose the wrong answers and would eventually come to know it later. As a result, Roediger and Marsh assert that multiple-choice testing leads to the creation of false knowledge (2005,p. 1156).

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The study involved a total participant population of 24undergraduate students from Washington University. The involvement of the undergraduates in the study was a partial fulfillment to their course requirements. In the study, the undergraduates were tested in either a group of five or individually. The selection of the population for the assessment did not require a specific procedure. However, the researchers used a purposive approach to ensure that they collected data for the study analysis and the student partially fulfilled their course requirement. Therefore, the selection of the study was to ensure parties, the researchers and the students, benefited from the research. Also, the selection of the undergraduates as a fulfillment of their course requirement asserted that they were to be more serious making the study data more honest and reliable (Roediger & Marsh 2005, p. 1156).

The study had four phases; "passage reading, the multiple-choice test, the visuospatial-reasoning filler task, and the final cued-recall test." The participants were required to read approximately 18 out of 36 passages from which they were to draw answers to respond to the multiple-choice questions. The passage reading was timed at whereby the participants were to use 90 seconds to finish reading and ensure they all finished reading at once. In the second phase, the participants were to undertake the multiple-choice test; however, before the test, the undergraduates had a preview of the questions whereby they could guess the answers before the actual test. The third phase involved the researchers undertaking the participants through a filler task for brain teasing purposes. The last phase involved, the participants undertook a cued-recall test in which case the participants were encouraged to ensure that the answers they provided were correct and reliable (Roediger & Marsh 2005, p. 1156).

Conclusion

The assessment of the study showcases how the researchers were objective in carrying out the study. Also, the fact that the participants were partially fulfilling their course requirement asserts that the answers they gave were reliable and honest. Moreover, the participants ensured that the study was divided into four phases to assess different aspects of multiple-choice testing and its impact on knowledge. There exist few studies concerning the influence of multiple-choice testing; thus carrying out the study was a significant contribution to literature (Roediger & Marsh 2005, p. 1155). However, the researchers use few participants (24) which could translate to mean that the results of the study are not representative of a larger population.

Reference

Roediger III, H. L., & Marsh, E. J. (2005). The positive and negative consequences of multiple-choice testing. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 31(5), 1155.