Do Multiple Choice Tests assess the students’ understanding and knowledge of the concepts or their skill in the English language–their semantics?

I have spent more time assisting clients in the “in’s and out’s” of navigating multiple choice questions than almost anything else in the testing situation. Many post secondary schools use this form of testing almost exclusively as it is easier to grade–done by computers, you see. Then, since most students don’t even see their tests / exams, they have no clue what it is they don’t get—the actual concept, the obliquely worded question or the deceptive answers–seemingly written to trick rather than assess.

Sadly,students may know their content, be able to apply it–but simply cannot decipher what is being asked. They are in a no-win situation– defeated before they even start.

So to answer the question I posed at the beginning–Multiple Choice Tests are not accurate assessments of skill, knowledge, understanding, application–nothing really to do with learning. It is simply easier–easier for the educators, that is.