More questions...
... about questions. With an honourable mention for Laurillard's learning types.
Apologies if it’s been a bit quiet over here! I’ve been busy for a few weeks getting things off the ground in (OK - getting deeply overinvolved in) the first couple of posts on Learning Theory Unpacked, the second of which will go live very shortly. ZPD, anyone?
Anyway, I was lying awake at about 5 am (as you do), and letting my mind wander over something I was reminded of in a conversation yesterday with one of our directors (as you probably don’t, at least at that time of the morning, if you have any sense).
Yesterday, we were talking all things active learning, and the topic of multiple choice questions (MCQs) inevitably arose. And I was reflecting on what your brain does when confronted with a MCQ, and how well that serves one of the common purposes of the MCQ, particularly when used formatively: namely to get you to think about the concept it’s asking about.
I know much has been written on MCQs over the years, though mainly as a summative assessment tool. And for this, it’s a simple, quantitative way to check lower level recognition and recall of key facts.
When used formatively though, as part of an active learning experience, does it work? This was my thought process, both yesterday and at 5 am. Yes, I acknowledge that I do need to get out more.
Try this very non-scientific experiment. I’m going to ask two questions. As well as considering the end goal in itself, i.e. the correct answer, observe what pathway your brain takes in order to reach that answer.
Ready? First question.
Great Britain is made up of a group of individual countries, each of which is divided into counties or equivalent. The list below contains three official countries, and one official county. Which one is officially a county, rather than a country?
Scotland
Cornwall
Wales
England
Don’t forget to think how your brain found its way to the answer. And now for the next one.
Ireland the island comprises two separate countries: Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland. Can you identify one fact that either separates or unites the two, under each of the following? Language; Geography; Government.
They’re both questions. OK, the second would be a lot more difficult to “mark” digitally, though thanks to AI, it’s far from impossible. They’re both about the geography of the British Isles.
But I’ll make a confident guess that your brain tackled the two very differently.
If you’re at all like me, with a MCQ, the first thing you did was go in, home in on any options that you knew were incorrect, then make a selection from whatever was left. Unless you have any allegiance to Cornwall, in which you probably shut the tab in disgust and went out for a pasty to calm down. Having lived there for over 20 years in the past, I have to say I’m with you; it does behave much more like its own nation, and is all the better for it. We won’t mention cream teas; suffice to say that Devon is wrong, stet.
In other words, your attention was focussed very much on the incorrect options, rather than the correct one and its relevance. Probably fine for fact-based summative assessment. Probably not so much for formative, where the aim is to focus thinking onto a given topic.
Now moving to the second one. My brain loves an intellectual rabbit hole (hence the hiatus here while I became temporarily obsessed by the other Substack). Unless you imposed a strict time limit on that second question, for me it would rapidly turn into a research project, with me finding multiple options, then shortlisting my preferred fact for each criterion. If you’re familiar with Diana Laurillard’s six Learning Types, the first would sit within the Level 1 of Acquisition, as recall of facts. Whereas the second would be pushing me up into levels 3 and 4, Investigation and Production; possibly higher if my responses then became part of a feedback or discussion session. If you’re not that familiar with Laurillard, then definitely keep an eye on Learning Theory Unpacked over the coming weeks; that one’s up next…
So - if you’re planning to incorporate questioning into the active learning process for something, maybe give this some thought? If you’re delivering via a digital platform that doesn’t allow for “formal” question structures like the latter one, consider: do you actually need to provide formal feedback? Or could it be incorporated as a formative thinkng exercise? Maybe to bring into a live group session afterwards, or a discussion forum if it’s digital, or some form of peer assessment, or simply to feed into your learners’ engagement with and understanding of the topic. Not everything has to be assessed, after all.
Where am I going with this? I’m not entirely sure; it’s more coherent than my 5 am version, but really is just the line of reasoning my brain went through. One thing I do know: I’m not the first to think (or write) about it, but I can’t for the life of me remember those who have also done so! If you happen to have read elsewhere about the concept, please do let me know where /who it was from, in the comments!
Hi Fran, I would like there to be a slight pause before the MCQ options come up so that the question can be read and absorbed before the options are shown. We use Canvas here, and that function is not available...