Writing AP-Quality Multiple Choice Items

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Writing AP-Quality Multiple Choice Items

• Is Not Easy

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Start with the content

• Use your AP Course Description (formerly the
  Acorn Book) to identify what students must know
  and be able to do.
• For example, below is a segment of the AP Human
  Geography course topic outline

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Start With the Content

• III. Cultural Patterns and Processes 1317
• A. Concepts of culture
• 1. Traits
• 2. Diffusion
• 3. Acculturation, assimilation, and globalization
• 4. Cultural regions
• B. Cultural differences
• 1. Language
• 2. Religion
• 3. Ethnicity
• 4. Gender
• 5. Popular and folk culture
• C. Cultural landscapes and cultural identity
• 1. Values and preferences
• 2. Symbolic landscapes and sense of place
• 3. Environmental impact of cultural attitudes and
  practices

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Select a Topic or Skill

• Analyze your teaching or better yet, your plan
  for teaching - that topic
• Write an item based on your expectation of
  student learning from the strategies you employed

• Place names that refer to saints are most common
  in which of the following North American regions?
• Louisiana and New England
• California and British Columbia
• Ontario and Utah
• Nova Scotia and the United States Midwest
• Quebec and the United States Southwest

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Item Writing Format

• Items should appear on the page EXACTLY as they
  will on the AP Exam
• Two columns
• Line between
• Five Answer choices (A), (B), (C), (D), (E)
• OK, as exact as possible!

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AP European History Items

• The term humanism, when applied to Renaissance
  Italy, refers primarily to
• renewed interest in the scientific method at many
  Italian universities.
• capitalist values advanced by many leading
  Italian merchant bankers.
• antireligious movement among leading Italian
  intellectuals.
• scholarly interest in the study of classical
  cultures of Greece and Italy.
• non-Christian themes that became prominent in
  Italian art and literature.

• What belief was central to Martin Luthers
  religious philosophy?
• Salvation by faith alone
• Saints as intermediaries between the individual
  Christian and God
• The sacrament of penance
• The priesthood defined as distinct from the laity
• The equality of men and women

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Parts of a MC Item

• Stem
• Answer Choices
• Correct Answer (D)
• Distracters (A, B, C and E)

• The term humanism, when applied to Renaissance
  Italy, refers primarily to
• renewed interest in the scientific method at many
  Italian universities.
• capitalist values advanced by many leading
  Italian merchant bankers.
• antireligious movement among leading Italian
  intellectuals.
• scholarly interest in the study of classical
  cultures of Greece and Italy.
• non-Christian themes that became prominent in
  Italian art and literature.

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Parts of a MC Item

• Stimulus A passage or visual necessary to answer
  the item
• Stem
• Answer Choices
• Correct Answer
• Distracters

• He desired glory and excellence beyond that of
  anyone else. He showed favor to vernacular poetry
  and all of the fine arts. Under him the city was
  not free, but it would have been impossible for
  it to have had a better or more pleasing tyrant.
  
• The passage above most accurately describes
• Lorenzo de Medici
• John Calvin
• William of Orange
• Frederick William I
• Phillip II

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Writing the item

• The stem
• should be a question or incomplete statement (no
  blank in stem or at end)
• contains what is expected of the student
• No all/none of the above
• should not say you, as in what would you
  expect
• should utilize clear, simple and grammatically
  correct language (apart from course and
  analytical language)

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Writing the item

• Answer Choices and Distracters
• Five choices, A-E
• One and only one correct answer
• Randomize correct answer
• Approximately same length and complexity
• Always list from shortest to longest
• Distracters
• Plausible, but clearly wrong
• Avoid part true, part false factual but wrong
• Avoid key term/proper noun from stem, unless

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Stimulus

• Link 1/4 - 1/3 to stimulus
• Stimulus must be essential
• Types of stimuli
• Primary documents
• Visuals
• Tables, charts, graphs
• Paintings, photos, posters, cartoons

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Depth of Knowledge

• Level 1 Recall
• Level 2 Two or more steps required
• Level 3 Strategic thinking
• Level 4 Extended thinking

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Rationale

• A rationale is an explanation of the correct
  answer and distracters
• Rationale
• Lorenzo de Medici led Renaissance Florence as a
  virtual dictator, in addition to being one of
  Europes first and richest bankers.
• His wealth allowed him to patronize the arts.
• The reference to the city helps to eliminate
  William, Frederick and Phillip, as all were
  national monarchs.
• John Calvins austere form of Protestantism
  discouraged art for arts sake.

• He desired glory and excellence beyond that of
  anyone else. He showed favor to vernacular poetry
  and all of the fine arts. Under him the city was
  not free, but it would have been impossible for
  it to have had a better or more pleasing tyrant.
• The passage above most accurately describes
• Lorenzo de Medici
• John Calvin
• William of Orange
• Frederick William I
• Phillip II

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Rationale

• Why bother with rationales?
• Four Good Reasons
• Helps justify your answer to students
• Helps develop distracters
• Helps clarify the one best answer
• Opens up options for feedback

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Good and Bad Items

• Make changes in these items as necessary
• Discussion

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Write Five Items for Your Course

• Use AP Content Description in APSA Notebook
  (World and APHG)
• Use AP Central for other courses