Do you like multiple choice or short answer exams?

[monkeyMD]

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MC or short answer/essay format?

Why one or the other?

 

[NickNaylor]

Depends on the subject.

For science, I'd prefer multiple choice. For humanities, I'd prefer short response/essays.

 

[lisi326]

multiple choice. always.

 

[Whatyousay]

Depends.

No to MC if the answers include "None of the Above."

 

[1TB4RKSB4CK]

Depends on the subject.

For science, I'd prefer multiple choice. For humanities, I'd prefer short response/essays.

👍👍👍

 

[911 Turbo]

Not if the MC is annoying

Example

A. cat
B. dog
C. racoon
D. Both A and C
E. C
F. All of the above
G. None of the above

But if it's normal than I would say MC for everything, except perhaps Lit courses where you can more fully answer in essay format

 

[monkeyMD]

Is it because multiple choice makes things easier?

 

[Elpenor]

i am offended because the poll is not offered in short answer form

but tbh it depends on the type of class

 

[deleted307836]

Not if the MC is annoying

Example

A. cat
B. dog
C. racoon
D. Both A and C
E. C
F. All of the above
G. None of the above

But if it's normal than I would say MC for everything, except perhaps Lit courses where you can more fully answer in essay format

Omg seriously. These are the most stress inducing questions ever. In 1st semester Gen Chem many of our questions were like this. The theoretical questions would sometimes be six statements, and we had up to 8 possible answers like:
I,II, and V are true
III, and VI are true

etc etc. And no partial credit obviously

But in general I agree MC is better for sciences (ESPECIALLY BIO) and short answer is better for the humanities.

 

[deleted307836]

Is it because multiple choice makes things easier?

Yes. Recognition is easier than recall.

 

[DAPI]

Short answer across the board.

-You normally do not have to learn all the little details this way, just the main concepts
-There is partial credit, so you can BS even if you have no idea
-It limits the number of topics that can be testes on a given test so you can normally guess whats going to be on the test and not even look at certain chapters because they were skimmed over so fast in class you can assume it will not be on the test

 

[nolookpass]

Omg seriously. These are the most stress inducing questions ever. In 1st semester Gen Chem many of our questions were like this. The theoretical questions would sometimes be six statements, and we had up to 8 possible answers like:
I,II, and V are true
III, and VI are true

etc etc. And no partial credit obviously

But in general I agree MC is better for sciences (ESPECIALLY BIO) and short answer is better for the humanities.

Whenever I read SDN, bio is seen as the easiest prerequisite, but at my school every single bio test had questions like this. The majority of the test was in this format. It became a logic game making everything so much more difficult

 

[kb1990]

Depends.

No to MC if the answers include "None of the Above."

QFT. This is when I end up over-analyzing everything.

 

[PressPforPi]

Short answer across the board.

-You normally do not have to learn all the little details this way, just the main concepts
-There is partial credit, so you can BS even if you have no idea
-It limits the number of topics that can be testes on a given test so you can normally guess whats going to be on the test and not even look at certain chapters because they were skimmed over so fast in class you can assume it will not be on the test

 

[Lil Mick]

All essay exams usually work out the best for me (or proof-based exams), as well as courses that are purely paper-based. I can usually make an argument for more than one answer given on a multiple choice question, and I don't always interpret the question the way test makers anticipate, so it's easier to explain my choice/view than try to understand what principle they're trying to demonstrate. My favorite by far are take-home exams that challenge me to prove my answers (loved the one that required using set theory and analysis!).

That being said, I'm usually good at multiple choice exams (obviously, as we have to take so many in medical school), but I don't wind up getting research positions or teaching positions out of my exam answers or problem set solutions when the course is mainly multiple choice exams. Just a mathematician's view of exams and medical exams in general...

 

[eli20]

Short answer across the board.

-You normally do not have to learn all the little details this way, just the main concepts
-There is partial credit, so you can BS even if you have no idea
-It limits the number of topics that can be testes on a given test so you can normally guess whats going to be on the test and not even look at certain chapters because they were skimmed over so fast in class you can assume it will not be on the test

It must be nice to go to school wherever you are 🙂 None of these statements held true for me at least and we generally had short answers/essays in every class - even Orgo, Physics, and virtually every Bio class. Main concepts only might have gotten you a C-/C, BSing was worth deductions and if it was assigned reading it was fair game.

In short - I'd take multiple choice almost any day.

 

[monkeyMD]

Yes. Recognition is easier than recall.

👍