Assessment of Item-Writing Flaws in Multiple-Choice Questions

In Brief This study evaluated the quality of multiple-choice questions used in a hospital’s e-learning system. Constructing well-written questions is fraught with difficulty, and item-writing flaws are common. Study results revealed that most items contained flaws and were written at the knowledge/comprehension level. Few items had linked objectives, and no association was found between the presence of objectives and flaws. Recommendations include education for writing test questions. The authors conducted a study of multiple-choice questions used in one hospital’s e-learning system and make recommendations for improvement in test question writing.