Students' Attitude Towards Multiple Choice Test: Basis for Developing Modified Answering Mechanism

Abstract

INTRODUCTION

Assessment is an integral part of teaching and learning process. Multiple choice test is one of the forms of assessment recommended to use during quarterly examinations which primarily aims to develop students' higher order thinking skills. Unfortunately, students have different views towards this particular kind of assessment and takes advantage of this chance to quickly answer and randomly guess each question since options are already provided. This kind of dilemma led the researcher to conduct a study about the students' answering habits and develop possible solution to this phenomenon through making a modified answering style a new habit.

METHODS

The researcher used a descriptive research design because it aims to describe the characteristics and behavior of the respondents. The respondents are the Grade 12 Humanities and Social Sciences students who took the third quarter examination in Understanding Culture, Society, and Politics in Talisay Senior High School, Talisay, Batangas. The researcher analyzed the performance of the respondents on the said examination which includes their speed of answering and their scores and used survey questionnaires to gather their perception on the said assessment. The researcher also conducted an interview for further details.

RESULTS

The results show that majority of the respondents guessed their answers. They lack interest to read long constructed questions while some respondents really lack comprehension skills. It has also been determined that those who answered questions on the shortest span of time got lower scores and some of their mistakes were considered to be easy items. Based on the interview conducted, most of the students who really took time to read and practice critical analysis to the test questions are those students who generally perform better. Thus, the researcher really believes that there is a need for modification of students' answering mechanism through practice and day-by-day integration. This way, old habits may be unlearned and new answering habits can be formed.

DISCUSSIONS

The results imply that when it comes to multiple choice tests, students become complacent and neglectful on answering questions. The purpose has not been served well. It is essential to develop and practice a mindful answering style and a firm implementation of it. Simple drills and consistent integration will be a great contributing factor to alter students' perception towards this kind of assessment.