Monday, September 26, 2011

Multiple Choice Questions (MCQ) techniques

Cautious vs. Bold Approach

Candidates appearing for multiple choice questions (MCQ) papers in which the general trend is to deduct marks for each wrong answer that they attempt. Evidently students omit many questions for fear of losing marks where there is negative marking. It has been noted that those who omit more questions out of fear are not necessarily much less competent than those who omit few questions. It is certainly a burning issue whether it is right to answer those "uncertainly and not ignorant" types of questions.
Candidates attempting MCQ pattern question papers are habitually unsure about how many questions they should appear in order to do justice to their knowledge and preparation. In this context a relatively bolder approach where students are reasonably sure of the correct answer is recommended. Attempting all questions with a random guess of 50% chance of being correct, and attempt based on some knowledge should increase the probability and so improve the score.

Student should collect previous question papers for this self assessment with different techniques (i.e., cautious vs. bold) and compare the marks to know which technique is effective for them. Students consistently obtaining high score out of their factual guessing are recommended to adopt a bolder strategy in MCQ examination. Guesses based on some knowledge of the subject are more likely to be right than wrong, contrary wild guessing on the basis of total ignorance is likely to lose marks.
However factors like (How genuine and important is the paper, examination condition, consequence of attempting test) may limit our self evaluation. The real heat could be only felt in examination hall.

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