Evaluate Efficiency

Good question distractors should sound plausible, but not correct, to students who have not mastered the content. They should also be worded concisely so that when students miss the question, you, as instructor, may know why (Worthen, et al., 1999).

To evaluate the effectiveness of the distractors, simply note how many high scorers and low scorers select each option. In a relatively large class, a good question would be the one with each of its options being selected by at least a few students. The low scorers should select the incorrect option(s) more frequently.

For a multiple-choice question that has five options, if only two options get selected by the students, this question theoretically only has two options for students to choose. The other three options are not sufficiently plausible. The instructor may consider revising the other three options. 

Reference

• Worthen, B. R., White, K. R., Fan, X., & Sudweeks, R. R. (1999). Measurement and assessment in schools (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Addison Wesley Longman.