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A Two-Question Test - UPDATED
The following two-question test is something I've found helpful for teaching recruits and EMT students how to do better on those multiple-choice certification tests we all love hate so much.
Question 1
The sun is:
A) A planet
B) A moon
C) A star
D) A celestial body that gives off light and heat
Question 2
When playing American football, the most important equipment item is:
A) the helmet
B) the jersey
C) the kicking shoe
D) the team bus
You guys have fun with the thought process, and post your answers.
Once we get some answers up, I'll give the correct answers and explain the rationale.
If you get them both correct, you probably already have good multiple choice test scores.
Some of your posts are pretty insightful, and one of the posters has picked up on a key point for Question 1. Keep this up - there is some good discussion here.
The answers and some teaching points have been posted, but there is still some good discussion going on, particularly about some of the context of Question 2. If you have additional comments or if you disagree with my points, feel free to keep posting.
Question 1
The sun is:
A) A planet
B) A moon
C) A star
D) A celestial body that gives off light and heat
Question 2
When playing American football, the most important equipment item is:
A) the helmet
B) the jersey
C) the kicking shoe
D) the team bus
You guys have fun with the thought process, and post your answers.
Once we get some answers up, I'll give the correct answers and explain the rationale.
If you get them both correct, you probably already have good multiple choice test scores.
Some of your posts are pretty insightful, and one of the posters has picked up on a key point for Question 1. Keep this up - there is some good discussion here.
The answers and some teaching points have been posted, but there is still some good discussion going on, particularly about some of the context of Question 2. If you have additional comments or if you disagree with my points, feel free to keep posting.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Jack/dt on
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Well, you referenced the 'turkey' as possibly having some causative effect on your judgment (inferred) but, please note I said "it 'might' be the akahaul that does most people in." I don't believe I said anywhere that that was the case with you.
"Rainman, which stands for Remote Automated Information Manager, is the proprietary publishing platform of AOL (formerly America Online). It was conceptualized and coding started by Marc Seriff and completed by Craig Dykstra, both AOL founders. Rainman code is used to create forums and pages on the AOL service by AOL and content partners of the company."
Um....nope. ;-)
P.s. Is knowledge really ever useless?
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Permalink Reply by WestPhilly on
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1. C
2. A
We know what the sun isn't - a planet or moon. It is a celestial body, but that's too vague. It does give off light and heat, but the question doesn't ask what it does, it asks what it is. It's a star.
The helmet is the only piece of equipment listed that distinguishes American football from any other kind of football. So, by process of illumination - I mean, elimination (must still have question 1 on my mind) - it gots to be da helmet.
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Permalink Reply by Ben Waller on
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Funny, but outside the scope of the question.
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Permalink Reply by Capt.Jocelyn Chiasson on
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c and a
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Here are the answers and the rationale...
Question 1 - the correct answer is C) a star.
A) a planet is a confuser designed to grab the attention of those who are hurrying through the test or who are not really paying attention.
B) a moon is a weak confuser since we're used to thinking of "the sun AND the moon" not "the sun IS a moon".
The difference between C) a star and D) the celestial body, light, heat, yadda yadda answer is that the conditions of D) are a SUBSET of what makes "starness", and thus, are a subset of C). That makes C) the most complete and most correct answer. D) would require other elements to complete the definition of "star". Those would include being the center of a solar system, being that solar system's gravity well, and giving off radiation. Thus, D), although plausible, is not the most correct answer.
This is a typical pattern for multiple choice test answers. There is usually a weak confuser, a strong confuser, and two plausibly correct answers. It can take some thought about the subject to determine which of the plausible answers is the best one. Start by eliminating the weak confuser, then the strong confuser, then parse out the details between the other two.
Question 2 is a TRICK QUESTION, and the correct answer might be any of the four. It is a trick question because I did not provide the most important thing to help you determine what I'm really asking here. The key missing element is the CONTEXT. If the context is "preventing head and neck injuries", then the answer is A). If the context is "team identification for the TV audience" (i.e. "accountability, as a couple of you pointed out) then the answer is B). If the context is "special teams scoring", then the answer is C). If the context is "getting the team to the game", then the answer is D)
This points out that you need to know the context of a given question. The context is sometimes given by the test being labeled in sections. For example, the National Registry EMT tests have sections labeled "Respiratory", "Cardiac", "Trauma", and "OB/GYN". Those section headings give you the context for the answer.
Sometimes the context may be given by additional information buried in the question. I didn't do that here, but some test writers will do that.
Sometimes, the context is missing. That means that the test writer and editor may have a good idea of what they are asking, but that they did not provide enough information to let you do anything other than to read their minds. Those people drive us all crazy, because they may be good evaluators, but they're not good communicators.
Another issue with context is that sometimes test writers get so hung up on following the Instructor II methodology templates that they focus the test upon that methodology, rather than on the content and context. This can result in lots of questions that are objective, but are peripherally related to the context rather than being focused on it.
For example, in a test related to structural firefighting, if 2/3 of the questions are related to MAYDAYS and evacuation signals, those questions are related to the topic and they're probably objective, but they miss the essentials of the desired content and context that tell the test evaluator whether you really know the base information needed for a Firefighter I or not.
Sometimes you can derive the context from reading the questions immediately before and after the one with the missing context, but this can be risky. The test writer may have derived the test questions from related segments of a validated, commercially available test database, or the questions may have been derived randomly. If it's random, you have a much more difficult task than if adjacent questions are related, but not labeled as such.
This is a superficial look at a very complex topic. However, if you have a basic subject-matter knowledge and understand the issues examined in my two-question test, it should help you improve future test scores.
I hope this has been helpful, not only to those who take fire and EMS tests, but to those who design them and who write the questions. Remember, if you write test questions that are so obtuse that they have no context, then you're really not measuring what the students know, you're just measuring how much luck they have with a guessing game.
Like any (hopefully) good instructor, I'd like your feedback on the test, including the test construction and if it was helpful to you or not.
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Ben, we can only answer the question based on the wording present in the question. That being the case, for question #2 the context is "American" football. So based on your explanation:
b) jersey would be a confuser - worn by all team sports so not specific to American football
c) kicking shoe would be a confuser - may or may not used (barefoot kickers) or...shoes worn by all/most soccer players since kicking is integral to soccer.
d) Bus would be a confuser - used by teams that play both home and away games, not specific to American football.
The correct answer has to be A) Helmet since it is specific to American football and, outside of backyard pickup games is required equipment regardless of the level (pop warner, nfl).
I think the lesson here is that questions need to be read carefully to ascertain exactly what it is that is being asked. In fact, question #2 (in my opinion) is much clearer than is #1. Clearly in #2 the context is 'american' football, so the answer should be something specific to american football.
Question #1 is harder because there are two plausible answers and requires a bit more thought to determine what is being asked. I saw it as a stepped answer, the sun (which we revolve around) is a star which is "A celestial body that gives off light and heat" found in 'the outer arm of the milky way galaxy (a potential additional answer)....and on it would go. Thus, my reasoning.
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Permalink Reply by John Rulli Jr. on
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c
a
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Permalink Reply by Fireyladd - Retired Chief Sharp on
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Ted, absolutely! The questions taken for face value based on our Safe-Ish policy could be answered many ways. As I was the first to respond I now see many different perspectives based on many different viewpoints. The Safe-Ish expert only knows what was in the mind of Ben when he wrote this discussion. Hummmm? Wonder if Ben is the Safe-Ish expert. That would explain much.
Actually Ben, this was great! I enjoy it when we come up with good lively discussions that not only make us think(Oh that hurts my brain ) but gives us the opportunity to see things from different angles and perspective.
Good stuff Bro.
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Permalink Reply by Alan Shaw on
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Great explanation, some of this may work it's way into a test prep class that I am working on for my department. However I can not let one comment go by without a bit on anal retentive dispute. The idea that Jerseys, Shoes and Buses can be eliminated because they are used in other sports, but helmets are specific to American Football, is just plain wrong. Helmets are worn in other sports as are Jerseys. They are only specific when comparing American football to soccer, but the question does not specify what we are comparing it to. Judging by the number of people who probably should not be allowed out without their hockey helmets, I bet they outsell football ones.
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Alan,
I'm not following you. The question about football was about football - specifically American football. Of the items listed: helmet, jersey, kicking shoe, bus - the helmet is the only one unique to American football.
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Permalink Reply by Wade Seely on
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what about canadian football.........oh never mind
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Jack,
The test should either provide the context or the test section should provide the context. "American Football" is not an entire context by itself, as the question can be answered correctly with any of the four answers, depending upon the specific sub-contexts within the topic of "American Football".
This is one of those "Forest vs. Trees" issues - sometimes the question writer is looking for forest, sometimes for trees. My point was that you have to be able to determine the greater context in the presence of additional information that I did not provide, but that fire and EMS testing often does.
One of the things you need to be able to do is to figure out missing context when it is not provided somewhere else in the test.
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