U112 – How do I set up a multiple choice question with negative marking / correction for guessing?
In a strict sense, it is not possible to deduct points for wrong answers. However, you can create a question setup where the penalty principle is applied with the Rated multiple choice question type in a Quiz, Video Quiz, Worksheet or Split Worksheet widget.
A traditional setup of multiple choice questions in tests is that an incorrect answer deducts points, while leaving the question unanswered awards 0 points. There are two reasons why this doesn't work in BookWidgets:
- The minimum score of any given question type is capped at 0; negative scores aren't possible. A student can never obtain, for example, for a question. The minimum is always .
- If a question is left open, the software cannot determine whether this is intentional or not. To be on the safe side, BookWidgets will always assume that blank questions have been overlooked, and issue a warning about unanswered questions when students click the submit button.
Since the minimum score is 0, the best way to obtain a penalty principle for guessing is by creating a multiple choice question with a blank option that awards slightly more points than a wrong guess. You can use a Rated multiple choice question type that, for example, you set up as follows:
- The correct answer awards the full point value (e.g.: );
- Any wrong answer awards points;
- An additional option that the student can use to indicate they're leaving the question unanswered, for example "I don't know" or just "blank", for which you set a low point value of for example .
Logically, the sum of the "blank" options should not amount to the cut-off percentage for the test as a whole. It should be lower. If, for example, the passing grade is 50% and the questions are set up as for "correct", "incorrect" and "blank" respectively, it would mean that if students answered the "blank" option for all multiple choice questions, they would accumulate 50% for the entire test, which would be a passing grade.
If you would like to create multiple choice questions where more than one answer is correct, please see the related article below.