funny multiple choice questions

funny multiple choice questions

The Art of Crafting Engaging and Humorous Multiple Choice Questions

1. Introduction to Multiple Choice Questions

It is generally agreed that considering various cognitive levels when assessing students is beneficial because low-level exams do not demonstrate students’ complete understanding of the content, and high-level exams are not achievable without a full understanding of comparatively lower cognitive level objectives. Additionally, many teachers who have experienced the frustrations of grading best-fit type questions prefer the simplicity and objectivity of multiple choice questions or their close relatives, multiple selection questions. Furthermore, correct scoring of multiple choice questions is important, as is a good knowledge of the rules that govern option-writing tests. With career, other life, or academic interests competing for students’ time and attention, should “busy work” exams be encouraged? All of these types of criteria can easily be incorporated into multiple choice questions.

Although most tests in the United States also do so, multiple choice tests administered in some European or Asian countries generally have only four options. If one of the goals of instruction is to help students see that mathematics is a creative subject, what better way than to present them with a creative subject matter question? Educators can take the opportunity that writing questions affords to be learners themselves. The main prerequisite to writing good multiple choice questions is attaining a high level of mastery regarding the area being tested and the requisite knowledge to develop fair and accurate distractors. Multiple choice questions can, however, be written to test a range of cognitive levels of learning.

2. The Importance of Adding Humor to Multiple Choice Questions

Once the humor questions ball starts rolling, you too will have the urge to jot down portions in any question that strikes humor in your mind. You’ll find that you have the urge to doodle in the car, write. When this happens, be sure to record your humor thoughts so you don’t forget them later. Before you know it, you’ll be crossing your i’s and dotting your t’s, hungry for more right side brain humor that walks hand in hand with left side brain testing!

In addition, humor within multiple choice questions provides the opportunity to reward students that diligently read through the multiple choices closely. Many times, students attempt to answer questions without completely examining the choices. By inserting humor into the questions, students will find the time to read every word to see what the clever author hath scribed. This forces the students to read with more precision and thus increases the possibility that the well-crafted question can still contain the bite of a Viper! Just like any craft, crafting humorous questions will begin to become more natural with regular practice, taking on a life all of its own. Taking an existing question and adding humor will begin to have the same effect as exercising a muscle.

It is hard to consistently write fantastic multiple choice questions that challenge the minds of authors, while fully engaging the creativity of humor. The creation of numerous testing questions can be so dry and lifeless that it’s easy for creators to simply find other things to do. However, adding an element of humor to multiple choice texts creates an explosion of clever creativity. By allowing your creative thought processes to occasionally dive into the realms of focused humor, your questions become more engaging and well worth returning to over and over again. The adding of humor allows the author to visualize new questions from a new set of eyes – questions all of a sudden leap to the forefront that normally would have stayed in hiding!

3. Strategies for Creating Funny Multiple Choice Questions

Strategies for Creating Funny Multiple Choice Questions Consider the reverse of the truth for comedic potential, especially when discussing research problems. If you are a sci-fi fan and enjoy comic writers such as Carl Reiner and Woody Allen, you might be familiar with the logical reversals used in works such as “The Incredible Journey” or “Journey to the Center of the Earth.” These are science fiction novels that satirize traditional science fiction novels by breaking their own rule: nothing happens even though no rules. The characters and dialogue will be reasonably expected in such novels. One way to capture the essence of topical humor in a classroom is to base it on current news. You might consider especially funny scientific claims. Never fails!

One way to capture the essence of topical humor in a classroom is to base it on current news. Life abounds with humor, as do most professions. Even the most serious of topics can be turned into funny material. Math and Art? Physics and Sacred Lobsters? Both were sections in my book, “The Art of The Multiple-Choice Question,” that were quite successful at revealing the humor.

1. Overview 2. Satirical Multiple Choice Questions 3. Strategies for Creating Funny Multiple Choice Questions

4. Examples of Humorous Multiple Choice Questions

Even an engineer has a difficult job. While both ‘carsman’ and ‘trainee engineers’ are used reasonably in a railroad context, the question puns ‘even engineer’ because onerous is an even number.

4. The most onerous job on the railroad is the one held by the: * Carsman * Even engineer * Trainee engineers

A question with these rhyming answer choices was submitted to Socratic Columns by Ralph Oakes. As might be expected, the original answer was, “neither!”

3. The scientist relating to cannons and great noise is the * Boomologist * Brassist * Violating the clause

The male lions at the zoo are the subject of a variety of puns related to their manes. (Similarly, female lions are substantially faster than their male counterparts and the butt of a series of puns related to their speed and strength.)

2. The most impressive thing about the lions at the zoo is their: * Essay * Mane concerns * Pride during exams.

A string of racehorses is called a string. A group of horses being grouped together on the track to pick up horses going a certain distance will be ‘caught doing work.’ (Trainers often send several horses around the track to finish breezing (performing a workout at a moderate speed) at the same time so they can break off together and push each other.)

1. A team of racehorses is called a: * Arazing * Astring * Acaught doing.

## 4.1 MC Questions Humor Examples

The multiple choice question type is very flexible. In the following sections, we will have examples that we hope will serve as a source of inspiration and stimuli to the reader’s creativity. This section presents instructive generic MC questions that use its flexibility to test some themes where humor is used to incentivize the student to learn more about the subjacent theme. These too are multiple-choice gap-filling questions that test students’ grasp of humor related to the different themes.

5. Conclusion and Final Tips

I leave with other creative individuals with some broad tips that will hopefully provide ample inspiration. Make literacy and numeracy the top priority and ask some physical science too. Scrutinize choices carefully to ensure the artifact of answer reflects the concept. Schedule plenty of time for writing, editing, and rewriting. Create some congruity between the stem and the choices. Establish multiple rather than single skills in each question posed. Question what the test is running. Assessments are very personal. There is no such thing as perfection. Are you enjoying writing questions? If the answer is yes, then it’s a good question!

It is incumbent on those of us who construct assessments to make sure that a question is fair. Leaving room for humor, creating the possibility of synergy, are just two of the techniques for making a multiple-choice question more engaging, often leading in the process to a more effective tool. The art of posing a question that captures the imagination is essentially design—but less math than most folks expect. Often, at the end of the process, the serious writer just depends on old-fashioned experience to come to a coherent question.