Can teachers use multiple choice to test critical and scientific thinking in the new science curriculum? The short answer is, yes, teachers can use multiple choice to test critical and scientific thinking in the new science curriculum. However, this requires some modifications to how teachers write their multiple choice questions.

In our previous post, we wrote how we can use more critical thinking skills in multiple choice questions by changing how we write the answers and prompts for our questions. Unfortunately, this has its limits. That is, if teachers continue to ask the same old multiple choice questions that rely on recall and memorization, then simply changing the answer choices isn’t going to make a big difference. What teachers need is to start asking better multiple choice questions. Therefore, what are examples of good multiple choice questions we can ask that require critical and scientific thinking?

We suggest using more case studies in multiple choice tests. Case studies provide students with real data and contexts to apply their knowledge. Thus, they are great opportunity to test critical thinking. For example, questions for our REAL Science Challenge Contests are always based on case studies. And, students find them challenging because students aren’t used to questions that require them to apply their knowledge in a given situation.  Unfortunately, case studies are not always easy to find or readily available. Thus, teachers need to create their own. In this post, we aim to help teachers create their own case studies for multiple choice exams. We present 3 types of case studies teachers can use and the types of questions that teachers can use for each type. A case studies outline is available for download at the end of this post.

Easy Case Studies for the scientific thinking

Want to make multiple choice test questions that use case studies to engage critical and scientific thinking? We suggest writing case studies that focus on one of three themes: (1) experimental design analysis, (2) experimental results analysis, and (3) multiple hypotheses analysis. We outline the three case study themes below.

1. Experimental Design Analysis

In these case studies, students are responsible for analyzing how an experiment is setup and how changes to the experimental setup can change the results. Students are typically given:

• Some background information regarding what the experiment is about.
• The experimental procedure, which includes the independent and dependent variables as well as some important controlled variables.
• Two or three different variations to the same experiment.
• Results in the form of tables or graphs for all variations to the experiment.

Questions for experimental design analysis case studies include:

• Identifying independent, dependent, and controlled variables.
• Predicting what can potentially occur if there are changes to any variables.
• Identifying or developing testable hypotheses
• Predicting hypothetical conditions that may provide similar experimental results
• Predicting future results under certain conditions.

Sample Case Study: Passage 1 in REAL Science Challenge Vol 2 Contest 4 (available for download at the end of the post).

2. Experimental Results Analysis

In these case studies, students are responsible for analyzing experimental results and applying such results in other scenarios. Students are typically given:

• Some background information regarding what the experiment is about.
• Multiple graphs and tables showing different relationships between variables in the experiment.

Questions for experimental results analysis case studies may include:

• Interpolation and extrapolation of lab results
• Determining the conditions that produce a given or range of results.
• Identifying conditions that may produce a given results
• Drawing claims or conclusions from experimental results.

Sample Case Study: Passages 2 and 4 in REAL Science Challenge Vol 2 Contest 4 (available for download at the end of the post).

3. Multiple Hypotheses Analysis

In these case studies, students are responsible for comparing and contrasting the many hypotheses that may exist that explain the same scientific phenomenon. Students are typically given:

• A scientific phenomenon where there may be multiple hypotheses that explain the phenomenon.
• Details regarding two or three of the most popular hypotheses.

Questions for multiple hypotheses analysis case studies may include:

• Determining which hypothesis is supported or refuted if given new evidence.
• Predicting future experimental results if one of the hypotheses was deemed correct.

Sample Case Study: Passages 3 in REAL Science Challenge Vol 2 Contest 4 (available for download at the end of the post).

Wrap Up

If teachers want students to apply their critical and scientific thinking skills on a test, case studies are a great resource. And, case studies work for multiple choice too (so long as the answers options are written well too – refer to post #36 for details). Unfortunately, case studies take time to create from scratch. Hopefully, by following the suggestions above, the learning curve for writing good case studies will not be as great. Of course, there is also the question of where to find good sources of information for case studies, which we will leave for a future post. Join our newsletter if you want to stay up to date with our posts or if you want to know when our follow up post to this resource will happen. And, click the link below to download the handouts (case studies outline and sample passages) for this resource. Lastly, leave a comment below or share our post with your friends or colleagues.

Until next time, keep it REAL.

Resources

Handout(s): 37 – Case Studies Outline

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