Scenario-based approach

The scenario-based approach to multiple-choice questions provides a basis for testing complex thinking, application of knowledge as well as integration of material. It is a structured and well-organized method of assessment, ensuring ease of scoring.  

Scenario 1: Statistics

Two researchers were studying the relationship between amount of sleep each night and calories burned on an exercise bike for 42 men and women. They were interested if people who slept more had more energy to use during their exercise session. They obtained a correlation of .28, which has a two-tailed probability of .08. Alpha was .10.

 1. Which is an example of a properly written research question?

1. Is there a relationship between amount of sleep and energy expanded?*
2. Does amount of sleep correlate with energy used?
3. What is the cause of energy expanded?
4. What is the value of rho?

2. What is the correct term for the variable amount of sleep?

1. Dependent*
2. Independent
3. Predictor
4. y

3. What is the correct statistical null hypothesis?

1. There is no correlation between sleep and energy expanded
2. Rho equals zero*
3. R equals zero
4. Rho equals r

4. What conclusions should you draw regarding the null hypothesis?

1. Reject*
2. Accept
3. Cannot determine without more information

5. What conclusions should you draw regarding this study?

1. The correlation was significant
2. The correlation was not significant
3. A small relationship exists*
4. No relationship exists

Scenario 2: Biology

One day you meet a student watching a wasp drag a paralyzed grasshopper down a small hole in the ground. When asked what he is doing he replies, “I’m watching that wasp store paralyzed grasshoppers in her nest to feed her offspring.” 

1. Which of the following is the best description of his reply?

1. He is not a careful observer.
2. He is stating a conclusion only partly derived from his observation.*
3. He is stating a conclusion entirely drawn from his observation.
4. He is making no assumptions.

2. Which of the following additional observations would add the most strength to the student’s reply in Question 1?

1. Observing the wasp digging a similar hole.
2. Observing the wasp dragging more grasshoppers into the hole.
3. Digging into the hole and observing wasp eggs on the paralyzed grasshopper*
4. Observing adult wasps emerging from the hole a month later.

3.   Both of you wait until the wasp leaves the area, then you dig into the hole and observe three paralyzed grasshoppers, each with a white egg on its side. The student states that this evidence supports his reply in Question 1. Which of the following assumptions is he making?

1. The eggs are grasshopper eggs.
2. The wasp laid the eggs.*
3. The wasp dug the hole.
4. The wasp will return with another grasshopper.  

4. You take the white eggs to the Biology laboratory. Ten days later immature wasps hatched from the eggs. The student states that this evidence supports his reply in Question 1. Which of the following assumptions is he making?  

1. The wasp dug the hole.
2. The wasp stung the grasshoppers.
3. The grasshoppers were dead.
4. A paralyzed grasshopper cannot lay an egg.*

Additional information

Donovan, M. P., & Allen, R.D. (n.d.). Analytical problems in biology. Morgantown, West Virginia: Alpha Editions.

Haladyna, T. M. (1994). Developing and validating-multiple-choice test items, 1 st ed. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Terry, T.M. (1980). The narrative exam – an approach to creative organization of multiple-choice tests. Journal of College Science Teaching, 9(3), 156-158.