Once in a while is alright, using it as a practice test for larger concepts is alright. But to have an entire exam worth a large portion of our grade entirely multiple choice? Now that's not alright. Nothing in life is multiple-choice, the world is open-ended. If you truly want to test someone's knowledge of a concept, give them a blank piece of paper and have them write what they know. Memorizing answers for multiple choice exams and quizzes teaches us nothing.
1. I'm not here to play a matching game.
If I wanted to spend the rest of my life taking multiple-choice tests, I would've stayed home and saved myself the time. I'm not here to think about what answer best fits, I'm not here to think I have three letter B's in a row there must be a mistake. That's childish. Life isn't a multiple choice test. Imagine an EMT saving someone's life thinking "Wait, is the correct technique a, b, c, or d?"
Recommended for you
2. You don't learn anything by memorizing answers.
I don't care what any professor says, multiple choice tests do not teach you anything. If you really want to see how much someone knows about a topic, put a blank piece of paper in front of them and have them write everything they know. Giving us options is helpful, but when there's only one right answer what does that teach us? It teaches us how to fail, that's what. That and some students get so stressed out at multiple choice they bubble in the correct answer on the wrong number. What does that grade tell the student? You may have known all of the material but, sorry, you should really focus on your bubbling skills and not the material at hand.
3. Life gives partial credit, why don't you?
Multiple choice is an all-or-nothing thing, what good does that do for my grade? If you gave the same question I'm positive that the same student would be able to get partial credit on it. It shows that they know the material, multiple choice is a one-way road and we somehow have to know what you were thinking when you wrote the question and answers.
4. Your laziness doesn't count.
If you're a professor and you openly state that you use multiple choice exams because you're too lazy to grade open-ended, you need to be fired immediately. I don't care what anyone says, you do not deserve the job that you have. If you give any high-value quiz or exam that's entirely multiple choice you either need to change your ways or change your profession. I'm here for my education, and that's what I will fight for. I'm not here to get bad grades because you're too busy to grade open-ended. It's not you being busy, it's being lazy. You're a professor.
5. Tricks questions/answers are not okay.
What the actual hell? How does adding an answer that's close in wording or topic to another answer help with anything? Then when you say, "It helps with paying closer attention and helps you learn," it's basically like you're saying, "You have to read everything so closely that there is only one definite answer to every situation or question in life." That's not how this works, that's not how any of this works.
