Post Modern Multiple Choice

You've been there in front of the scantron going back and forth with your inner debate partner over options B and C. There are perfectly good reasons to choose each other. If only you had insight into the mind of the testmaker. But you don't and you never will. But with my invention we can help mitigate your equivocation.

Now many multiple choice tests have gone digital. So here's what I'm thinking: a fifth tick box. But instead of an answer, this one open up a new text box for you to argue why. Maybe you need to write down a fifth option and say why it would be a better answer. Maybe you need to write the possible justification for two answers.

So this defeats the purpose of multiple choice tests I know. But maybe out of 100 problem test you need to write, what 5? 10? of these? We could call this the justification score. If could be the type of thing that could bump you up a grade if you were on a borderline. And it could give some good insight into why these questions need to be reworked. I don't buy that getting past the moment of equivocation is worthwhile.

Where I think this could be really useful is that sort of professional propensity testing. If a kid goes into that text and fills ever single box full of text without being able to decide on a single multi-choice option, well then you know you should probably send him off to be a lit student, a rhetoric major, or you know, the loony bin. I mean, say 80% of the population is done with multiple choice, cause like, they would rather choose between options than think. So it still makes sense to give these tests statistically. But the other 20% need just a little bit of an out to express the fact that multiple choice is so utterly limiting that it makes us want to kills ourselves with indecision. Sure, maybe I'm punching a hole in the dam and pretty soon we'll be a culture of indecisive assholes who don't believe in truth anymore. But like...I sorta want that. You know?