September 11–12, 2017 | Madison, Wisconsin
On September 11–12, 2017, NCBE hosted a training session on the subject of writing multiple-choice questions for use as formative assessments in law school classes covering core subjects. The training, which was attended by 37 faculty members representing 23 jurisdictions, each of whom teach a core subject represented on the Multistate Bar Examination (MBE), included hands-on learning about drafting questions as well as some testing basics.
The training session consisted of four segments. The first segment, “Testing Basics and the Function of Multiple-Choice Questions,” was led by NCBE staff members Mark Albanese, Ph.D., Director of Testing & Research; Joanne Kane, Ph.D., Associate Director of Testing; and Andrew Mroch, Ph.D., Research Psychometrician.
It was followed by “Multiple-Choice Questions on the Bar Exam and in the Classroom,” led by Professor Timothy Davis of Wake Forest University School of Law (who attended remotely due to travel complications from Hurricane Irma) and Dean Emerita Mary Kay Kane of Hastings College of the Law of the University of California—both of whose familiarity with the drafting of multiple-choice questions comes from their experience in the development of the MBE—along with NCBE MPRE Program Director Nina Chang and NCBE MBE Program Director Beth Hill.
Professor Davis and Dean Emerita Kane then provided instruction during “The Nuts and Bolts of Drafting Multiple-Choice Questions.”
Chang and Hill, joined by NCBE MEE/MPT Associate Program Director Sonja Olson and four NCBE Test Editors, led the concluding segment, “Small-Group Multiple-Choice Question Drafting Exercises.”
The day of presentations concluded with a wrap-up and discussion session. The training session was videotaped by NCBE to make it available for use by law schools.
