Analyzing Multiple-Choice-Multiple-Response Items Using Item Response Theory

Abstract

Multiple-choice-multiple-response (MCMR) items allow students to select as many responses as they think are correct to a given question stem. Using MCMR items can provide researchers and instructors with a richer and more complete picture of what students do and do not understand about a particular topic. Interpreting students' MCMR responses is more nuanced than it is for single-response items. Unfortunately, many typical analyses of data from multiple-choice tests assume dichotomously-scored items, which eliminates the possibility of incorporating the rich information from students' response patterns to MCMR items. We present a novel methodology for using a combination of item response theory models to analyze data from MCMR items. These methods could be applied to inform scoring models that incorporate partial credit for various response patterns.2022 PERC Proceedings edited by Frank, Jones, and Ryan; Peer-reviewed, doi.org/10.1119/perc.2022.pr.Smith Published by the American Association of Physics Teachers under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license.