THE OPTIMAL NUMBER OF OPTIONS USED IN MULTIPLE-CHOICE TEST FORMAT FOR NATIONAL EXAMINATIONS IN INDONESIA

Abstract

Purpose of the study: The present research purports to find out the most favourable number of options used in the Multiple Choice (MC) format for Senior High Schools in Indonesian National Examinations (UN) and suggest the testing division within the Indonesia ministry of education to consider the result of the study
 Methodology: Two English tests using MC questions with five options, consisting of 50 questions per test format, were used as the elicitation devices for this research. One of these English tests was rewritten to create four options by deleting the non-functioning distractors in each question. Both tests with different MC test formats were administered to 2 groups within two state Senior High Schools (SMA). The Classical Method and Rasch Analysis were utilized to compare item facility, item discrimination, distractor measure correlation, and reliabilities across the two MC test formats. To corroborate the findings of the study, questionnaires were randomly distributed to 120 SMA students and 15 SMA English teachers.
 Main Findings: The findings suggested that four options were more difficult than five options. There was significant change observed in Item Facility (p<0.05) and Item Discrimination across the two MC test formats. Based on the questionnaire data analysis, the four-option is the more optimal and preferable format to be used in the National Examinations.
 Applications of this study: Regarding the practicality issues like saving time and money for implementing the tests, minimizing the amount of time and effort needed for test-makers to create the tests, and also reducing the risk of providing implausible distractors for developing MC tests, this study concluded that the four-option MC format is more optimal to be used for Indonesian National Examinations in Senior High School.
 Novelty/Originality of this study: The testing division within the Indonesia Ministry of Education uses different numbers of MC options in Elementary, Junior High, and Senior High Schools examinations. The Ministry has predetermined three options for elementary schools, four options for junior high schools, and five options for senior high school students. The decision made the researchers of the present study eager to find out whether the use of MC format with reduced options in the UN SMA will produce the same results or maybe increase or reduce the efficiency, effectiveness, reliability, and practicality of the test administration. This is the first study to compare the number of choices in the MC test format used in Indonesian National Examinations.