The cognitive requirement in the multiple-choice exams in the university context and its relationship with learning approaches, self-regulation, teaching methods and academic performance

Abstract

The quality of academic performance and learning outcomes depend on various factors, both psychological and contextual. The academic context includes the training activities and the type of evaluation or examination, which also influences cognitive and motivational factors, such as learning and study approaches and self-regulation. In our university context, the predominant type of exam is that of multiple-choice questions. The cognitive requirement of these questions may vary. From Bloom's typical taxonomy, it is considered that from lower to higher cognitive demand we have questions about factual, conceptual, application knowledge, etc. Normally, the teacher does not take these classifications into account when preparing this type of exam. We propose here an adaptation model of the multiple choice questions classification according to cognitive requirement (associative memorization, comprehension, application), putting it to the test analyzing an examination of a subject in Psychology Degree and relating the results with measures of learning approaches (ASSIST and R-SPQ-2F questionnaires) and self-regulation in a sample of 87 subjects. The results show differential academic performance according to "cognitive" types of questions and differences in approaches to learning and self-regulation. The convenience of taking into account these factors of cognitive requirement when elaborating multiple choice questions is underlined.