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Does Using None-of-the-Above (NOTA) Hurt Students' Confidence?

Jeri L Little1

  • 1Department of Psychology, California State University, East Bay, 25800 Carlos Bee Blvd., Hayward, CA 94542, USA.

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|August 25, 2023
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Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Multiple-choice questions with none-of-the-above (NOTA) options do not significantly impact student performance or item-by-item confidence. However, students report lower overall confidence when NOTA is an option.

Keywords:
assessmentconfidencelearningmetacognitionmultiple-choicenone-of-the-abovetesting

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Area of Science:

  • Educational Psychology
  • Assessment and Measurement

Background:

  • Students perceive multiple-choice questions with competitive distractors or none-of-the-above (NOTA) options as challenging.
  • Assessment researchers have raised concerns regarding the pedagogical implications of using NOTA options in assessments.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the impact of including NOTA as a multiple-choice option on student confidence and performance.
  • To compare item-by-item confidence and aggregate confidence judgments between standard multiple-choice and NOTA conditions.

Main Methods:

  • Four experiments were conducted online (trivia) and in classrooms (course-related questions).
  • Participants answered equivalent questions in a basic multiple-choice format and a format where an incorrect option was replaced by NOTA.
  • Item-by-item confidence ratings were collected after each question, followed by aggregate confidence judgments and qualitative feedback.

Main Results:

  • No significant differences in item-by-item confidence or performance were observed between the basic and NOTA conditions across all experiments.
  • Participants reported significantly lower aggregate confidence in the NOTA condition compared to the basic condition.
  • Qualitative comments provided additional insights into student perceptions of NOTA questions.

Conclusions:

  • Contrary to common belief, NOTA options do not appear to negatively affect students' question-by-question confidence or performance.
  • The perceived difficulty or negative impact of NOTA questions may stem from aggregate confidence judgments rather than immediate response evaluation.
  • Further research may explore the nuanced effects of NOTA on test-taking strategies and overall assessment validity.