Student perceptions of changing answers on multiple choice examinations

The belief that changing answers on examinations is detrimental persists in spite of empirical research which does not support that belief. While the research in education has consistently shown that changing answers is beneficial, few studies have been done on the behavior and psychological process of changing answers. This qualitative study found that students prefer not to change answers and do not believe it is advantageous to do so. Most students took tests in such a manner that at least a portion of the questions were re-read. Reasons given for changing answers included reconsidering the answers after re-reading the question, mismarking the answer sheet, re-guessing, and receiving a clue later in the test. The students who changed answers often found they had misread the questions initially when they re-read it. Re-reading the question was most likely to result in a change from wrong to right. Re-guessing was not found to be as beneficial to the student scores.