Blog Post
CaryGlenn1
10 years agoSuper Hero
Hi Rod,
It sounds like you were using a multiple response type of question instead of a multiple choice type question. Which is why that question didn't work very well. But, that is not why you shouldn't use "All of the above" or "None of the above" distractors. If I'm taking a test and I see that 2 answers are correct then I know that I can choose "All of the above" without reading any other distractor. Often AOTA and NOTA are a waste of time for both the instructional designer and the learner. If you want to use a AOTA type question you are better off using a multiple response type question. Also, NOTA doesn't really test if the person knows the correct answer it tests if they can recognize incorrect answers.
It sounds like you were using a multiple response type of question instead of a multiple choice type question. Which is why that question didn't work very well. But, that is not why you shouldn't use "All of the above" or "None of the above" distractors. If I'm taking a test and I see that 2 answers are correct then I know that I can choose "All of the above" without reading any other distractor. Often AOTA and NOTA are a waste of time for both the instructional designer and the learner. If you want to use a AOTA type question you are better off using a multiple response type question. Also, NOTA doesn't really test if the person knows the correct answer it tests if they can recognize incorrect answers.