Margaret Spong UK Technical Group for the Islamic Finance Qualification

Things to think about when writing multiple choice questions - 1 Questions are set out RANDOMLY in the exam, so please make sure the stem identifies the subject area.

Things to think about when writing multiple choice questions - 2 The IFQ is intended to be a practical Islamic banking and finance qualification. Please think about the issues staff need to understand and base questions on that – we can expand workbook coverage to handle this if necessary.

Things to think about when writing multiple choice questions - 3 Formative and summative questions: -Formative questions form the knowledge base and are used to reinforce knowledge and understanding in the workbook. -Summative questions are the final assessment and the demonstration of the sum of knowledge and understanding in the exam.

Things to think about when writing multiple choice questions - 4 Link to the syllabus: -‘Know’ questions test recall, definitions etc, fairly basic -‘Understand’ questions test comprehension, ability to express material in own language -‘Ability to apply’ questions test ability to apply material to ‘practical’ scenario based questions

Things to think about when writing multiple choice questions - 5 Overall paper difficulty. Need consistent standards across all exam papers. Achieve through comparable balance across the difficulty levels of questions, the relative numbers of: -E = easy/basic; -M = medium difficulty and -D = difficult questions

Things to think about when writing multiple choice questions - 6 E does not necessarily = Know questions D does not necessarily = Ability to apply *************************************************************** Paper will comprise: ~60 E questions (>70% of candidates get question correct) ~ 30 M questions (~40 – 69% of candidates get question correct) ~10 D questions (<40% of candidates get question correct) Pass mark 70%

Things to think about when writing multiple choice questions - 7 Which Arabic terms do staff need to know? Which Arabic terms should be explained? Simple English – co-mingled becomes ‘merged’ or ‘amalgamated’. Use a simple word if it will do the job.

Things to think about when writing multiple choice questions - 8 Is question worthwhile? Treat each question as if it is vital to the pass/fail decision. Does the option/question pass the ‘So What!’ test. Don’t test things that don’t really matter.

Things to think about when writing multiple choice questions - 9 Extent to which Islam should be tested. Respect the religion but test it through its application in business and finance. Not planning to examine Chapter 1 – but there will be questions in the workbook.

Structuring the paper Technical specification Balance of difficulty Number of calculation questions ‘Theory’ vs ‘practical’ questions Limit on ‘Roman numeral’ style questions Balance in the use of the options A, B, C, D Use of unexplained Arabic terms ?