True/false (T/F) questions are easy assessment questions to write—and the easiest for learners to answer. They are objective (one correct answer) questions, which means we can set up T/F questions to be auto-graded.

T/F questions are, however, of limited value in terms of what they’re able to assess, for two reasons:

1. T/F questions are “assisted recall” or “recall with a hint” questions: they require learners to recall just enough information to identify the correct answer that’s put in front of them.
2. Learners have a 50/50 chance of guessing the correct answer (which makes meaningful assessment difficult).

Potential benefits of T/F questions

1. When used sparingly, T/F questions can be useful for identifying glaring knowledge gaps quickly.  If audiences consistently answer 15 out of 20 true/false questions about basic concepts incorrectly, for example, we know one of two things: either our questions are poorly written, or our audience has a long way to go to master basic concepts.  In either case, we’ve identified a significant problem with a minimum of time/effort spent both on our part, and our learners’. 
2. When used to assess novice or struggling learners—especially at the beginning of instruction—well-written T/F questions can build learner confidence.
3. When accompanied by nutritive feedback (scroll down to see an example), T/F questions can drive audiences to read/self-serve.

How to write effective T/F questions 

1. Reserve T/F questions for “big picture” knowledge. Avoid laboring over the wording of a true/false question in an attempt to assess subtlety.  T/F questions aren’t a good fit for assessing subtlety. They’re not great for assessing information that changes a lot or that’s easy for learners to look up, either. 

• Good example #1. TRUE or FALSE: The purpose of reference citations is to enable readers to verify for themselves every assertion we’ve made about the research underpinning our work. (Correct answer = TRUE)
• Good example #2. TRUE or FALSE: The “five parts of a letter” apply just as much to emails and other synchronous communications as they do to physical letters. (Correct answer = TRUE)

The “good example” questions above are well written because they ask audiences to consider and identify the single most important thing about reference citations and asynchronous communications, respectively: their purpose.

• Bad example #1. TRUE or FALSE: When citing a book as a reference, always capitalize the first word that appears after a colon in the book title and subtitle. (Correct answer = TRUE)
• Bad example #2. TRUE or FALSE: The heading of a letter may be centered or positioned at the left margin. (Correct answer = TRUE)

The two “bad example” questions above are poorly written because they ask audiences to identify specific formatting conventions that are both difficult to recall and, more important, irrelevant in the context of recall.  (Formatting conventions change over time and are easy to look up in both print and online sources.)

Tip: A much better way to measure an audience’s knowledge of formatting facts is to ask them to apply formatting correctly. So, in this example, the T/F questions should be replaced by questions that ask audiences to cite a reference or to format a business letter correctly.

2. Don’t try to trick your learners with vagueness or wordplay.  Don’t write T/F questions that are vague, that can be interpreted multiple ways, or that contain double negatives. And be sure to emphasize critical words your audience might skim over, such as not or always, by bolding or underlining them. Your goal is to assess basic “yes/no” knowledge, not your audience’s ability to parse a sentence or guess at the correct interpretation.

• Good example #3.  TRUE or FALSE: All reference citations must include sufficient accurate details (such as a book’s title, author, edition, publisher, publish city, and publish date) to enable a reader to locate a reference work identical to the one the essay author used. (Correct answer = TRUE)
• Good example #4.  TRUE or FALSE: While the “five parts of a letter” greeting (which communicates the intended recipient of a message) must be explicit in printed communications, it’s often implied in digital communications such as texts. (Correct answer = TRUE)

The two “good example” questions directly above are well written because they measure learners’ grasp of important “big picture” concepts and because they include parenthetical clarifications and emphasis of critical terms that might otherwise be easy for learners to misinterpret.

• Bad example #3.  TRUE or FALSE: All reference citations must include details to allow a reader to locate a reference work. (Correct answer = TRUE)

The above “bad example” question is poorly written because it’s so vague it measures virtually no valuable knowledge in this context.  (What “details” must citations include?  What “reference work” should readers be able to find—the one actually referenced, or some other one altogether?)

• Bad example #4.  TRUE or FALSE: The second part of the “five parts of a letter” must not be missing or implicit in printed communications but is often not explicit in digital communications, such as emails and texts. (Correct answer = TRUE)

The example above is poorly written because it uses the term “second part” without clarification. While expecting learners to recall the meaning of “second part” in the context of this subject matter is legitimate, T/F is a poor way to measure that recall.  Asking learners to order the five parts (using an ordering question) or list them all in the correct order (using a short answer question) would be a much more effective approach.

The bad example above also uses convoluted language (“not be… implicit” and “not explicit” instead of the clearer “explicit” and “implicit,” respectively). When we want to measure nuanced thought, we need to pick a question type other than T/F.

What’s YOUR take?

Do you use T/F questions frequently?  Never?  If you do employ them, in what contexts have you found them most useful?  What tips or tricks have you found to guide you in writing them? Please consider leaving a comment and sharing your hard-won experience with the learning community.