Assessing the Benefit of Student Self-Generated Multiple-Choice Questions on Examination Performance

Abstract

ABSTRACT Prior non-accounting research has generally concluded that students obtain performance benefits from self-generating multiple choice questions (MCQs). We examine accounting students completing an extra-credit assignment to self-generate MCQs and its association with examination performance gains. Using students from a large public and small/medium-sized private university, across multiple courses and semesters, we find that students completing the assignment did not outperform students in the same courses, with the same instructors, not offered the assignment. We find that these results hold across students of all initial performance quartiles. Our results suggest that prior educational research may overestimate the benefits of MCQ self-generation by not performing appropriate control group comparisons. We provide evidence that voluntary self-generation of MCQs may be a way to identify students seeking to improve their course performance, but in and of itself it may not be an effective method to improve student performance on MCQ examinations. Data Availability: Data are available upon request, after the completion of a related study. JEL Classifications: M49.