Investigating male bias in multiple choice questions: contrasting formative and summative settings

摘要

Previous studies have claimed that male advantage may arise from multiple choice question (MCQ) types; we have made a detailed evaluation of this hypothesis, finding limited evidence that female students are disadvantaged by MCQs in summative assessment. Additionally, we find no significant evidence of a gender gap around the use of multiple choice-type questions, including variants such as multiple response questions, in formative assessment. Our findings suggest that the use of a MCQ format is not a significant factor in the gender gap in assessment.