Explaining Multiple Choice Answers
If you come across a multiple-choice question followed by a field for an explanation, additional steps are required to complete the assignment. These assignments are designed to encourage knowledge sharing among participants in your online course, providing an opportunity to learn from one another.
In traditional classroom settings, this type of assignment is often referred to as a "peer instruction" or "clicker" question.
The following section explains how to complete these interactive assignments.
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Assignment Overview
For multiple-choice questions that require an explanation, the next step is to share your reasoning with other learners and review their choices and explanations.
Responses are anonymous, allowing you to focus on providing the best possible answer without concern for spelling or minor mistakes.
After reviewing the explanations from others, you will have another opportunity to answer the question based on what you’ve learned.
Completing the Assignment
For this type of assignment, you will follow these steps:
Step 1: Explain Your Choice
After selecting an answer, write an explanation for your choice.
Use this opportunity to present a well-reasoned argument supporting your answer. You may reference course materials, such as videos or textbooks, or describe your thought process in arriving at your decision.
Your selected answer and explanation together form your initial response. When you click Next,your response is added to the collection of responses from all other course participants.
Step 2: Review Other Initial Responses
Review the initial responses submitted by other participants. The course team determines how many responses you will see—you may be shown one for each possible answer choice or a randomly selected set.
This step allows you to learn from others' explanations and reconsider your own understanding of the topic.
Since all initial responses are part of the shared collection, your answer and explanation may also be displayed to other learners at this stage of the assignment.
Step 3: Revise Your Response
At this stage, you can choose to update your initial response by selecting a different answer, revising your explanation, or both.
This step is optional—you may keep your original response or modify it based on what you’ve learned.
Once you select Next Step, you will see the correct answer.
Step 4: Review the Correct Answer
Review the correct answer choice and the explanation provided by the course team.
Step 5: Compare Answers
Review the graphs to see how your fellow learners responded.
- The first graph displays the percentage of learners who selected each answer initially.
- The second graph shows how responses changed after learners reviewed explanations from others.
Compare your choices—and the correct answer—to those of your peers. This step can be just as thought-provoking as the others.
Note: The graphs will appear once at least 10 learners have submitted their final responses. If they do not appear, wait for more participants to complete the assignment and refresh your browser later.
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