I was first introduced to multiple choice hinge questioning (MCHQ) as part of my Chartered Teacher Status qualification (CTeach) as a tool for assessing students’ misunderstandings (Wiliam 2018). This focus on misunderstanding is significant. Prior to this work, my questioning and assessment had focused on checking that students understood, with the main idea in my mind being ‘have students understood x?’. The creation and use of MCHQ shifted my thinking to asking: ‘What errors are students making and why?’. If we can understand the errors students make, and more importantly the misconceptions that students hold that result in those errors, then we understand what needs to be re-taught and how. As a result of this re-teaching, students develop accurate knowledge which can be developed over time.
