YMCQ: Reasoning-Enhanced MCQ Generation

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Title: YMCQ: Reasoning-Enhanced MCQ Generation
Language: English
Authors: Andreea Dutulescu, Stefan Ruseti, Denis Iorga, Mihai Dascalu, Danielle S. McNamara (ORCID 0000-0001-5869-1420)
Source: Grantee Submission. 2025.
Peer Reviewed: Y
Page Count: 9
Publication Date: 2025
Sponsoring Agency: National Center for Education Research (NCER) (ED/IES)
Contract Number: R305T240035
Document Type: Speeches/Meeting Papers
Reports - Research
Descriptors: Automation, Computer Assisted Testing, Multiple Choice Tests, Natural Language Processing, Test Items, Misconceptions, Efficiency, Open Source Technology, Test Validity
DOI: 10.1007/978-3-031-98465-5_39
Abstract: Automated multiple-choice question (MCQ) generation is valuable for scalable assessment and enhanced learning experiences. How-ever, existing MCQ generation methods face challenges in ensuring plausible distractors and maintaining answer consistency. This paper intro-duces a method for MCQ generation that integrates reasoning-based explanations for both correct answers and distractors, leveraging open-source language models finetuned on publicly available datasets. Our approach addresses these issues with 3 major improvements. First, over 300k questions from public datasets were augmented with synthetically generated reasoning explanations. Second, we fine-tune a Large Language Model (LLM) with reasoning-based explanations to condition the generation while accounting for correct reasoning and possible misconceptions. Third, we introduce a multi-step filtering pipeline to ensure the validity of the question and the diversity of the generated distractors. This work argues for the effectiveness of reasoning-enhanced finetuning in improving MCQ generation quality while maintaining accessibility and cost efficiency. We release all resources, including synthetically augmented questions, training code, and the best model as open-source. [This paper was published in: "AIED 2025, LNAI 15882," edited by A. I. Cristea et al., Springer Nature Switzerland, 2025, pp. 308-15.]
Abstractor: As Provided
IES Funded: Yes
Entry Date: 2025
Accession Number: ED674604
Database: ERIC
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Andreea+Dutulescu%22">Andreea Dutulescu</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Stefan+Ruseti%22">Stefan Ruseti</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Denis+Iorga%22">Denis Iorga</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Mihai+Dascalu%22">Mihai Dascalu</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Danielle+S%2E+McNamara%22">Danielle S. McNamara</searchLink> (ORCID <externalLink term="https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5869-1420">0000-0001-5869-1420</externalLink>)
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  Data: National Center for Education Research (NCER) (ED/IES)
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Automation%22">Automation</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Computer+Assisted+Testing%22">Computer Assisted Testing</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Multiple+Choice+Tests%22">Multiple Choice Tests</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Natural+Language+Processing%22">Natural Language Processing</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Test+Items%22">Test Items</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Misconceptions%22">Misconceptions</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Efficiency%22">Efficiency</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Open+Source+Technology%22">Open Source Technology</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Test+Validity%22">Test Validity</searchLink>
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  Data: Automated multiple-choice question (MCQ) generation is valuable for scalable assessment and enhanced learning experiences. How-ever, existing MCQ generation methods face challenges in ensuring plausible distractors and maintaining answer consistency. This paper intro-duces a method for MCQ generation that integrates reasoning-based explanations for both correct answers and distractors, leveraging open-source language models finetuned on publicly available datasets. Our approach addresses these issues with 3 major improvements. First, over 300k questions from public datasets were augmented with synthetically generated reasoning explanations. Second, we fine-tune a Large Language Model (LLM) with reasoning-based explanations to condition the generation while accounting for correct reasoning and possible misconceptions. Third, we introduce a multi-step filtering pipeline to ensure the validity of the question and the diversity of the generated distractors. This work argues for the effectiveness of reasoning-enhanced finetuning in improving MCQ generation quality while maintaining accessibility and cost efficiency. We release all resources, including synthetically augmented questions, training code, and the best model as open-source. [This paper was published in: "AIED 2025, LNAI 15882," edited by A. I. Cristea et al., Springer Nature Switzerland, 2025, pp. 308-15.]
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      – Text: English
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        PageCount: 9
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        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Computer Assisted Testing
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      – SubjectFull: Multiple Choice Tests
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      – SubjectFull: Efficiency
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      – SubjectFull: Open Source Technology
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      – SubjectFull: Test Validity
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      – TitleFull: YMCQ: Reasoning-Enhanced MCQ Generation
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              Y: 2025
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