Step 4. Present Viable Options at Decision Points It is important to present a number of relevant, mutually exclusive decision options to the learners. Each choice should be comparable to the others in terms of importance, plausibility, and level of detail. In Slide 7, for example, the options to choose from are balanced and most address the 3 key elements of the discharge plan: PCP treatment, follow-up HIV care, and substance abuse treatment. While there is often no "right" answer, there should be a clearly "preferred" answer.
If, as described in Slide 6, the focus of the clinical decision point had been to select among treatment regimens, the options to choose from would be a list of antiretroviral drug combinations.
It is important to create options that are grammatically similar and of roughly the same length. For example, the options are comparable in length on Slide 7. The longest option in a multiple choice set is often the preferred one because there is a natural tendency to explain and rationalize the preferred response in greater detail to the learner. This tendency is illustrated in Slide 8. It is also useful to avoid including the options "all of the above" and "none of the above" in multiple choice response sets. Instead, provide the learner with concrete, discrete choices.
Next: Step 5. Analyze Options and Select One Course of Action |
