Principles for hints for recall, conceptual, and comprehension/interpretation items

Remember first that for recall, conceptual, and comprehension/interpretation items, it is most often a better idea to use rationales than to use hints. If you find yourself using hints that relate to one particular option, this is another sign that rationales are a better choice. For example, review this U.S. History question.

The first hint for this question relates specifically to eliminating choice C. This should be a sign that rationales are a better option for this question.

If you are having difficulty following the principles for rationales and it seems as if the best option is a hint sequence related to the question itself, use the following principles.

If hints are used, they should include a very common memory cue for recall.

For example, take this U.S. History question:

IF a hint were deemed the best method it might read, “Remember, the law passed in 1932 was in response to what many believed were the causes of the financial crisis of the time” This hint prompts the student to consider the date and activates the memory of what the student knows about the financial crisis. However, it does not give away the answer to the question. A subsequent hint could be, “Many believed the financial crisis was caused by banks making speculative investments with depositors' money and then losing it all.” This hint supports learners who don’t know the causes of the financial crisis but still requires them to make some inference from that to the answer choice.

If hints are used, they should briefly review the concept in abstract and link the concept to the problem at hand. They may also include relevant facts or provide definitions. The question below is assessing the concept of equilibrium.

The first hint reviews the definition of equilibrium and includes information about both distribution and movement of particles.

The hint here serves as general guidance about the concept that eliminates the need to repeat this information in each of the rationales. That said, when following the principles, this question would probably be better off relying on rationales than hints.

If hints are used, they should direct students to the specific parts of the stem that contain the information needed to answer the question.

In the following question, students are asked to interpret a phrase from a passage.

Again, rationales are a better choice for this question so that students make an attempt and then receive feedback. However, a hint that otherwise follows the guidance might be, “Remember when interpreting dialogue, think about who is speaking to whom, what the actual words mean, and what might be implied by the words. Using the phrase “face of doom” is different than other ways of asking how someone is feeling.”