For everyone taking the NCLEX, there’s only one thing on your mind . . . passing, am I right? It’s the last hurdle that stands in the way of getting your nursing license. As you probably already know, on April 1st, there’s going to be a change to the NCLEX . . . . sadly this is not an April fool’s joke 😥
Are you curious about the new NextGen NCLEX exam? Read our comprehensive article here: NextGen NCLEX article
I’ve been studying the NCLEX changes for the last two years . . . in this post I am going to share with you exactly what I have learned about the new scoring on the NextGen matrix multiple response questions . . . Yep, it’s a bit different than what you are “use to” but after reading this, you will go from stressed to confident as you walk into the testing center.
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Let’s begin! Below is an example of a Matrix Multiple Response.
You can tell it’s a matrix because it has columns and rows. The question is also a multiple-response because you are able to select multiple answers in each row and you can have multiple answers in each column, and that’s how we know it’s a multiple-response question!
How do you know how many points this question is worth? It is judged by how many correct answers are in the question. This might sound a little confusing, but it really isn’t that bad . . . let me show you. I’ll use the question above as an example!
As you can see there are answer choices all over the place, but if we count them up, this question would be worth 9 points.
The scoring method for matrix multiple responses is what’s called plus-minus scoring. In other words, you get one point for each right answer, but you get a negative one point for each wrong answer.
This is where it can get a little confusing.
The way that it scored is by adding up all the points in each column and then adding the subtotal of each column. That’s how you will end up with the total score for a question.
Scoring Method:
- +/- Scoring
- +1 for each right answer
- -1 for each wrong answer
- Total the points for each column, cannot go below 0
- Add the totals of the columns to get the total score
Now, as I said, this is where it gets a little bit confusing. Let’s run through an example. Below are my answers to the question above.
You can see I got some right, I got some wrong and I didn’t answer some when I should have.
Okay, let’s score the question!
The first step is to look at column 1.
I got one right, I didn’t answer one, I got another one right, and I missed one.
Alright, let’s score this column.
- Correct answer +1
- Missed this answer (no score)
- Correct answer +1
- Incorrect answer -1
Add that up and we get one point for this column (see below).
Now let’s move on to the next column. 
Alright, let’s score this column.
- Correct answer +1
- Correct answer +1
So for this column, I get 2 points.
Moving on to the next column.
The scoring for this column would be:
- Correct answer +1
- Incorrect answer -1
- Incorrect answer -1
- Correct answer +1
- Incorrect answer -1
The score for this column comes to -1, but there’s a special rule so that the lowest score you can get in a column is zero. No need to worry, you’re never gonna go in the negatives!
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Alright, we are on the last column . . . finally!
The score for this column:
- Correct answer +1
- Missed answer (no score)
So I get 1 point on the last column.
We aren’t done scoring this question yet . . . we still have one more step and that is to add up all of the columns to get the final answer!
- 1 column: 1 point
- 2 column: 2 points
- 3 column: 0 points
- 4 column: 1 point
If you remember from above, this question was worth 9 points.
Therefore, on this question, I got 4 out of 9 on this question.
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And that’s how you score matrix Multiple response questions. I know it seems a little difficult, but I hope by breaking it down the way we did you were able to understand more clearly how the scoring works.
Key points to take into account:
- Item Type: Matrix Multiple Response
- Scoring Method: +/-
- Partial Credit: Yes
- Most Helpful Tip: Understand the nursing concepts being tested
nursing.com/ has all of the resources you’ll need to help you understand, practice and gain confidence before you walk into the NCLEX.
For a limited time, nursing.com/ is offering free NextGen accounts for all nursing students . . . no matter where you are in your nursing journey. Click below to learn more!
You Can Do This!
Happy nursing!
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