Journal of Education, Teaching and Social Studies ISSN 2642-2336 (Print) ISSN 2642-2328 (Online) Vol. 5, No. 2, 2023 www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/jetss 19 Original Paper Exam Questions from Essay to MCQ with Different Levels of Difficulty in Engineering Mechanics Atef Ata 1 & Mohammed Ghazy 2 1 Department of Mechatronics Engineering Heliopolis University, Cairo, Egypt 2 Assistant professor, Aerospace Engineering Department, KFUPM University, Saudi Arabia Received: March 9, 2023 Accepted: March 29, 2023 Online Published: April 3, 2023 doi:10.22158/jetss.v5n2p19 URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/jetss.v5n2p19 Abstract In this paper some techniques to avoid students’ guessing of the correct answer in MCQ exams are proposed. An example from engineering mechanics course is introduced with different levels of difficulty. Random and adaptive selections of choices are introduced according to the physics and difficulty of the problem. The proposed techniques proved to be efficient in reducing guessing of correct answers based on partial or no knowledge of the subject matter. Also, a proposal of establishing online exam using pools of MCQ’ s with different levels of difficulty is introduced. Five basic types of exams with different number of questions based on instructors’ desire are tabulated. 1. Introduction Multiple-choice questions or MCQs are used to quantitatively measure the students’ understanding in certain disciplines. They usually take shorter time to be graded, especially when using specific computer grading software. The idea of using computers in grading can reduce the effect of differences in instructors’ personal attitudes or styles in grading as in traditional essay questions. MCQs can also be used in case of differences in language skills among students (Karl, Graef, & Eitner, 2007). In addition, in case of large number of enrollments, such as in aptitude tests that qualify high school students to some universities and early undergraduate serving courses, MCQs are necessary (Karl, Graef, & Eitner, 2007; Bauer, Kopp, & Fischer, 2007; Ghazy & Ata, 2019, 2020). Comparison, between MCQs and essay questions in evaluating students is extended to non-engineering fields (Shima, Mina, & Azadeh, 2016). In MCQs, students focus on final answers instead of going through the detailed derivation steps of the solution and reflect their critical thinking skills. Some students can even guess the correct answers. Thus, in some situations MCQs do not represent the best choice and other modified versions were