Enrollment increases at many institutions have forced science faculty to reevaluate assessment decisions in light of increasing demands on time. Some have advocated the replacement of free-response examinations with forced-choice examinations as a time-saving strategy. The existing research literature contains many studies comparing student performance on free-response versus forced-choice question types, but none strictly in a laboratory setting. The current study evaluated the replacement of free-response practical-examination questions with multiple-choice practical-examination questions in the laboratory portion of an introductory college-level biology course. The data provide evidence that student performance does differ depending on format and that substituting one question type with another may have profound implications with regard to student performance and learning. (Contains 2 figures.)