Quality Evaluation of Multiple-Choice Questions as an Assessment Tool for Medical Students

Abstract

Background and Aims: Assessment is an educational process that measures student ability to accomplish specific objectives, helping to bridge the gap between teaching and learning. This study evaluated the quality of multiple-choice questions (MCQs) used to assess undergraduate medical students’ knowledge in the Nutrition & Metabolism course at Taibah University. Methods: The study used item analysis to evaluate the MCQs, including item difficulty, item discrimination, reliability, standard error of measurement, and distractor analysis. The study enrolled 171 undergraduate medical students who took a 30-item MCQ exam. Results: The results showed that the exam was reliable and consistent in measuring students’ knowledge and understanding, but some items had issues that needed revision or deletion from the question bank. The report provides useful information for improving the exam’s quality and highlights the importance of ongoing assessment and revision of exam items. The findings suggest that ongoing assessment and revision of exam items are crucial to improving the quality of assessments and creating more effective measures of student learning. Conclusions: By leveraging these results, educators can identify areas where students may need further support and improve the design of their assessments.

References

1. 1.Chowdhury RR, Kalu G. Learning to give feedback in medical education. ObstetGynaecol.2004Oct;6(4):243–7.
2. 2.Takada T, Isaji S, Yoshida M, Horiguchi A, Ando H, Miyakawa S, et al. Modified Socratic Method (planned and executed by Takada) for medical education: Grade II Acute Cholecystitis of Tokyo Guidelines 2018 as an example case. J Hepato-Biliary-Pancreatic Sci. 2022;29(5):505–20.
3. 3.Arjoon JA, Xu X, Lewis JE. Understandingthestateoftheartformeasurement in chemistry education research: Examining the psychometric evidence. J Chem Educ. 2013;90(5):536–45.
4. 4.Nicol D, Macfarlane-Dick D. Rethinking formative assessment in HE: a theoretical model and seven principles of good feedback practice. C Juwah Macfarlane-Dick B Matthew Nicol Smith B2004 Enhancing Stud Learn Eff Form Feedback York High EducAcad. 2004;
5. 5.Vincent SC, Arulappan J, Amirtharaj A, Matua GA, Al Hashmi I. Objective structuredclinicalexaminationvstraditional clinical examination to evaluate 10 Majmaah Journal of Health Sciences ,Vol. 12, Issue 1 , January - 2024, JumadaAl-Akhir - 1445 Quality Evaluation of Multiple-Choice Questions as anAssessment Tool for Medical Students students’ clinical competence: A systematic review of nursing faculty and students’ perceptions and experiences. Nurse Educ Today. 2022;108:105170.
6. 6.Bhattacharya S, Mondal S, Mitra K. Performance of Undergraduate Medical Students in Formative and Summative Evaluations in Community Medicine in a Medical College in India. J Med Educ. 2021;20(4).
7. 7.Al-Wardy NM. Assessment methods in undergraduate medical education. Sultan Qaboos Univ Med J. 2010;10(2):203.
8. 8.Adnan S, Sarfaraz S, Nisar MK, Jouhar R. Faculty perceptions on onebest MCQ development. Clin Teach. 2022;e13529.