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A standard correction for random guessing on multiple-choice examinations was implemented prospectively in an Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology course for second-year dental students. The correction was a weighted scoring formula for points awarded for correct answers, incorrect answers, and unanswered questions such that the expected gain in the multiple-choice examination score due to random guessing was zero. An equally weighted combination of four examinations using equal numbers of short-answer questions and multiple-choice questions was used for student evaluation. Scores on both types of examinations, after implementation of the correction for guessing on the multiple-choice component (academic year 2005-06), were compared with the previous year (academic year 2004-05) when correction for guessing was not used for student evaluation but was investigated retrospectively. Academically, the two classes were comparable as indicated by the grade distributions in a General Pathology course taken immediately prior to the Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology course. Agreement between scores on short-answer examinations and multiple-choice examinations was improved in the 2005-06 class compared with the 2004-05 class. Importantly, the test score means were higher on both the short-answer and multiple-choice examinations in the Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology course, and the standard deviations were significantly smaller in 2005-06 compared to 2004-05; these differences reflected an upward shift in the lower part of the grade distributions to higher grades in 2005-06. Furthermore, when students were classified by their grade in the General Pathology course, students receiving a C (numerical grade of 70-79 percent) in General Pathology had significantly improved performance in the Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology course in 2005-06, relative to 2004-05, on both short-answer and multiple-choice examinations representing an aptitude-treatment interaction. We interpret this improved performance as a response to a higher expectation imposed on the 2005-06 students by the prospective implementation of correction for guessing.

In this study, numerical course scores of second-year dental students in four successive classes in an oral and maxillofacial pathology course were compared. While the course content and teaching methods were essentially unchanged throughout the four years, two modest departures from the sole use of multiple-choice format questions were made in the assessment of student achievements. The modiications consisted of creating a more challenging examination procedure through the inclusion of un-cued short-answer format questions and the institution of correction-for-guessing scoring on multiple-choice examinations. Academically, the students in the four classes were comparable, as indicated by their respective numerical course score distributions in a prerequisite general pathology course in which the course content was unchanged, and all multiple-choice format questions were used to assess student academic achievements. This four-year study demonstrated that two qualitative changes in the educational environment-utilization of un-cued short-answer questions and correction for guessing scoring of multiple-choice questions-separately resulted in signiicant improvements in student course scores. Our results support the notion that, without any changes in curricular content or emphasis, combinations of qualitative changes in the assessment procedures alter student behavior and, as a consequence, appreciably improve their academic achievements.

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