Comparison of medical students' performance in multiple choice questions and integrated short answer essay questions in end unit examination at PBL School

Abstract

The Arabian Gulf University (AGU) is a regional university serving the Gulf Cooperation Council Countries. One of the most distinguished features of the MD program at AGU is problem based learning curriculum where teaching and learning of basic medical sciences are delivered through nine integrated organ system based units. At the end of each unit, medical students are required to pass a comprehensive end unit exam, where multiple formats of assessment are currently used This retrospective study compared the performance of year II medical students in multiple choice (MCQ) and short answer integrated questions (SAQ) of the end unit I examination The grades of three cohorts (471 students) were analyzed. The average score was 69.8(±SD 12.) in the MCQ component and 65.5 (± SD 13.7) in the SAQ component. Regression analysis showed a significant correlation (r=0.819, P< 0.000) between MCQ and SAQ.. when students performance was grouped by final end unit grade, a significant correlation existed between MCQ and SAQ score for 40 students who failed the end unit exam, 234 students who received a passing or a good score and for 132 students who received a very good score A positive but none significant correlation existed between the MCQ score and the SAQ score for students who received an excellent grade in the end unit exam. Finally two ANOVA revealed that MCQ scores were higher than (P < 0.01) SAQ scores for all groups. The results of this study showed that for most students, there is strong correlation between MCQ and SAQ scores, indicating that student performance was independent of testing format.Support or Funding InformationArabain Gulf UniversityThis abstract is from the Experimental Biology 2018 Meeting. There is no full text article associated with this abstract published in The FASEB Journal.