The use of multiple‐choice tests in anatomy: Common pitfalls and how to avoid them

Vahalia, K. V.; Krishnan, Seetha; Marks, Sandy C.; Souza, Edson Jesus de

doi:10.1002/ca.980080111

Cited by 16 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 6 publications

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“…MCQs have many merits and can produce meaningful assessment of knowledge, though their validity can suffer for many reasons (Vahalia et al, ; Downing, ). Severo et al () found a significant effect on the calculation of student marks when a formula scoring method instead of a number scoring method was used.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessment of anatomical knowledge: Approaches taken by higher education institutions

Choudhury

Freemont

2017

Clinical Anatomy

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Assessment serves the primary function of determining a student's competence in a subject. Several different assessment formats are available for assessing anatomical skills, knowledge and understanding and, as assessment can drive learning, a careful selection of assessments can help to engender the correct deep learning facility required of the safe clinical practitioner. The aim of this review was to survey the published literature to see whether higher education institutions are taking an andragogical approach to assessment. Five databases (EMBASE, ERIC, Medline, PubMed, and Web of Knowledge) were searched using standardized search terms with two limits applied (English language, and 2000 to the present). Among the 2,094 papers found, 32 were deemed suitable for this review. Current literature on assessment can be categorized into the following themes: assessment driven learning, types of assessments, frequency of assessments, and use of images in assessments. The consensus is to use a variety of methods, written and practical, to assess anatomical knowledge and skill in different domains. Institutions aim for different levels of Bloom's taxonomy for students at similar stages of their medical degree. Formative assessments are used widely, in differing formats, with mostly good effects on the final examination grade. In conclusion, a wide variety of assessments, each aimed at a different level of Bloom's taxonomy, are used by different institutions. Clin. Anat. 30:290-299, 2017. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessment of anatomical knowledge: Approaches taken by higher education institutions

Choudhury

Freemont

2017

Clinical Anatomy

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“…Traditionally, the use of practical and oral examinations was widespread but nowadays written assessment methods are more commonly used and the use of computers is growing (Vahalia et al, 1995;Rowland et al, 2011). Examples of written methods include single best answer questions, extended matching questions, short answer questions, and essay questions.…”

Section: Assessment In Medical Education and Anatomymentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring the validity of assessment in anatomy: Do images influence cognitive processes used in answering extended matching questions?

Vorstenbosch

Bouter

Hurk

et al. 2013

Anatomical Sciences Ed

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Assessment is an important aspect of medical education because it tests students' competence and motivates them to study. Various assessment methods, with and without images, are used in the study of anatomy. In this study, we investigated the use of extended matching questions (EMQs). To gain insight into the influence of images on the validity of test items, we focused on students' cognitive processes while they answered questions with and without images. Seventeen first-year medical students answered EMQs about gross anatomy, combined with either labeled images or answer lists, while thinking aloud. The participants' verbal reports were transcribed verbatim and then coded. Initial codes were based on a task analysis and were adapted into final codes during the coding process. Results showed that students used more cues from EMQs with images and visualized more often in EMQs with answer lists. Ready knowledge and verbal reasoning were used equally often in both conditions. In conclusion, EMQs with and without images elicit different results in this think aloud experiment, indicating different cognitive processes. They seem to measure different skills, making them valid for different testing purposes. The take-home message for anatomy teachers is that questions without images seem to test the quality of students' mental images while questions with images test their ability to interpret visual information. It makes sense to use both response formats in tests. Using images from clinical practice instead of anatomical drawings will help to improve test validity.

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“…Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs) are widely used in assessment across many disciplines in HE because they can efficiently test a broad range of cognitive knowledge, particularly in large classes (Hays, 2008;McCoubrie, 2007;Tarrant, Ware, & Mohammed, 2009). However, MCQs are sometimes poorly written, and in such cases, they assess recall of knowledge rather than higher-order thinking (Vahalia, Subramaniam, Marks & De Souza, 1995). Such poor quality items can have detrimental effects on learning (Downing, 2005).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Using computer-based technology to improve feedback to staff and students on MCQ assessments

Malau‐Aduli

Assenheimer

Choi-Lundberg

et al. 2013

Innovations in Education and Teaching International

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The massification of higher education (HE) has led to an unprecedented increase in the number of students in the classrooms, resulting in increased workload for teaching staff, sometimes leading to a great reliance on Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs) examinations with limited feedback provided to students. The central role of feedback in student learning is well recognised; however, it is often one of the poorest scoring items in Student Evaluation of Teaching and Learning (SETL) surveys. Teaching staff also need feedback on the quality of the examinations they set. In response to these key teaching and learning issues, this study developed a computer-aided system for providing meaningful and customised feedback on performance to students and the quality of MCQ assessment items to teaching staff. Furthermore, student and staff perceptions of the effectiveness and value of the feedback to learning were evaluated. Student experiences indicated that the feedback was timely, well presented, easy to understand and would aid revision for further study. In addition, the efficient provision of automatically generated item performance information to teaching staff allowed convenient quality assurance (QA) monitoring, informed staff of the progress of students' learning, and enabled modification of teaching to better support student learning.

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The use of multiple‐choice tests in anatomy: Common pitfalls and how to avoid them

Cited by 16 publications

References 6 publications

Assessment of anatomical knowledge: Approaches taken by higher education institutions

Assessment of anatomical knowledge: Approaches taken by higher education institutions

Exploring the validity of assessment in anatomy: Do images influence cognitive processes used in answering extended matching questions?

Using computer-based technology to improve feedback to staff and students on MCQ assessments

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