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GUIDELINES FOR WRITING MCQ (WRITING STEMS (use of patient vignette…
GUIDELINES FOR WRITING MCQ
WRITING EDUCATIONAL OBJECTIVES
direct relationship: :check: between instructional objectives & test items must exist
focus on important
relevant content
avoid testing the knowledge of medical trivia
avoid controversial test item especially when the knowledge still incomplete or facts are debated
determine the appropraite test questions, facilitated by major subtopics
written in specific learner behaviour, not what the program will teach
observable, ,measureableallow accurate assessment/ learner achived objective
measurable: :check: eg: state , explain, list, identity, compare
immeasurable :green_cross: know , understand, learn, become familiar with
Bloom's Taxonomy
knowledge : recall or recognition of specific information
combined comprehension& application
problem solving , transferring existing knowledge & skills to new situations
written objectives critical to the construction of appropriate test Q & ensuring adequate asessment intended learner competence
MCQ :pencil2: lower level learning VS high level learning
test items composed patient vignettes
offer several benefits
assessing application of knowledge
require problem solving
increase validity of examination
focus on important information rather than trivia
help identify examinee who have memorized facts but unable to use information effectively
WRITING STEMS
composed 1st & best written as complete sentence
can incorporate maps , diagrams , graphs, radiologic images
should be answerable without ALL options being read
contain ALL relevant information
contain as much of items as possible
not repeatative
include only the necessary information
kept as short as possible
should not be used as an opportunity to teach
should not be tricky/misleading
use simple language
guide :pen:students can complete 1-2 Q in 1 minute
longer stem - if application of knowledge
shorther stem - for recall isolated facts
use of patient vignette
clinical vignettes can provide basis of Q
begginning with the presenting problem of patient
include history, physical findings, results of diagnostic studies, initial treatment, subsequent findings
no need to be long to be effective
avoid vebrosity, extraneous material, & red herrings
should be structured to ask for
:check:correct answer instead :red_cross: wrong answer
avoid negative Q: less effective & more diificult for examinee to understand
can be use selectively :star:
underline/capitalized/ictalized negative term if used - to be notice
Avoid Absolute terms: always , never, all , none
Avoid Cues : may, could, can --> correct answer
Imprecise terms - seldom, rarely, occasionally, sometimes, few , many ( not uniformly understood)
INTRODUCTION
MCQ is most common
assess broad range knowlege in short period time
allows for test reliability
Advantages:
measure knowledge
comprehension
application
analysis
Disadvantages
test recognition( choosing an answer)
rather than recall (constructing an answer)
alow guessing
difficult
time consuming to construct
Professional test-item writers time :star: 1 hour or more
3 areas addressed
writing educational objectives
defining levels of learning for each objective
writing effective MCQs to test that learning
Anatomy of MCQ
items - entire test Q
stem - Q /statements or lead in to the possible answers
options / alternatives/ choices - possible answers
corrrect option :check: keyed response:
incorrect options :red_cross: distractors /foils
WRITING OPTIONS
best number 3-5
3 options as effective as 4 options
more than 5 burden & leads to faulty
no hard & fast rule for uniformity
the most challenging aspect is creating plausible distractors
the ability to discriminate
the best distractors
statement s that accurate but not fully meet the requirements of the problem
incorrect statements taht seems right to the examinee
each incorrect options should be plausible but clearly incorrect
avoid implausible, trivial or nonsensical distractors
ideal distractors: represents errors commonly made by examinee
should be related /somehow linked to each other
all options should fall into same category as the correct answer
should appear as similar as possible to correct answer in term of grammar, length, complexity
should not stand out because of their phrasing, grammatical cues
should not include the phrases none of the above or all of the above
problemmatic
involved judgement
options not absolute :check:TRUE or :red_cross:FALSE
dilemma between very detailed perfect option or intended as correct
AVOID :no_entry::Eponyms, Acronyms, or Abbreviations without some qualification
Should not include material that potentially offensive or unfair to selected groups of examinee
options should be placed in logical order
AVOID :no_entry:cueing - should not reveal information thatt allows examinee to automatically know the correct answer AVOID :no_entry:hingging - students know the answer for one item to answer another item
position of keyed response should vary A, B, C, D , research shows overused B & C position