Evaluation of multiple-choice questions by item analysis, from an online internal assessment of 6th semester medical students in a rural medical college, West Bengal.

Background: Properly constructed single best-answer multiple choice questions (MCQs) or items assess higher-order cognitive processing of Bloom's taxonomy and accurately discriminate between high and low achievers. However, guidelines for writing good test items are rarely followed, leading to gener...

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Published in:Indian Journal of Community Medicine Vol. 47; no. 1; pp. 92 - 96
Main Authors: Bhattacherjee, Sharmistha, Mukherjee, Abhijit, Bhandari, Kallol, Rout, Arup
Format: research tables/charts Journal Article
Published: Wolters Kluwer India Pvt Ltd Jan-Mar2022
Online Access:View this record in EBSCOhost
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      dt: Jan-Mar2022
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      pub: Wolters Kluwer India Pvt Ltd
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        atl: Evaluation of multiple-choice questions by item analysis, from an online internal assessment of 6th semester medical students in a rural medical college, West Bengal.
      aug:
        au:
          Bhattacherjee, Sharmistha
          Mukherjee, Abhijit
          Bhandari, Kallol
          Rout, Arup
        affil: Department of Community Medicine, North Bengal Medical College, Darjeeling, West Bengal
      sug:
        subj:
          Education, Medical
          Students, Medical
          Rural Areas
          Academic Performance Evaluation
          Internet
          Online Education
          Educational Measurement
          Human
          India
          Item Analysis
          Descriptive Statistics
          Learning Methods
      ab: Background: Properly constructed single best-answer multiple choice questions (MCQs) or items assess higher-order cognitive processing of Bloom's taxonomy and accurately discriminate between high and low achievers. However, guidelines for writing good test items are rarely followed, leading to generation and application of faulty MCQs. Materials and Methods: During lockdown period in 2020, internal assessment was taken through online mode using Google Forms. There were 60 'single response type' MCQs, each consisting of single stem and four options including one correct answer and three distractors. Each item was analyzed for difficulty index (Dif I), discrimination index (DI), and distractor efficiency (DE). Results: The mean of achieved marks was 42.92± (standard deviation [SD], 5.07). Dif I, DI, and DE were 47.95± (SD 16.39) in percentage, 0.12± (SD 0.10), and 18.42± (SD 15.35), respectively. 46.67% of the items were easy and 21.66% were of acceptable discrimination. Very weak negative correlation was found between Dif I and DI. Out of total 180 distractors, 51.66% were nonfunctional one. Conclusion: Item analysis and storage of MCQs with their indices provides opportunity for an examiner to select MCQs of appropriate difficulty level as per the need of assessment and decide their placement in the question paper.
      pubtype: Academic Journal
      doctype:
        research
        tables/charts
        Journal Article
      ougenre: Article
    language: English
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