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A case study on multiple‐choice testing in anatomical sciences
Author(s) -
Golda Stephanie DuPont
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
anatomical sciences education
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.126
H-Index - 51
eISSN - 1935-9780
pISSN - 1935-9772
DOI - 10.1002/ase.197
Subject(s) - cheating , multiple choice , affect (linguistics) , final examination , psychology , test (biology) , mathematics education , computer science , medical education , social psychology , medicine , significant difference , biology , communication , paleontology
Objective testing techniques, such as multiple‐choice examinations, are a widely accepted method of assessment in gross anatomy. In order to deter cheating on these types of examinations, instructors often design several versions of an examination to distribute. These versions usually involve the rearrangement of questions and their corresponding answer choices. This study will determine whether the distribution of different versions of an examination affects student performance in a lower division anatomical science course. Students who receive the original version of an examination may be at an advantage over those that receive a shuffled version of an examination because of the systematic tendencies that go into examination construction. This study concludes that the shuffling of questions and answer choices to produce multiple versions of an examination does not affect student performance. Anat Sci Educ. © 2011 American Association of Anatomists.