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Mismatches between the conceptual level of tests and faculty beliefs
Author(s) -
Costa Manuel Joao,
Gonçalves Leonor,
Ludovico Paula,
Oliveira Mário,
Rodrigues Fernando,
Sousa João Carlos
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.23.1_supplement.539.1
Subject(s) - context (archaeology) , psychology , quality (philosophy) , scale (ratio) , conceptual framework , process (computing) , medical education , mathematics education , computer science , medicine , biology , sociology , epistemology , social science , paleontology , philosophy , physics , quantum mechanics , operating system
Student learning of biochemical concepts can be promoted by the conceptual quality of items in written assessments. We present a "faculty centered" development prototype aimed at the improvement of written assessments. Summary of work A pool was created with all the written items presented in 2007‐2008 to freshmen and sophomores of a 6 year medical degree ‐ included were disciplines such as Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, Cell Biology, etc. Items were ranked by faculty (n=6) of different disciplines (including biochemistry faculty), according to a simple scale (1 to 5), based on: i. the presence of a context; ii. the type of cognitive process required to solve the item; iii. presence/absence of irrelevant difficulties. Summary of results There was considerable inter‐rater variability on the classifications which were, in general, below initial expectations. Faculty regarded very highly the learning potential of the experience and converged on changes to improve item quality for 2008‐2009. Conclusions The conceptual level of items in written knowledge tests may be lower than faculty believe. Take‐home messages The prototype can be generalized to other institutions. Analysis of future new items and further empirical evidence are needed to corroborate the prototype's power for the improvement of the conceptual level of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology tests.