Involving students in question writing: a unique feedback with fringe benefits

A contest on question writing was organized during the undergraduate medical physiology teaching program. Students were asked to write and submit multiple-choice questions of the assertion-reasoning type (type E) in physiology. The winners were decided after the questions submitted were graded on a six-point scale (0-5) that considered both thematic novelty and construct correctness. Of the 100 students in the class, 37 participated in the contest, and a total of 912 questions was received. The contest encouraged the students to go through their subjects critically. The questions provided the instructor with insight into the learning habits and misconceptions of the students and provided the grist for animated discussions in tutorial classes. Although several types of errors were deciphered in these questions, with suitable modifications the questions helped the faculty build up a sizable question bank.