Related Experiment Videos
The multiple choice true/false question: what does it measure and what could it measure?
1Centre for Medical Education, Ninewells Hospital and Medical School, Dundee, Scotland.
Medical Teacher
|January 1, 1992
Summary
True/false multiple-choice questions, often used in medical education, may assess low-level thinking. However, a modified approach suggests these questions can effectively measure concept mastery, with implications for educational assessment.
Area of Science:
- Medical Education
- Educational Psychology
- Assessment Methods
Background:
- True/false multiple-choice questions are prevalent in medical education.
- Existing evidence suggests these question formats primarily assess lower-order cognitive skills.
- There is a need for effective methods to evaluate higher-order thinking and concept mastery.
Purpose of the Study:
- To explore the potential of true/false multiple-choice questions for measuring concept mastery.
- To challenge the conventional view of true/false questions as limited to basic knowledge recall.
- To discuss the implications of utilizing true/false questions for assessing deeper understanding.
Main Methods:
- Review of existing literature on multiple-choice question efficacy.
- Conceptual analysis of cognitive skills tapped by true/false formats.
- Proposal of modified question-writing strategies for enhanced assessment.
Main Results:
- True/false questions, when designed appropriately, can assess higher cognitive levels.
- A revised application of true/false questions offers a viable method for measuring concept mastery.
- The study provides a framework for leveraging these questions beyond simple recall.
Conclusions:
- True/false multiple-choice questions can be adapted to measure concept mastery effectively.
- This adaptation has significant implications for improving the quality of medical education assessments.
- Rethinking the use of true/false questions can enhance their value in educational settings.