Collaborative Examination Item Review Process in a Team-Taught, Self-Care Sequence.

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Assessment and Evaluation

Background:

• Improving the quality of examination items is crucial for accurate assessment.
• Instructor involvement in item review can enhance educational assessment.

Purpose of the Study:

• To enhance examination item quality through instructor education and participation in evidence-based item review.
• To encourage the sustained use of item review processes in future courses.

Main Methods:

• A peer-review process with training and review sessions was implemented for a 2-course sequence (intervention).
• Instructor confidence and self-rated success in item writing were assessed via pre- and post-surveys.
• Item statistics (difficulty, discrimination) and classification distributions were compared between intervention and control sequences.

Main Results:

• No significant differences in mean item difficulty or discrimination were observed between control and intervention sequences.
• A favorable shift in the distribution of items into difficulty and discrimination categories was noted in the intervention sequence.
• Instructors reported increased confidence and success in writing and reviewing test items after the intervention.

Conclusions:

• While item statistics did not significantly change, the review process improved item classification distribution.
• The evidence-based item review positively impacted instructors' perceptions of their item-writing abilities and confidence.
• The study suggests this review method enhances instructors' self-efficacy in item development and evaluation.