Current State of Test Development, Administration, and Analysis: A Study of Faculty Practices

Area of Science:

• Nursing Education
• Educational Assessment
• Faculty Development

Background:

• Developing valid and reliable test items is essential for nursing faculty to accurately assess student learning.
• Teacher-made examinations are common in nursing education, but their quality can be inconsistent.
• Evidence-based standards exist for test item development, yet their implementation may be lacking.

Purpose of the Study:

• To analyze the test item writing practices of nursing faculty.
• To investigate the relationship between faculty characteristics and their test item writing practices.
• To identify gaps in the application of evidence-based standards in nursing test development.

Main Methods:

• A cross-sectional study involving 674 nursing faculty.
• Analysis of self-reported test item writing practices.
• Statistical analysis to explore relationships between faculty characteristics and practices.

Main Results:

• Significant variability was found in the test item writing practices among nursing faculty.
• A gap exists in the consistent implementation of evidence-based standards for developing and evaluating teacher-made examinations.
• Certain faculty characteristics may correlate with specific test item writing approaches.

Conclusions:

• Nursing faculty exhibit diverse approaches to test item development.
• There is a need to enhance the adoption and consistent application of evidence-based assessment standards in nursing education.
• Further research and targeted faculty development are recommended to improve the quality of teacher-made nursing examinations.