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Effectiveness of longitudinal faculty development programs on MCQs items writing skills: A follow-up study
Hamza Mohammad Abdulghani1, Mohammad Irshad2, Shafiul Haque3
1Department of Medical Education, College of Medicine, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Plos One
|October 11, 2017
Summary
Faculty development programs significantly enhanced multiple-choice question (MCQ) quality, improving students' academic performance. This led to higher cognitive competency levels, particularly for borderline students, demonstrating the long-term impact of targeted training.
Area of Science:
- Medical Education
- Educational Assessment
- Faculty Development
Background:
- The quality of assessment tools directly influences student learning and evaluation.
- Faculty training in item writing is crucial for developing valid and reliable assessments.
- Longitudinal studies are needed to understand the sustained impact of faculty development.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the long-term effects of faculty development programs on multiple-choice question (MCQ) quality.
- To assess the impact of improved MCQ quality on students' cognitive competency levels.
- To analyze changes in item analysis metrics and cognitive levels over successive academic years.
Main Methods:
- Conducted longitudinal faculty development workshops focused on MCQ item writing skills.
- Analyzed 2207 MCQs created by 58 participants assessing 882 students (2012-2015).
- Evaluated MCQs using difficulty index (P-value), discriminating index (DI), item writing flaws (IWFs), non-functioning distractors (NFDs), Bloom's taxonomy levels, reliability, and student scores.
Main Results:
- Significant improvements observed in MCQ difficulty and discriminating indices annually.
- Decreased rates of easy/poor discriminating questions, NFDs, and IWFs.
- Increased distractor efficiency (DE) and higher cognitive level (K2) questions were noted.
Conclusions:
- Longitudinal faculty development workshops effectively enhance faculty MCQ item writing skills.
- Improved MCQ quality positively impacts students' cognitive competency, especially for borderline performers.
- Sustained faculty development is key to improving educational assessment quality and student outcomes.
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