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Partial Credit Scoring: A Helping Hand or a Crutch?
Lauryn M Norton1, Jean Yockey1
1Department of Nursing, University of South Dakota, Vermillion, South Dakota.
Background:
Partial credit scoring, introduced with the Next Generation NCLEX (NGN), aims to better measure clinical judgment and knowledge. This project evaluated the impact of partial credit scoring on unit exam performance for students repeating a third-semester prelicensure nursing course asking: Is partial credit scoring a helping hand, or a crutch?
Method:
A retrospective, comparative design was used to analyze unit exam scores of repeating students across two semesters: Fall 2024 using traditional scoring and Spring 2025 using NGN-aligned partial credit models. Paired samples t-tests were used for analysis.
Results:
Statistically significant score improvements were found across all four unit exams (p < .05). However, repeating students' averages did not consistently exceed the overall cohort average.
Conclusion:
Partial credit scoring improved student exam performance measurement without evidence of grade inflation. Findings suggest this scoring method supports more accurate assessment, making it a pedagogically sound option for nursing education programs.
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