Using student feedback on examination questions to promote fairness, item validity, and learning
1Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, State University of New York at Buffalo 14214, USA.
Journal of Clinical Pharmacology
|May 1, 1997
Summary
Student feedback on pharmacology exams improves fairness. A system allowing anonymous comments on questions led to modified scoring, enhancing exam validity and earning high praise from students.
Area of Science:
- Medical Education
- Pharmacology Assessment
Background:
- Traditional pharmacology examinations undergo rigorous faculty review.
- Student feedback on examination questions is often collected but not systematically integrated into scoring.
Purpose of the Study:
- To analyze a decade of experience with a student feedback system for modifying pharmacology examination scoring.
- To evaluate the impact of student comments on the fairness and validity of pharmacology assessments.
Main Methods:
- Implemented a system for anonymous student comments on pharmacology exam questions.
- Faculty and independent reviewers edited examinations, and accepted student comments modified final scoring.
- Analyzed data from 30 examinations over 10 years, including item analysis and student feedback validity.
Main Results:
- A mean of 7.17 questions per examination (range: 2-17) had valid alternative answers accepted based on student comments.
- No examination had fewer than two items with accepted alternative answers.
- The mean number of deleted items was 1.63 (range: 0-6).
Conclusions:
- Student feedback significantly contributes to identifying valid alternative answers in pharmacology examinations.
- This system enhances the fairness and validity of objective assessments.
- The feedback model has been adopted for broader use in medical school examinations.
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