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287889

Item analysis of multiple choice questions of a genetic term exam in an Egyptian Veterinary college for a viable question bank

Article

Last updated: 05 Jan 2025

Subjects

-

Tags

Methodology, design, evaluation of methodologies and assessment

Abstract

Multiple-choice questions (MCQs) are useful for assessing student performance because they objectively cover a wide range of topics. Its dependability and validity are determined by how well it is built. Defective Items detected by item analysis must be checked for and optimized for item writing flaws. This study used item analysis to evaluate the test items for difficulty levels and discriminating power with functional distractors. A total of 623 students wrote a summative examination in Physiology. It comprised 60 single-response MCQs and 20 true or false (T/F) questions as a part of a 2 h paper for 25 marks. Items were categorized according to their difficulty index, discrimination index, and distractor efficiency. Among 60 MCQs, 32 had zero non-functioning distractors (NFD); 19 had one, 8 had two, and 1 had three. DIFI and DI were in the acceptable range; however, T/F items showed 15% (n=3), 10% (n=2), and 5% (n=1) fair, poor, and negative discrimination, respectively. Non-functional distractors (NFD) were found as 53.3 % (n=32) of questions have 0 NFD of 100% DE, 7.92% (n=19) have DE of 66.6%, 3.33% (n=8) have DE of 33.3%. About 0.42% (n=1) have DE of 0%. Therefore, item analysis is a valuable tool for identifying poorly constructed test items and optimizing these items is an essential step in producing a high-quality question bank.

DOI

10.21608/eelmj.2023.172846.1001

Keywords

Item analysis, exams, MCQ

Authors

First Name

Eman

Last Name

Zahran

MiddleName

-

Affiliation

Mansoura University, Egypt

Email

emanzahran@mans.edu.eg

City

dakahlia

Orcid

0000-0003-2212-3688

First Name

Ahmed

Last Name

Mustafa

MiddleName

-

Affiliation

Department of Biological Sciences, Purdue University Fort Wayne, IN 46805, USA

Email

mustafa.purdue@gmail.com

City

-

Orcid

-

Volume

1

Article Issue

1

Related Issue

40693

Issue Date

2023-04-01

Receive Date

2022-11-05

Publish Date

2023-04-01

Page Start

1

Page End

5

Print ISSN

2812-5312

Online ISSN

2812-5320

Link

https://eelmj.journals.ekb.eg/article_287889.html

Detail API

https://eelmj.journals.ekb.eg/service?article_code=287889

Order

287,889

Type

Research paper

Type Code

2,318

Publication Type

Journal

Publication Title

Educational Evaluation and Learning Management Journal

Publication Link

https://eelmj.journals.ekb.eg/

MainTitle

Item analysis of multiple choice questions of a genetic term exam in an Egyptian Veterinary college for a viable question bank

Details

Type

Article

Created At

28 Dec 2024