BackgroundThe psychometric characteristics of multiple-choice questions (MCQ) changed when taking into account their anatomical sites and the presence of item-writing flaws (IWF). The aim is to understand the impact of the anatomical sites and the presence of IWF in the psychometric qualities of the MCQ.Results800 Clinical Anatomy MCQ from eight examinations were classified as standard or flawed items and according to one of the eight anatomical sites. An item was classified as flawed if it violated at least one of the principles of item writing. The difficulty and discrimination indices of each item were obtained. 55.8 % of the MCQ were flawed items. The anatomical site of the items explained 6.2 and 3.2 % of the difficulty and discrimination parameters and the IWF explained 2.8 and 0.8 %, respectively.ConclusionsThe impact of the IWF was heterogeneous, the Writing the Stem and Writing the Choices categories had a negative impact (higher difficulty and lower discrimination) while the other categories did not have any impact. The anatomical site effect was higher than IWF effect in the psychometric characteristics of the examination. When constructing MCQ, the focus should be in the topic/area of the items and only after in the presence of IWF.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13104-016-2202-4) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
On the literature review, same day surgery cancellations and patient satisfaction should be included in the National Health Assessment System created by the Portuguese Healthcare Regulation Authority.
We found that the distance between sacral foramina and MSC is relatively constant while the distance between foramina and the relations between foramina and PSIS is highly variable. Detailed knowledge of the anatomy may facilitate electrode placement and is complementary to the regular use of fluoroscopy.
This radiologic review uncovered a high incidence of sacral malformations, and most were asymptomatic. All surgeons who perform SNS should have a basic understanding of sacral malformations, their incidence and effect on foraminal anatomy. Imaging will aid procedural planning.
Anatomy is an essential subject of the medical curriculum. Despite its relevance, the curricular time and logistical resources devoted to teaching anatomy are in decline, favoring the introduction of new pedagogical approaches based on computer‐assisted learning (CAL). This new pedagogical approach provides an insight into students' learning profiles and features, which are correlated with knowledge acquisition. The aim of this study was to understand how training with CAL platforms can influence medical students' anatomy performance. A total of 611 medical students attending Musculoskeletal Anatomy (MA) and Cardiovascular Anatomy (CA) courses were allocated to one of three groups (MA Group, CA Group, and MA + CA Group). An association between the performance in these anatomy courses and the number of CAL training sessions was detected. In the MA Group (r = 0.761, P < 0.001) and the MA + CA Group (r = 0.786, P < 0.001), a large positive correlation was observed between musculoskeletal anatomy performance and the number of CAL training sessions. Similarly, in the CA Group (r = 0.670, P < 0.001) and the MA + CA Group (r = 0.772, P < 0.001), a large positive correlation was observed between cardiovascular anatomy performance and the number of CAL training sessions. Multiple linear regression models were performed, considering either musculoskeletal or cardiovascular anatomy performance as the dependent variable. The results suggest that using CAL platforms to study has a positive dose‐dependent effect on anatomy performance. Understanding students' individual features and academic background may contribute to the optimization of the learning process.
In theory the formula scoring methods increase the reliability of multiple-choice tests in comparison with number-right scoring. This study aimed to evaluate the impact of the formula scoring method in clinical anatomy multiple-choice examinations, and to compare it with that from the number-right scoring method, hoping to achieve an evidence-based decision about test scoring rules. Two hundred and ninety-eight students completed an examination in clinical anatomy which included 40 multiple-choice questions with five response options each. Among these, 245 (82.2%) examinees were assessed according to the number-right scoring method (group A) while 53 (17.8%) were assessed according to the formula scoring method (group B). The prevalence of passing was significantly higher in group A than in group B, after correction of the pass and fail cutoffs for guessing (84.9% vs. 62.3%, P = 0.005), keeping a similar reliability in both groups (0.7 vs. 0.8, P = 0.094). Pearson Correlation coefficients between practical and theoretical examination scores were 0.66 [95%CI = (0.58-0.73)] and 0.72 [95%CI = (0.56-0.83)] for groups A and B, respectively. Based solely on the reliability and validity assessments, the test-maker could therefore use either scoring rules; however, if the test-maker also takes into account the students' ability to deduce answers with partial knowledge, then the number-right score rule is most appropriate.
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