Assessing declarative and procedural knowledge using multiple-choice questions

Abu‐Zaid, Ahmed; Khan, Tehreem A.

doi:10.3402/meo.v18i0.21132

Cited by 14 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 9 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…It is essential to design questions that investigate a deeper understanding of the topic/subject, and that stipulate the application of higher-order thinking skills to incorporate Basic Sciences knowledge with relevant, clinically-oriented contexts. 23 It is suggested that we should focus on the construction of problem-solving questions rather than the recall of information because problem-solving questions help in long-term retention of knowledge. A study at the University of Health Sciences (UHS) has reported that properly designed MCQs with high construct & context validity can be used not only to assess knowledge but also higher cognitive skills.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluation of cognitive levels and item writing flaws in medical pharmacology internal assessment examinations

Tariq¹,

Tariq²,

Maqsood³

et al. 2017

Pak J Med Sci

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Objectives:This study aimed to evaluate the cognitive levels of Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs) & Short Answer Questions (SAQs) and types of Item Writing Flaws (IWFs) in MCQs in Medical Pharmacology internal assessment exams.Methods:This descriptive, study was conducted over a period of six months, from December 2015 to May 2016 and evaluated six internal assessment examinations comprising SAQs and MCQs. A total of 150 MCQs and 43 SAQs were analyzed. These questions were administered to third-year medical students in the year of 2015. All SAQs were reviewed for their cognitive levels and MCQs were reviewed for cognitive levels as well as for IWFs. Items were classified as flawed if they contained one or more than one flaw. The cognitive level of the questions was determined by the modified Bloom’s taxonomy.Results:The proportion of flawed items out of 150 items in six exams ranged from 16% to 52%. While the percentage of total flawed items was 28%. Most common types of flaws were implausible distractors 19.69% (26), extra detail in correct option 18.18% (24), vague terms 9.85% (13), unfocused stem 9.09% (12) and absolute terms 9.09% (12). The two-third of MCQs 97(64.67%) were assessing the recall of information, while 29 (19.33%) and 24 (16%) were assessing the interpretation of data and problem-solving skills respectively. The majority of the SAQs (90.7%) were assessing recall of the information and only 9.3% were assessing interpretation of data while none of the questions was assessing the problem-solving skills.Conclusions:The cognitive level of assessment tools (SAQs & MCQs) is low, and IWFS are common in the MCQs. Therefore, faculty should be urged and groomed to design problem-solving questions which are devoid of any flaws.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluation of cognitive levels and item writing flaws in medical pharmacology internal assessment examinations

Tariq¹,

Tariq²,

Maqsood³

et al. 2017

Pak J Med Sci

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…In this study, the acquisition of declarative knowledge was evaluated in order to test the impact of the DA in a context of common Greek teaching practices. For this type of knowledge, objective-type questionnaires, like multiple choice, are considered as appropriate in the scientific literature (Ackerman & Smith, 1988 ; Abu-Zaid & Khan, 2013 ; Chéron et al, 2016 ; Dickson-Spillmann et al, 2011 ; Hong et al, 2018 ; Palmer & Devitt, 2007 ; Sariscsany & Pettigrew, 1997 ; Itzek-Greulich et al, 2015 , 2017 ; Glasson, 1989 ).…”

Section: Research Design and Toolsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Teaching Chemistry with Arduino Experiments in a Mixed Virtual-Physical Learning Environment

2021

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

A study with K-9 Greek students was conducted in order to evaluate how the declarative knowledge acquisition was affected by incorporating Arduino experiments in secondary Chemistry Education. A Digital Application (DA) that blends the use of the Arduino sensors' experiments with digital educational material, including Virtual Labs (VLs), was constructed from scratch to be used through the Interactive Board (IB) as a learning tool by three different student groups (N = 154). In the first stage of the learning process, all groups used only the digital material of the DA. In the second stage, the three groups used different learning tools of the DA. Through the IB, the first group used Arduino experiments, the second one the VLs, and the third only static visualizations. A pre-to post-test statistical analysis demonstrated that the first two groups were equivalent in regard to achievement in declarative knowledge tests and of a higher level than the third group. Therefore, it can be concluded that conducting Arduino experiments in a mixed virtual-physical environment results in equivalent learning gains in declarative knowledge as those attained by using VL experimentation through the IB.

show abstract

“…Their popularity is indicative of their inherent advantages ( Chan and Kennedy 2002 ; Walstad 2001 ): most saliently cost-efficient development ( Abu-Zaid and Khan 2013 ) and administration (both paper-pencil and computerized; Schipolowski et al 2014 ; Watrin et al 2022 , respectively); easily automated scoring that is not subject to reliability issues inherent in many other response formats (e.g., Kennedy and Walstad 1997 ); and finally, administration with simple and swift-to-deliver instructions due to the intuitive response format is easy and does not require costly training of proctors. In turn, these advantages of MC-format items can be understood as the disadvantages of CR formats (e.g., Chan and Kennedy 2002 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Stop Worrying about Multiple-Choice: Fact Knowledge Does Not Change with Response Format

et al. 2022

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Declarative fact knowledge is a key component of crystallized intelligence. It is typically measured with multiple-choice (MC) items. Other response formats, such as open-ended formats are less frequently used, although these formats might be superior for measuring crystallized intelligence. Whereas MC formats presumably only require recognizing the correct response to a question, open-ended formats supposedly require cognitive processes such as searching for, retrieving, and actively deciding on a response from long-term memory. If the methods of inquiry alter the cognitive processes involved, mean-changes between methods for assessing declarative knowledge should come along with changes in the covariance structure. We tested these assumptions in two online studies administering declarative knowledge items in different response formats (MC, open-ended, and open-ended with cues). Item difficulty clearly increases in the open-ended methods although effects in logistic regression models vary slightly across items. Importantly, latent variable analyses suggest that the method of inquiry does not affect what is measured with different response formats. These findings clearly endorse the position that crystallized intelligence does not change as a function of the response format.

show abstract

Assessing declarative and procedural knowledge using multiple-choice questions

Cited by 14 publications

References 9 publications

Evaluation of cognitive levels and item writing flaws in medical pharmacology internal assessment examinations

Evaluation of cognitive levels and item writing flaws in medical pharmacology internal assessment examinations

Teaching Chemistry with Arduino Experiments in a Mixed Virtual-Physical Learning Environment

Stop Worrying about Multiple-Choice: Fact Knowledge Does Not Change with Response Format

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About