Assessment of MCQs in MBBS program in Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Author(s): Omer Abdelgadir Elfaki*, Abdulaziz Alamri and Karim Eldin M A Salih

Background; Multiple choice questions represent one of the commonest methods of assessment in medical education. They believed to be reliable and efficient. Their quality depends on good item construction. Item analysis is used to assess their quality by computing difficulty index, discrimination index, distractor efficiency and test reliability. Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the quality of MCQs used in the College of Medicine, King Khalid University, Saudi Arabia. Design: Cross sectional Study design Materials and Methods: Item analysis data of 21 MCQs exams were collected. Values for difficulty index, discrimination index, distractor efficiency and reliability coefficient. Descriptive statistic parameters were computed. Results: Twenty-one tests were analysed. Overall, 7% of the items among all the tests were difficult, 35% were easy and 58% were acceptable. The mean difficulty of all the tests was in the acceptable range of 0.3-0.85. Items with acceptable discrimination index among all tests were 39%-98%. Negatively discriminating items were identified in all tests except one. All distractors were functioning in 5%-48%. The mean functioning distractors ranged from 0.77 to 2.25. The KR-20 scores lie between 0.47 and 0.97.

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