Assessment of Qualitative and Quantitative Indexes of Clerkship Tests in General Medicine

Introduction: Using multiple choice question tests, as an objective testing method, is the most common students evaluation procedure , and it is very important to design these tests properly.This study aimed to assess clerkship tests of general medicine courses in the training group of dermatology, psychiatry, gynecology, ophthalmology and neurology of medical college of Isfahan University of Medical Sciences both quantitatively and qualitatively. Methods: This descriptive cross- sectional study was done on the latest tests of clerkship courses of general medicine including dermatology, psychiatry, gynecology, ophthalmology, and neurology in 2008. The quantitative and qualitative indexes of 15 previously held tests were extracted by using valid and reliable checklists used for determining questions with inappropriate question discrimination index, difficulty coefficient, question with 3 choices of zero, reliability coefficient, question distribution based on the announced topics, the scope of questions based on the objectives, the question types based on taxonomy. Data were analyzed through SPSS software using descriptive statistics. Results: Among the quantitative indexes, mean of queations with inappopriate discrimination index was 24%, difficult questions 4.1%, and questions with 3 choices of zero was 12.9%. The average of questions distribution basedon the announced topics and the reliability coefficient were 98% and 77.92%, respectively. among the qualitative indexes, the highest relative frequency of questions were in the fild of signs and symptoms with 30.75 % and the first taxonomy with 59 %. Conclusion: Considering the importance of using standard questions (which are according to the rules for designing multiple choise question) for holding appropriate exams, continuous review of test questions and administering training courses on test questions designing , creating question banks and putting emphasis on preparing two dimensional tables for tests before giving exams are effective on improvement of the quality of the questions