Analysis of quality of test items and students' perception of the online formative tests in Anatomy

Abstract

Objectives: This study was planned to assess the quality of test items of online tests in Anatomy using quiz statistics indices of Moodle software and to compare the perception of the students of two consecutive cohorts towards the online formative tests in Anatomy. Methods: The study was conducted among two consecutive cohorts (n=45) of first year medical students in a medical school in Malaysia. Five online MCQ tests on different Anatomy topics were given during the 16 weeks time of semester 1. Using quiz report statistics, mean grade, facility index (FI, difficulty level) and discrimination index (DI) of the test items were computed. At the end of the semester, the students were given questionnaire to assess their perception. A descriptive cross sectional design was adopted, frequencies were calculated followed by crosstabulations and analyzed with Chi-square distribution test. Results: Except one test, mean FI of all the tests remained in the acceptable range of 30 to 80%. Mean grade in the consecutive tests changed proportional to the increase or decrease of the ease of the test items. Mean DI was found to be in acceptable range (0.3 or more) only in two tests in first cohort and three tests in second cohort. The study found 62% and 61% of students in first and second cohort agreed that online tests helped them to understand position of preparation in Anatomy. No significant difference was observed between the perceptions of students of two consecutive cohorts towards the online test helping their preparation in Anatomy (Chisquare test, P=0.092). Conclusion: Automated quiz statistics of Moodle software can be used to assess the difficulty and discrimination levels of the test items in online formative tests. The study also reflected a positive perception of the majority of year 1 medical students towards the online formative assessment in Anatomy.