Varying levels of difficulty index of skills-test items randomly selected by examinees on the Korean emergency medical technician licensing examination

Bongyeun Koh,Jin-Sook Hyun,Soon-Sim Kim,Sunggi Hong,Hayran Kwon,Seonggi Min,Jundong Moon,Gyoungyong Kim,Milye Baek,Gu-Hyun Kang

doi:10.3352/jeehp.2016.13.5

Abstract

Purpose:The goal of this study was to characterize the difficulty index of the items in the skills test components of the class I and II Korean emergency medical technician licensing examination (KEMTLE), which requires examinees to select items randomly.Methods:The results of 1,309 class I KEMTLE examinations and 1,801 class II KEMTLE examinations in 2013 were subjected to analysis. Items from the basic and advanced skills test sections of the KEMTLE were compared to determine whether some were significantly more difficult than others.Results:In the class I KEMTLE, all 4 of the items on the basic skills test showed significant variation in difficulty index (P<0.01), as well as 4 of the 5 items on the advanced skills test (P<0.05). In the class II KEMTLE, 4 of the 5 items on the basic skills test showed significantly different difficulty index (P<0.01), as well as all 3 of the advanced skills test items (P<0.01).Conclusion:In the skills test components of the class I and II KEMTLE, the procedure in which examinees randomly select questions should be revised to require examinees to respond to a set of fixed items in order to improve the reliability of the national licensing examination.

Highlights

In Korea, there are 2 kinds of emergency medical technicians: class I and II
This study aimed to determine whether the skills test items that examinees randomly select differ in difficulty, by analyzing examination data from the 2013 class I and II Korean emergency medical technician licensing examination (KEMTLE) examinations provided by the National Health Personnel Licensing Examination Board (NHPLEB)
This study demonstrated that the random selection of items by examinees requires reform, since differences in item difficulty index among items can affect examinees’ total scores on the licensing examination

Summary

Introduction

In Korea, there are 2 kinds of emergency medical technicians: class I and II. Examinees of the class I Korean emergency medicine technician licensing examination (KEMTLE) should be college or university graduates who have completed a 3- or 4-year emergency medicine technician course. When a class II emergency medical technician has acquired more than 3 years of experience in firefighting, he or she is eligible to take the class I KEMTLE. The KEMTLE is supervised by the National Health Personnel Licensing Examination Board (NHPLEB) of Korea. Both the class I and II KEMTLE are composed of written and skill-based tests. Examinees randomly select 1 item each from the basic and advanced skills test item pools.

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Results

Conclusion