TESTING OF MEDICAL-STUDENTS WITH OPEN-ENDED, UNCUED QUESTIONS

A written examination based on material covered in the first year of m edical school (anatomy, physiology, biochemistry, and neuroscience) wa s administered to medical students immediately before they began the p athology course to assess their knowledge of the basic science content that is important for the study of pathology. In alternate years the questions were presented in the standard multiple choice question (MCQ ) format or in an open-ended uncued question (Un-Q) format. The studen ts' mean scores obtained by these two testing methods were comparable. The discrimination indices, which measure the ability of the test que stions to distinguish between students of varying ability, were compar able. The Kuder-Richardson Formula 20 (KR-20), an estimate of the prec ision of the test given, was 0.53 for MCQ and 0.63 for Un-Q. We conclu de that the Un-Q format is an acceptable alternative to the MCQ format and it has several advantages over MCQ. Because the answer sheets for Un-Q tests can be scanned optically and graded by computers, we recom mend them as an, alternative to MCQ tests. Copyright (C) 1995 by W.B. Saunders Company