Preguntas de opción múltiple versus preguntas de respuesta muy breve en la evaluación de estudiantes de patología veterinaria

Abstract

Background: Well-developed assessment methods have a positive impact on students’performance, and higher education institutes are usually encouraged to establish and use effectiveassessment methods that effectively enhance the learning process. Objectives: This study wasdesigned to compare students’ performance in multiple choice questions (MCQs) including bestsingle answer (BSA) and multiple true and false (MTF) types, and very short answer (VSA)questions, and to evaluate gender differences and feedback from students and faculty. Materialsand methods: A test containing three different types of questions, BSA, MTF and VSA questions (10each), was delivered to eight groups of veterinary pathology students (3rd level, Faculty ofVeterinary Medicine, Assiut University, Assiut, Egypt) in April 2022. Students’ performance, testreliability and gender differences as well as feedback from students and faculty were evaluated.Results: Students did a significant higher performance in BSA and MTF questions compared to VSAquestions. The reliability of BSA, MTF and VSA questions between different groups of studentswere 0.53, 0.52 and 0.13, respectively. Female students achieved a higher performance in the wholetest compared to male students. Both male and female students showed nearly similar performancein BSA and MTF questions. However, female students got significant higher score in VSA questionscompared to male students. Students’ and faculty opinions were in favor of BSA and MTFquestions. Conclusion: Students did much better in MCQs than VSA questions. BSA and MTFquestions are preferentially favored by students and faculty.