1. MCQ TESTING Benha Faculty of Medicine
Dermatology & Andrology Department
Undergraduate Exam
January Time allowed 45 min
MCQ TESTING

2. Why MCQs?

3. Test a wide range of issues
Not affected by a student's ability to write
Fair marking

4. Quickly marked by computer
Computer gives analysis
of questions

5. A bank of questions can be built up
Can be used for quick revision

6. Weaknesses of
MCQ tests

7. They do not test synthesis
Time-consuming
Student's must select from your alternatives

8. Guessing may result in 20-25% right answers
Attention to security
Questions need to be pre-tested

9. Anatomy
of an MCQ

10. Impetigo is caused by:
1-Fungi
2-Parasites
3-Viruses
4-Bacteria
STEM
OPTIONS
DISTRA-CTORS
ANSWER

11. Before writing

12. 1- Find who's your audience
Tailor the topics and difficulty of questions to the goals of the course
Be sensitive to cultural and gender issues

13. 2-Test for significant learning outcomes

14. The outermost layer of the epidermis is the: 1-Malpighian layer
Knowledge 
Recalling information
The outermost layer of the epidermis
is the:
1-Malpighian layer
2-Basal layer
3-Horny layer
4-Granular layer

15. Understanding the meaning of information
Comprehension
Understanding the meaning of information
Syphilis in pregnancy can be treated by the following drugs EXCEPT:
1-Penicillin
2-Tetracyclins
3-Macrolides
4-Cephalosprins

16. A diabetic patient with pemphigus vulgaris should be given:
Application
Solving a problem or making a decision
A diabetic patient with pemphigus
vulgaris should be given:
mg prednisolone/day
2-20 mg triamcinolone/day
3-Cyclophosphamide mg/day
4-Acitratin 25 mg/day

17. 3-Ask questions on
important aspects of
the topic

18. e.g. griseofulvin in tinea versicolor
4-Focus on common student mistakes
e.g. griseofulvin in tinea versicolor

19. 5-Do not give away answers to a previous question with a later question

20. 6-Inform the examinees about the source of your questions

21. Writing The Stem

22. 1-Determine the point to be tested

23. 2- Avoid dealing with more than
one problem
In tinea capitis the best systemic treatment is: 
In eczematized tinea capitis the best systemic treatment is: 

24. 3-Avoid including words that do not contribute to the basis for choosing between options
Acne is a troublesome disease. Some drugs used in its treatment are dangerous during pregnancy e.g.: 
Which of the following drugs is contraindicated in pregnant women with acne: 

25. 4-Include as much information in the stem and as little in the options as possible
A condition in which a man is unable to have an erection firm enough for intromission and copulatory movements till ejaculation is called:
ED is defined as: 

26. 5-Avoid negative questions
e.g. which one is NOT an antifungal?
If this cannot be avoided, negative words should be: highlighted or in bold or in capitals
Which of the following drugs is NOT used in the treatment of ….

27. Writing The Options

28. 1- Restrict the use of terms such as "always" or "never" in options (they are very rarely true)

29. 2-Three or four well constructed options are enough
2-Three or four well constructed options are enough. Generally, the minimal improvement to the exam due to adding a fifth option is not worth the effort to construct it

30. 3- Avoid "All of the above"
(one recognized distractor eliminates it )
These drugs are antiscabitic :
1-Ectomethrine
2-Penicillin
3-Digitalis
4-All of the above

31. 4- “None of the above" is acceptable if the question is factual
The pudedal artery is a branch from:

32. It is probably desirable if computation yields the answer
The dose of isotretinoin in a 60 kgm acne patient is :

33. 5- Vary the location of the answer on as random a basis as possible
5- Vary the location of the answer on as random a basis as possible. Students know that for some examiners the first option is rarely the answer

34. 6-List the options in a logical order, e. g
6-List the options in a logical order, e.g. if there are numbers the options should be arranged in ascending or descending order

35. 7-Avoid grammatical cues i. e
7-Avoid grammatical cues i.e. one or more distractors don’t follow grammatically from the stem
A patient with itching that increases by night, a positive family history and penile itchy papule:
1-Have scabies
2-Has lichen planus
3-Is atopic

36. 8-Options should be homogeneous
Crusts can be found in:
1-Ecthyma
2-Psoriasis
3-Lichen planus
4-ED

37. 9-Distractors should be equally plausible to a weak candidate

38. 10-Do not repeat information in all the options needlessly
Rifampicin in leprosy treatment :
1-Should be given as a 300mg dose once monthly
2-Should be given as a 600mg dose once monthly
3-Should be given as a 900mg dose once monthly

39. 11-Have a colleague with expertise in the contents of the exam review the items

40. Marking

41. The Optical Mark Reading Scanner

42. Students record their answers on a machine readable answer sheet
These sheets are fed through an Optical Mark Reading Scanner that turns pencil marks into useable computer information

43. If two or more circles are filled in on the answer sheet, the question will be marked 'wrong‘
Specially written software controls the test scoring and analysis

44. Negative(formula)
marking:
To use or not to use?

45. Marks are subtracted every time an incorrect option has been selected

46. Theoretically, negative marking is intended to discourage guessing

47. The largest systematic study comparing right scoring and negative marking showed that using right scoring produced slightly higher scores than formula scoring

48. Disadvantages of negative scoring
It takes examinees longer
The directions are more complicated

49. It might discourage answering based on good partial knowledge
May actually penalise the better students who might be less likely to give educated guesses

50. Questions Evaluation

51. Does a question discriminate well
between examinees?

52. 1-Questions answered correctly by nearly all examinees are useless for discriminating among students

53. 2-Questions answered correctly by more than 85%of students have markedly reduced power to discriminate

54. 3- Distractors that are not chosen by any examinees should be replaced

55. Measuring Discremination Index
ordering the test scores from lowest to highest
ordering the test scores from lowest to highest

56. 1-Arrange test scores from lowest to highest12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27
1-Arrange test scores from lowest to highest

57. 2-Separate these scores into four equal parts} 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27
Lower
quartile
2-Separate these scores into four equal parts }
Upperer
quartile

58. 3-Determine Ch and Cl
Ch : No. of students who answered this question correctly in the high performing group
Cl : No. of students who answered this question correctly in the low performing group

59. 4-Calculate Discrimination Index for each group
Discrimination Index= (Ch - Cl)
Nh or Nl
Nh=No.of students in the high
performing group
Nl=No. of students in the low

60. The bigger the discrimination index for a question, the better its ability to dicriminate among students:
Excellent: > 0.35
Good:
Acceptable:
Deleted: < 0.1

61. Estimation of a Question Difficulty

62. Easiness=
Total No. of correct answers
No. of students who took the test
Difficulty = 1 – easiness
Too difficult <0.3
Too easy >0.7

63. Estimation of test difficulty is useful because:
It can help determining passing score
It gives experience in writing exams in the future