effect on student performance of scrambling questions and their stems in medical colleges admission tests

Assessment is an indispensable part of an educational program. Multiple Choice Questions [MCQs] is an objective tool of assessment provided cheating is controlled. A method employed to reduce the chance of cheating is to scramble the sequence of the MCQs and responses in multiple papers having the same content. It is assumed that the performance of students is mainly dependent on the difficulty of the items and not the order in which they are placed within the instrument. The marks obtained by 1,02,211 candidates sitting in Medical Colleges Admission Test [MCAT] from 2008 to 2011 and given similar-content but scrambled-sequence question paper codes were analyzed using parametric tests. A significant difference amongst the mean marks of candidates in the different codes of MCAT 2008 [F = 22.15, p < 0.001] and MCAT 2011 [F = 3.85, p = 0.009] was identified. No significant difference was found in the mean marks of the candidates' each year for different codes in each centre.

Assessment in medical education in Pakistan: evaluating evaluation

Over the past decade, Pakistan has seen phenomenal growth in Health Profession Education. As the products of these newer medical colleges join the industry, we have received anecdotal accounts of considerable variations in competency, knowledge and attitudes towards the profession, peers, patients and the industry. The question addressed in this article is whether the assessment techniques used in medical education in Pakistan evaluate higher order critical thinking. A review of published literature in four international medical education journals, Medical Teacher, Medical Education, Journal of Pakistan Medical Association and Journal of Phy-sicians and Surgeons Pakistan was conducted through systematically searching their databases using keywords. This review covers only the methods used for assessment in medical education in Pakistan at present and their contextual relationship to measurement of critical thinking. Multiple tools used to assess each of the three domains, cognitive, psychomotor and affe-ctive were identified. Each one of these tools in relation to the context can effectively evaluate cri-tical thinking but requires careful planning and proper application. Tools used elsewhere [outside Pakistan] were holistic in their measurement with high contextual relevance. Critical thinking sets higher education apart. Currently the tools of assessment emplo-yed to evaluate knowledge, skills and attitudes in medical education in Pakistan are sound but re-quire a critical analysis and review in their construct and applicability in relation to the context. Better tools are also available that can be used to 'teach' as well as 'assess' critical thinking

English language proficiency; an important socio-economic factor and its impact on student's performance

Each year, more than 30,000 students sit in the Government sponsored Entrance Test conducted by University of Health Sciences, Lahore for admission in Public and Private Medical and Dental Institutes of Punjab, Pakistan. In this study, we have embarked to seek the relationship of the performance of students in the English component of the test and their sciences components scores and how this English-Science relationship varies amongst the developed and underdeveloped districts of Punjab, Pakistan. Three years from 2008 to 2010. The sciences components scores of the candidates in MCAT, their scores in English portion in the test and their demographic variables were entered into Statistical Package for Social Sciences [SPSS] v.16. Parametric tests were applied. Nearly 14% of the question paper tests proficiency of the candidates in the English Grammar. The students from the socioeconomically challenged districts scored less marks in English component as well as in the sciences component of Entrance Test when compared with the scores of the students of more developed districts [p<0.05]. The difference in the mean marks of English and Sciences components of the test when adjusted for weightage was higher in the socioeconomically developed districts [p<0.05]. A steady improvement from 2008 to 2010 in the scores obtained by candidates in English component of the Entrance Test was observed [p<0.05]. For admission in Medical and Dental Colleges in Punjab, candidates scoring more than 60% marks in their Higher Secondary School Certificate Board Examination, have to sit in a uniform Entrance Test in which from the year 2008-2009, candidates from socioeconomically low districts have performed poorly in both English component and sciences components of test in comparison to the candidates from more developed districts. The comparatively lower score is more significant in sciences components of test. The lower scores of the less developed districts, candidates can not therefore be attributed to their low proficiency in the English language but rather to a lower general educational performance