Analyzing the quality of multiple-choice questions in microbiology for second-year MBBS students

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dc.contributor.authorSingh, Gurjeeten_US
dc.contributor.authorSingh, Rakshaen_US
dc.contributor.authorAnanthakrishnan, Nilakantanen_US
dc.date.accessioned2025-05-12T11:41:43Z
dc.date.available2025-05-12T11:41:43Z
dc.date.issued2024-12
dc.description.abstractBackground and Objective: According to the 2023 Graduate Medical Education Regulations by the National Medical Commission for competency-based medical education in the MBBS curriculum, 20% of assessment questions are now multiple-choice questions (MCQs) in formative and summative evaluations. This study aims to evaluate the quality of MCQs in microbiology assessment for second-year MBBS students and compare different methods for calculating the difficulty index, discrimination index (DI), and distractor effectiveness (DE) of the items. Materials and Methods: This study analyzed 20 MCQs, including 20 correct answers (keys) and 60 distractors, from an internal microbiology assessment of 150 students. The items were evaluated for difficulty index (DIF I), Discrimination Index (DI), and Distractor Effectiveness (DE) using three methods: (1) entire group analysis, (2) grouping by the upper third and lower third of students (50 in each), and (3) selecting the top and bottom 27% of students. Results: The difficulty index was calculated using the whole group, upper-third vs. lower-third, and top vs. bottom 27%. Results indicated that the whole group and upper-third/lower-third methods provided similar accuracy, while the top vs. bottom 27% selection method tended to underestimate difficulty levels. The DI, useful for distinguishing between high and low performers, was best calculated using the top and bottom 27% of students, as whole-group analysis was found irrelevant. Two methods were used to measure DE: whole-group and upper-third/lower-third. However, neither approach showed statistically significant differences (P < 0.05). Conclusion: This study highlights the importance of selecting quality MCQs with moderate difficulty, high discriminative power, and effective distractors to accurately differentiate student performance. Findings suggest that using the top and bottom 27% group is more effective than using the upper-third/lower-third group for analysis of the items.en_US
dc.identifier.affiliationsDepartment of Health Professions Education, Institute of Health Professions Education, Sri Balaji Vidyapeeth (Deemed to be University), Puducherry, Indiaen_US
dc.identifier.affiliationsDepartment of Microbiology, Maharishi Markandeshwar Institute of Medical Sciences and Research, Maharishi Markandeshwar (Deemed to be University), Ambala, Haryana, Indiaen_US
dc.identifier.affiliationsDepartment of Health Professions Education, Institute of Health Professions Education, Sri Balaji Vidyapeeth (Deemed to be University), Puducherry, Indiaen_US
dc.identifier.citationSingh Gurjeet, Singh Raksha, Ananthakrishnan Nilakantan . Analyzing the quality of multiple-choice questions in microbiology for second-year MBBS students. MGM Journal of Medical Sciences. 2024 Dec; 11(4): 651-658en_US
dc.identifier.issn2347-7946
dc.identifier.issn2347-7962
dc.identifier.placeIndiaen_US
dc.identifier.urihttps://imsear.searo.who.int/handle/123456789/247741
dc.languageenen_US
dc.publisherWolters Kluwer – Medknowen_US
dc.relation.issuenumber4en_US
dc.relation.volume11en_US
dc.source.urihttps://doi.org/10.4103/mgmj.mgmj_333_24en_US
dc.subjectDifficulty indexen_US
dc.subjectdiscrimination indexen_US
dc.subjectdistractor efficiencyen_US
dc.subjectnonfunctional distractoren_US
dc.titleAnalyzing the quality of multiple-choice questions in microbiology for second-year MBBS studentsen_US
dc.typeJournal Articleen_US
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