scholarly journals The Effects of Linguistic Factors on Student Performance on Economics Multiple Choice Questions

Author(s):  
Vincent Hoang ◽  
Lyn May ◽  
Tommy Tang
2017 ◽  
Vol 32 (4) ◽  
pp. 1-17 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dianne Massoudi ◽  
SzeKee Koh ◽  
Phillip J. Hancock ◽  
Lucia Fung

ABSTRACT In this paper we investigate the effectiveness of an online learning resource for introductory financial accounting students using a suite of online multiple choice questions (MCQ) for summative and formative purposes. We found that the availability and use of an online resource resulted in improved examination performance for those students who actively used the online learning resource. Further, we found a positive relationship between formative MCQ and unit content related to challenging financial accounting concepts. However, better examination performance was also linked to other factors, such as prior academic performance, tutorial participation, and demographics, including gender and attending university as an international student. JEL Classifications: I20; M41.


2015 ◽  
Vol 39 (4) ◽  
pp. 327-334 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brandon M. Franklin ◽  
Lin Xiang ◽  
Jason A. Collett ◽  
Megan K. Rhoads ◽  
Jeffrey L. Osborn

Student populations are diverse such that different types of learners struggle with traditional didactic instruction. Problem-based learning has existed for several decades, but there is still controversy regarding the optimal mode of instruction to ensure success at all levels of students' past achievement. The present study addressed this problem by dividing students into the following three instructional groups for an upper-level course in animal physiology: traditional lecture-style instruction (LI), guided problem-based instruction (GPBI), and open problem-based instruction (OPBI). Student performance was measured by three summative assessments consisting of 50% multiple-choice questions and 50% short-answer questions as well as a final overall course assessment. The present study also examined how students of different academic achievement histories performed under each instructional method. When student achievement levels were not considered, the effects of instructional methods on student outcomes were modest; OPBI students performed moderately better on short-answer exam questions than both LI and GPBI groups. High-achieving students showed no difference in performance for any of the instructional methods on any metric examined. In students with low-achieving academic histories, OPBI students largely outperformed LI students on all metrics (short-answer exam: P < 0.05, d = 1.865; multiple-choice question exam: P < 0.05, d = 1.166; and final score: P < 0.05, d = 1.265). They also outperformed GPBI students on short-answer exam questions ( P < 0.05, d = 1.109) but not multiple-choice exam questions ( P = 0.071, d = 0.716) or final course outcome ( P = 0.328, d = 0.513). These findings strongly suggest that typically low-achieving students perform at a higher level under OPBI as long as the proper support systems (formative assessment and scaffolding) are provided to encourage student success.


Author(s):  
Michael J. Schertzer ◽  
Risa Robinson ◽  
Timothy Landschoot ◽  
Amitabha Ghosh ◽  
Alexander Liberson ◽  
...  

Office hours are available for students to receive extra help outside of class. Unfortunately, this resource is often underutilized by students despite efforts to schedule convenient and accessible office hour times. Previous survey results from students attending a variety of courses in Mechanical Engineering at the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) have shown a positive correlation between low office hour attendance and the following factors: (i) high understanding of course material, (ii) procrastination and lack of time to seek help before deadlines, and (iii) low time studying materials outside of class. Interestingly, the results of this survey did not support the hypothesis that students who attended more office hours performed better. A new homework grading policy was instituted in Thermodynamics and Fluid Mechanics I in the fall and spring semesters of the 2013 academic year at RIT. Under this policy, students were required to visit office hours to receive credit for completion of assigned weekly problems. Implementation of this policy has provided quantitative information regarding participation and timing of office hour visits. This investigation will examine the effects of attendance and timing of office hour participation on metrics of performance including final class grades and theoretical understanding as measured by performance on multiple choice test questions. Results presented here suggest that the office hour grading system resulted in high participation rates across a broad range of students. Higher office hour participation rates had a positive impact on student performance in long answer exam problems and low impact on performance in multiple choice questions. While performance was a stronger function office participation at the of end of term than in week five, early semester participation rates can be used as a tool to help identify students at risk of dropping a class or receiving a poor grade.


2013 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
pp. 89-92 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ayisha Qureshi ◽  
Cassy Cozine ◽  
Farwa Rizvi

There can be no single best way of learning, and each teaching mode has its own merits and demerits. Didactic lectures in and of themselves are insufficient, whereas a problem-based tutorial alone can be as ineffective. This study was conducted to determine if a problem-based review after didactic lectures would lead to better student performance. To compare performance, the same student group was taught three units of endocrinology (growth hormone, thyroid hormone, and diabetes). Students were divided into the following three groups: diabetes didactic lectures only, growth hormone didactic lectures plus review, and thyroid hormone didactic lectures plus review. All three topics were covered in the didactic lectures, but only growth hormone and thyroid hormone topics were covered in the review session. At the end of the course, all students were given formative assessments in the form of multiple-choice questions. A highly significant increase ( P < 0.000) in the percentage of correct responses on the questions covering growth hormone (mean: 0.838, SD: 0.158) and thyroid hormone (mean: 0.686, SD: 0.232) compared with diabetes (mean: 0.478, SD: 0.259) was observed. In conclusion, this study provides further evidence that the combination of didactic lectures and an active review session leads to an improvement in student performance.


Author(s):  
Amitabha Ghosh

Dynamics is a pivotal class in a student’s life-long learning profile since it builds upon the logical extensions of Statics and Strength of Materials classes, and provides a framework on which Fluid Mechanics concepts may be developed for deformable media. This paper establishes the contextual reference of Dynamics in this framework. An earlier paper by the author discussed details of how the design of proper multiple choice questions is critical for assessment in Statics and Fluid Mechanics. This paper provides a progress report of such evaluations in Dynamics. In addition, this paper explores the pedagogical issues related to building a student’s learning profile. While comparing test results obtained in trailer sections of Dynamics with those obtained in sections taught by faculty teams, some structural differences were discovered. This reporting completes the feedback loop used by faculty in our Engineering Sciences Core Curriculum for improving student performance over time. The process may further be developed by using some similarities and differences in the performance data.


Author(s):  
Tahyna Hernandez ◽  
Margret S. Magid ◽  
Alexandros D. Polydorides

Context.— Evaluation of medical curricula includes appraisal of student assessments in order to encourage deeper learning approaches. General pathology is our institution's 4-week, first-year course covering universal disease concepts (inflammation, neoplasia, etc). Objective.— To compare types of assessment questions and determine which characteristics may predict student scores, degree of difficulty, and item discrimination. Design.— Item-level analysis was employed to categorize questions along the following variables: type (multiple choice question or matching answer), presence of clinical vignette (if so, whether simple or complex), presence of specimen image, information depth (simple recall or interpretation), knowledge density (first or second order), Bloom taxonomy level (1–3), and, for the final, subject familiarity (repeated concept and, if so, whether verbatim). Results.— Assessments comprised 3 quizzes and 1 final exam (total 125 questions), scored during a 3-year period (total 417 students) for a total 52 125 graded attempts. Overall, 44 890 attempts (86.1%) were correct. In multivariate analysis, question type emerged as the most significant predictor of student performance, degree of difficulty, and item discrimination, with multiple choice questions being significantly associated with lower mean scores (P = .004) and higher degree of difficulty (P = .02), but also, paradoxically, poorer discrimination (P = .002). The presence of a specimen image was significantly associated with better discrimination (P = .04), and questions requiring data interpretation (versus simple recall) were significantly associated with lower mean scores (P = .003) and a higher degree of difficulty (P = .046). Conclusions.— Assessments in medical education should comprise combinations of questions with various characteristics in order to encourage better student performance, but also obtain optimal degrees of difficulty and levels of item discrimination.


2011 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Amy M. Tiemeier ◽  
Zachary A. Stacy ◽  
John M. Burke

Objective: To evaluate the results of a prospectively developed plan for using multiple choice questions (MCQs) developed at defined Bloom's levels to assess student performance across a Therapeutics sequence. Methods: Faculty were prospectively instructed to prepare a specific number of MCQs for exams in a Therapeutics sequence. Questions were distributed into one of three cognitive levels based on a modified Bloom's taxonomy, including recall, application, and analysis. Student performance on MCQs was compared between and within each Bloom's level throughout the Therapeutics sequence. In addition, correlations between MCQ performance and case performance were assessed. Results:A total of 168 pharmacy students were prospectively followed in a Therapeutics sequence over two years. The overall average MCQ score on 10 exams was 68.8%. A significant difference in student performance was observed between recall, application, and analysis domain averages (73.1%, 70.2% and 60.1%; p Conclusions: As students progress through the curriculum, faculty may need to find ways to promote recall knowledge for more advanced topics while continuing to develop their ability to apply and analyze information. Exams with well-designed MCQs that prospectively target various cognitive levels can facilitate assessment of student performance.   Type: Original Research


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