Abstract
PURPOSE: It is assumed that case-based questions require higher order cognitive processing, whereas questions that are not case-based require lower order cognitive processing. In this study, we investigated to what extent case-based questions and questions that are not case-based, relate to Bloom's taxonomy. METHODS: In this article, 4800 questions of the Progress Test were classified whether it was a case-based question and the level of Bloom's taxonomy. Lower-order questions require students to remember or/and basically understand the knowledge. Higher-order questions require students to apply, analyze, or/and evaluate. A phi-coefficient was calculated to investigate the relations between the presence of case-based questions and the required level of cognitive processing. RESULTS: Our results demonstrated that case-based questions were measuring higher levels of cognitive processing in 98.1% of the questions. Of the non-case-based questions, 33.7% required a higher level of cognitive processing. The phi-coefficient demonstrated a significant moderate correlation between the presence of a patient case in a question and its required level of cognitive processing (phi-coefficient = 0.55, p<0.001). CONCLUSION: Medical teachers should be aware of the association between item formats (case-based versus non-case-based) and the cognitive processes they elicit in order to meet a certain balance in a test, taking the learning objectives as well as the test difficulty into account.
Original language | English |
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Article number | 28 |
Number of pages | 5 |
Journal | Journal of educational evaluation for health professions |
Volume | 15 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 12 Dec 2018 |
Keywords
- Bloom’s taxonomy
- educational assessment
- educational measurement
- medical education
- progress test
- Cognition
- Comprehension
- Education, Medical
- Educational Measurement
- Humans
- Learning
- Memory
- Netherlands
- Problem Solving
- Problem-Based Learning
- Students, Medical/psychology