title: Faculty development programs improve the quality of Multiple Choice Questions items' writing.
abstract: The aim of this study was to assess the utility of long term faculty development programs (FDPs) in order to improve the quality of multiple choice questions (MCQs) items' writing. This was a quasi-experimental study, conducted with newly joined faculty members. The MCQ items were analyzed for difficulty index, discriminating index, reliability, Bloom's cognitive levels, item writing flaws (IWFs) and MCQs' nonfunctioning distractors (NFDs) based test courses of respiratory, cardiovascular and renal blocks. Significant improvement was found in the difficulty index values of pre- to post-training (p = 0.003). MCQs with moderate difficulty and higher discrimination were found to be more in the post-training tests in all three courses. Easy questions were decreased from 36.7 to 22.5%. Significant improvement was also reported in the discriminating indices from 92.1 to 95.4% after training (p = 0.132). More number of higher cognitive level of Bloom's taxonomy was reported in the post-training test items (p<0.0001). Also, NFDs and IWFs were reported less in the post-training items (p<0.02). The MCQs written by the faculties without participating in FDPs are usually of low quality. This study suggests that newly joined faculties need active participation in FDPs as these programs are supportive in improving the quality of MCQs' items writing.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Education, King Saud University, Riyadh-11321, Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: Hamza Mohammad
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Abdulghani
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Education, King Saud University, Riyadh-11321, Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: Farah
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Ahmad
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Education, King Saud University, Riyadh-11321, Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: Mohammad
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Irshad
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Education, King Saud University, Riyadh-11321, Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: Mahmoud Salah
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Khalil
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics &Gynecology, King Saud University, Riyadh-11321, Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: Ghadeer Khalid
authors.initials: GK
authors.lastname: Al-Shaikh
authors.affiliation: Department of Basic Sciences, The Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: Sadiqa
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Syed
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Education, King Saud University, Riyadh-11321, Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: Abdulmajeed Abdurrahman
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Aldrees
authors.affiliation: Department of Family &Community Medicine, King Saud University, Riyadh-11321, Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: Norah
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Alrowais
authors.affiliation: Research and Scientific Studies Unit, College of Nursing and Allied Health Sciences, Jazan University, Jazan-45142, Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: Shafiul
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Haque
references.citation: Saudi Med J. 2005 Oct;26(10):1505-10
references.pmid: 16228046
references.citation: Acad Med. 2002 Feb;77(2):156-61
references.pmid: 11841981
references.citation: Acad Med. 2003 Jul;78(7):702-8
references.pmid: 12857688
references.citation: Med Educ. 2008 Feb;42(2):198-206
references.pmid: 18230093
references.citation: Fam Med. 1991 May-Jun;23(4):279-84
references.pmid: 2065876
references.citation: Med Educ. 2004 Sep;38(9):974-9
references.pmid: 15327679
references.citation: Acad Med. 1992 Feb;67(2):134-5
references.pmid: 1546995
references.citation: J Pak Med Assoc. 2012 Feb;62(2):142-7
references.pmid: 22755376
references.citation: Adv Health Sci Educ Theory Pract. 2012 Aug;17(3):369-76
references.pmid: 21837548
references.citation: Adv Health Sci Educ Theory Pract. 2005;10(2):133-43
references.pmid: 16078098
references.citation: J Dent Educ. 2007 Aug;71(8):1048-57
references.pmid: 17687087
references.citation: Nurse Educ. 2012 May-Jun;37(3):98-104
references.pmid: 22513766
references.citation: Med Teach. 2014 Apr;36 Suppl 1:S24-9
references.pmid: 24617780
references.citation: BMC Med Educ. 2009 Jul 07;9:40
references.pmid: 19580681
references.citation: Acad Med. 2009 Aug;84(8):1161-5
references.pmid: 19638788
references.citation: Pak J Med Sci. 2014 Mar;30(2):227-32
references.pmid: 24772117
references.citation: Acad Med. 2003 Feb;78(2):142-9
references.pmid: 12584092
references.citation: Nurse Educ Today. 2006 Dec;26(8):662-71
references.pmid: 17014932
references.citation: Qatar Med J. 2013 Nov 01;2013(1):3-6
references.pmid: 25003050
references.citation: Adv Health Sci Educ Theory Pract. 2006 Feb;11(1):61-8
references.pmid: 16583285
references.citation: Med Teach. 2012;34 Suppl 1:S61-6
references.pmid: 22409194
references.citation: Pak J Med Sci. 2013 May;29(3):715-8
references.pmid: 24353614
references.citation: Med Educ. 2001 Apr;35(4):326-30
references.pmid: 11318994
references.citation: J Gen Intern Med. 2005 Aug;20(8):721-5
references.pmid: 16050881
references.citation: Natl Med J India. 2008 May-Jun;21(3):130-3
references.pmid: 19004145
references.citation: Acad Med. 1998 Apr;73(4):387-96
references.pmid: 9580715