title: A Novel Multiple Choice Question Generation Strategy: Alternative Uses for Controlled Vocabulary Thesauri in Biomedical-Sciences Education.
abstract: Multiple choice questions play an important role in training and evaluating biomedical science students. However, the resource intensive nature of question generation limits their open availability, reducing their contribution to evaluation purposes mainly. Although applied-knowledge questions require a complex formulation process, the creation of concrete-knowledge questions (i.e., definitions, associations) could be assisted by the use of informatics methods. We envisioned a novel and simple algorithm that exploits validated knowledge repositories and generates concrete-knowledge questions by leveraging concepts' relationships. In this manuscript we present the development and validation of a prototype which successfully produced meaningful concrete-knowledge questions, opening new applications for existing knowledge repositories, potentially benefiting students of all biomedical sciences disciplines.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Informatics, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, USA; Departamento de Informática Biomédica, Clínica Alemana de Santiago, Facultad de Medicina Clínica Alemana, Universidad del Desarrollo, Santiago, Chile.
authors.forename: Marcelo A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Lopetegui
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Informatics, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, USA.
authors.forename: Barbara A
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Lara
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Informatics, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, USA.
authors.forename: Po-Yin
authors.initials: PY
authors.lastname: Yen
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Informatics, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, USA.
authors.forename: Ümit V
authors.initials: ÜV
authors.lastname: Çatalyürek
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Informatics, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, USA.
authors.forename: Philip R O
authors.initials: PR
authors.lastname: Payne
mesh_terms: D000465:Algorithms; D001690:Biological Science Disciplines / Q000193:education*; D002755:Choice Behavior; D004501:Education, Medical; D004521:Educational Measurement / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D046650:Medical Subject Headings; D018875:Vocabulary, Controlled