Analysis of MCQ and distractor use in a large first year Health Faculty Foundation Program: assessing the effects of changing from five to four options

Table 4 Overall score in MCQ in the two offerings

Course^a	No. of students sitting exam		Results^b		p-value
Course^a	1st offering	2nd offering	1st offering	2nd offering	p-value
Chem A (n = 25)	741	767	19.0 ± 4.37 (76.2%)	18.2 ± 4.47 (72.9%)	<.001
Chem B (n = 50)	512	551	33.8 ± 9.11 (67.6%)	33.3 ± 8.25 (66.6%)	.336
A&P A (n = 60)	736	770	40.1 ± 10.77 (66.8%)	41.4 ± 9.30 (69.0%)	.011
A&P B (n = 60)	581	614	39.2 ± 10.00 (65.4%)	39.6 ± 10.13 (66.0%)	.538

^an = total number of MCQs used in the final exam and is the denominator for percentages shown. In 1st offering, all questions are five-option, in second offering all questions are four-option
bMean mark ±1 SD; average % mark given in parentheses

ISSN: 1472-6920