AUTOMATED MULTIPLE-CHOICE TESTING FOR SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENT: WHAT DO STUDENTS THINK?

This paper reports undergraduate student feedback contrasting conventional “Long-answer ” examinations with automated multiple-choice question (MCQ) assessment. Feedback was gathered after students had undertaken formative MCQ assessments as a revision aid. Feedback was generally supportive of MCQ summative tests, with 74 % expressing a preference for the new format. The examination conditions were preferred by 69 % of students. Results indicate that students are in favour of the use of automated MCQ assessment. All topics can be reliably and validly assessed with an associated time saving of over 16 hours. The need for rigorous question and answer construction has been highlighted, but so long as sufficient care is taken at that preliminary stage, the overall benefits of the format outweigh the problems