Constructing Written Test Questions For the Basic and Clinical Sciences: Item Writing Manual
This manual was written to help faculty members improve the quality of the multiple-choice questions written for their examinations. The manual provides an overview of item formats, concentrating on the traditional one-best-answer and matching formats. It reviews issues related to technical item flaws and issues related to item content. The manual also provides basic information to help faculty review statistical indices of item quality after test administration. An overview of standard-setting techniques is also provided. Issues related to exam blueprinting are not addressed in any detail. We have focused almost exclusively on the item level, leaving exam level planning for another manuscript.