Item Analysis an Effective Tool for Assessing Exam Quality, Designing Appropriate Exam and Determining Weakness in Teaching

Item analysis is an integrate component of course assessment which helps observe the item characteristics and improve the quality of the course exam. It also provides a guide for improving the teaching method to enhance the students’ learning outcomes. However, item analysis results may not be applied to adjust the way teachers teach and improve the items characteristics. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of item analysis in improving assessment and teaching quality. The Item characteristics of the final exam for kinesiology course for physiotherapy students in 2 semesters were studied. Improved and good multiple choice questions (MCQs) were then conducted for another semester, followed by application of both good MCQs and improved teaching for the other semester. The item characteristics were compared to observe any effect of good MCQs and teaching on educational performance. The good MCQs along with the improved teaching were associated with the greater mean score and the students who passed the exam rather than those with only good MCQs. The percentage of easy questions (42.5%) in students who received good MCQs and improved teaching compared with those (15%) who only received good MCQs indicated that the improved pool of questions were shifted from medium to easier questions. We concluded that the item analysis should be followed by revised and improved teaching method. It appears that improved item characteristics are associated with improved teaching method and possibly with an improvement in students’ learning.