Student-constructed examination items

Student-written items were compared with teacher-written items on an objective examination given to first year medical students. While student scores were higher on the student-written items than on teacher-written items, there was a positive correlation between the scores. Student items did not differ from teacher items in the course, according to student ratings of emphasis. As a by-product of this study, correlations were found which suggest that student scores on an item often reflect the degree of teaching emphasis given the content area of the item rather than the inherent difficulty of the content. It is suggested that further research is needed to determine whether students learn through the process of writing examination items. Therefore, if the process proves to be educational, this study indicates that it will be feasible to incorporate the student-constructed items in examinations.