Extended matching questions as an assessment tool and a didactic resource

Authors

  • Arturo Teodoro Menéndez Cabezas Universidad de Ciencias Médicas de Camagüey
  • Dary Puertas Quiroga Universidad de Ciencias Médicas. Camagüey

Keywords:

evaluación, preguntas tipo test objetivo, preguntas de emparejamiento ampliado, ítem de emparejamiento ampliado

Abstract

Background: higher medical education needs the utilization of assessment tools and didactical resources that promote logical reasoning in students. In the publication on assessment of the National Board of Medical Examiners of United States there is a whole section devoted to extended matching questions. There is no available information in Cuban scientific publications regarding the use of this modality in higher medical education.
Objective: to describe the characteristics of extended matching questions as an assessment tool and a didactic resource to develop logical reasoning in medical sciences students.
Methods: narrative review on extended matching questions in undergraduate and graduate medical education. A search was carried out in the data bases PubMed/Medline, PubMed Central and Google Academic using as descriptors extended matching question and extended matching item, and also with the same terms in Spanish in SciELO Cuba, SciELO Regional and in Redined, a data base of the Ministry of Education and Culture of Spain.
Results: the definition, structure, requisites, attributes and applications of this modality of objective test questions in medical sciences are described. There is agreement in their usefulness for clinical subjects’ assessments. They are widely used in medical sciences education, undergraduate and graduate, in Anglophone countries. An analysis of their disadvantages and advantages is carried out. Among the first, the poor or null experience of faculty and the complexity and time demanded in their construction, and among the second, mainly that they require and promote logical reasoning of the students. Quality assurance in their design is emphasized.
Conclusions: extended matching questions attributes point to their usefulness as an assessment tool and as a didactic resource to promote logical reasoning in medical sciences undergraduate and graduate students.
DeCS: EXAMINATION QUESTIONS; EVALUATION; EDUCATION, MEDICAL; SURVEYS AND QUESTIONNAIRES; REVIEW LITERATURE AS TOPIC.

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Author Biographies

Arturo Teodoro Menéndez Cabezas, Universidad de Ciencias Médicas de Camagüey

Profesor Titular Consultante Doctor en Ciencias Médicas Especialista en Bioquímica Clínica y en Administración de Salud Gabinete de Grados Científicos Universidad de Ciencias Médicas de Camagüey

Dary Puertas Quiroga, Universidad de Ciencias Médicas. Camagüey

Máster en Educación Especial. Asistente. Dpto. Ingresos. Vicerrectoría Académica. UCM C

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Published

2017-05-23

How to Cite

1.
Menéndez Cabezas AT, Puertas Quiroga D. Extended matching questions as an assessment tool and a didactic resource. Arch méd Camagüey [Internet]. 2017 May 23 [cited 2025 Sep. 3];21(3):432-43. Available from: https://revistaamc.sld.cu/index.php/amc/article/view/5140

Issue

Vol. 21 No. 3 (2017)

Section

Medical Pedagogy

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