I know that I know: A certainty based marking tests designed for evaluating knowledge of healthcare students

Abstract

Background: The presented method of evaluating computer tests is based on the requisite to reduce the risk of guessing the correct answers while testing a large number of Healthcare students. The system guides students to realize their own mistakes and deducts points for their mistakes made unconsciously. Aim: To compare the suitability of a method dealing with the certainty based marking tests in contrast to the tests without correction of guessing the correct answers while marking the knowledge of students of health studies. Methods: 150 students undertook a test evaluating their level of knowledge from anatomy which is taken on regular basis. This test had a form of 40 computer evaluated dichotomous tasks with the correction of guessing the correct answers with a degree of certainty. The results were recalculated for correction using a negative marking and for results without correction. Results: The average value of the difficulty of test items Q reached the level of 22.3. Yet corrected using the degree of certainty the outcome median was 49.2% of the required 70%. Without corrections the median was 77.5%. Conclusion: This evaluation using the degree of certainty seems to be too strict for the students, however if the students actually had the required knowledge, they would have been more successful. A great benefit compared to other correction mechanisms designed for guessing is greater stratification of the results according to the number of mistakes made unconsciously and guessed answers.