One of the overarching goals of undergraduate science education is to promote expert-like thinking and reasoning skills in students as they progress through curricula and college programs. Unfortunately, research has shown that many assessments used in higher education classrooms test little more than factual recall and require that students only use low-level cognitive skills to come up with correct answers. Thinkaloud interviews and individual oral examinations often show underlying conceptions and thought processes that are not apparent with a typical multiple-choice test or even open-ended written questions but most instructors do not have the time to evaluate each student so deeply.
Methods: Based on psychometric data and evidence based guidelines for adequate MCQ item and test development, a detailed stepwise approach was determined and followed to evaluate the existing MCQs, and to guide test item revision or replacement. A total of 50 MCQs and 139 stages of MEQs were examined, which came from three exams run over two years.