Student-generated, faculty-vetted multiple-choice questions: Value, participant satisfaction, and workload

Objective: To evaluate a student-generated question assignment in a pharmacotherapy course for (1) perceived educational value, (2) faculty and student satisfaction, (3) item quality, (4) workload, and (5) perceived benefit. Methods: Second-year pharmacy students in a dual campus college participated in generating patient-based vignettes with associated multiple-choice questions for an exam. Submissions were assessed by faculty in terms of structure and content and then made available to all students as a study aid. Project evaluation included examination of item quality as well as faculty and student surveys exploring educational value, general satisfaction with the assignment, and workload. Results: Post-project satisfaction surveys were completed by 97% of students (n = 165) and 100% of faculty (n = 8). Overall, 80% of students agreed or strongly agreed that they were proud of their group's final submission, and more than 85% agreed or strongly agreed that participation in the project assisted them in analyzing concepts and guidelines taught in class. All faculty members agreed or strongly agreed that the activity should be conducted in future offerings of the course. The average point biserial correlation coefficient for the student-generated items was 0.26 versus 0.22 for faculty-written items. Structure- and content-focused faculty spent an average of 27 minutes (SD 6) and 52 minutes (SD 14), respectively, to complete each assignment. Conclusion: A student-generated question assignment can be feasibly conducted across two campuses as an active learning exercise that enhances student-perceived learning of pharmacotherapy principles with a high level of both student and faculty satisfaction.