Evaluation of Level of Cognitive Domain in Short Answer Questions of 1st Professional Anatomy Written Examinations

Background and objective: Short-answer questions (SAQs) are commonly used format in medical examinations in Bangladesh. The present study assessed the weightage given to the different components of cognitive domain in SAQs in anatomy of first Professional MBBS Examination under Bangladesh University of Professionals (BUP). Materials and method: This cross-sectional study was conducted in the Department of Anatomy, Army Medical College, Cumilla. Anatomy SAQ papers, Paper I and Paper II from July 2015 to November 2019 of Bangladesh University of Professionals (BUP) were selected. A total of 20 SAQ papers containing 280 questions were included in this study. Every question in a paper was categorized as recall, understanding and application types. Then the total number of marks allocated for each of the type of questions were calculated and compared with the total marks (98) allocated for the questions in a paper. Then the resultant weightage of marks were compared with the curricular directive weightage of marks allotted for SAQ. Result: On analysis it was found that during the period from May 2015 to November 2019, 65.83 % and 71.75 % of the SAQs of paper-I and paper-II addressed recall, 33.86 % and 28.24 % understanding level respectively. There was no application type of question in both papers. No significance difference was observed in between two papers, but significance difference (pless than0.001) was found with the curriculum. Conclusion: The study showing that SAQs introduced as an assessment tool in undergraduate medical curriculum was not properly implemented and its desired objectives were not fully achieved according to curriculum.