ITEM ANALYSIS OF UNIVERSITY-WIDE MULTIPLE CHOICE OBJECTIVE EXAMINATIONS ? THE EXPERIENCE OF A NIGERIAN PRIVATE UNIVERSITY

What is not inspected should hardly be expected. It can be argued that it is regular inspection, constructive feedback and diligent correction that lead to growth and development. These statements give credence to the power of regular assessment and evaluation. Assessment is the umbrella term for all processes used to collect information from a person, thing or event for interpretative purposes. Tests and examinations are amongst the popular assessment tools. Item analysis is an integral tool for enhancing the content validity of multiple-choice objective examinations. Teachers and Students worldwide often dance to the tune of tests and examinations. Consequently, assessments are powerful tools for catalyzing the achievement of educational goals, especially if done rightly. It is the realization of the significance of rightly conducting assessment and evaluation to get the right results that the need to conduct the item analyses of the unitary multiple-choice objective semester examinations for university-wide courses conducted in a Nigerian private university was conducted. Consequently, the ex-post facto design was adopted for this project. Two core item analysis indices ? item difficulty index and distractive index - were computed. Based on the findings from this study, particularly in the light of best practices in the art of psychometrics, recommendations were made to expedite the achievement of the ‘laudable vision’ of the investigated private university ? to be one of the best ten universities in the world by 2022.