Scientific Research and Essays Vol. 1 (1), 014-019, October 2006          
© 2006 Academic Journals

Full Length Research Paper

The differential impact of various assessment parameters on the medical students’ performance in the professional anatomy examination

L. A. J SHITTU¹, M. P. ZACHARIAH², O. A. ADESANYA³, M. C. IZEGBU⁴, and O. A.  ASHIRU¹

¹Department Of Anatomy, ²Department Of Psychiatry, and ⁴Department Of Morbid Anatomy, Lagos State University, College Of Medicine (LASUCOM), PMB 21266 Ikeja, Lagos, Nigeria.

³Department Of Anatomy, Igbinedion University, Okada, Edo State, Nigeria.

*Corresponding authors E-mail: drlukemanjoseph@yahoo.com.

 Accepted 29 September, 2006

This study was designed to assess the convergent validity of the professional anatomy (a multifaceted examination) with other markers of success (the various interactive assessment components of the curriculum) in determining the overall performance of third-year medical students. The aim was to isolate area of academic weakness among the students and to readjust the curriculum content to balance the weakness. A total of 66 third year medical students with records of their grades in the various assessments criteria were analyzed. Parameters on the average End-in course assessment, Short Essays Question (SEQ), Multiple-Choice Questions (MCQ), and Practical (Steeple-chase) were considered. The Practical significantly correlated with overall performance (r = 0.89, P< 0.01). The Practical, MCQ, SEQ and End incourse showed an overall rank order of relative performance in assessment tasks and therefore indicate that, in general, students performance in the Professional examination was better than in the End-incourse examination.

Key words: Assessment, curriculum, Professional examination.