Item Writing Pre-Conference Workshop

In partnership with the National Board of Medical Examiners (NBME®) the APCCMPD is excited to offer APCCMPD Members and medical educators with this Item Writing Workshop.

The NBME has been developing test items (questions) and examinations for licensure and other assessment purposes since 1915. NBME staff are internationally recognized experts in the field of test development, psychometrics and medical education research. For over 25 years, members of NBME’s professional test development staff have served as a resource to faculty at medical schools and other health professions wishing to improve their item-writing techniques. The NBME is pleased to offer workshops to help faculty enhance the quality of their items for use in their own examinations and programs.

This item-writing workshop will provide a foundation for writing quality multiple-choice questions. This workshop is designed to introduce the main principles of item writing to individuals who write questions for examinations in the fields of pulmonary, critical care, and pulmonary/critical care medicine.

Workshop Objectives

• New item writers will learn to write, review, and refine test items in single-best-answer formats.
• Experienced item writers will find this useful refresher course an opportunity to learn new skills.
• Participants will learn the difference between “good” and “bad” test items.
• Participants learn techniques that can improve their item-writing efficiency and increase the quality and number of items they write.
• Participants learn techniques that can be applied to other types of exams.

Wednesday, May 11, 2020
1:00 - 5:00 PM
$450 Member / $900 Non-Member
Registration is open to the first 25 attendees (APCCMPD reserves the right to cancel the course due to low enrollment)

• The anatomy of an item
• Basic rules for writing good stems and options
• Characteristics of a quality "best-answer" item
• Writing items to assess clinical reasoning
• Writing items that focus on application of knowledge versus recall of isolated facts
• Writing clinical vignettes
• Common item flaws
• Avoiding clues that benefit test wise examinees
• Recognizing irrelevant item difficulty
• Strategies for evaluating test items

Learn more about the 2020 APCCMPD Annual Conference