Shittu L.A.J., Zachariah M.P., Izegbu M.C., Adesanya O.A., Ashiru O.A.
Department of Anatomy, Lagos State University, College of Medecine (Lasucom), PMB 21266, Ikeja, Lagos, Nigeria; Department of Psychiatry, Lagos State University, College of Medecine (Lasucom), PMB 21266, Ikeja, Lagos, Nigeria; Department of Morbid Anatomy
Shittu, L.A.J., Department of Anatomy, Lagos State University, College of Medecine (Lasucom), PMB 21266, Ikeja, Lagos, Nigeria; Zachariah, M.P., Department of Psychiatry, Lagos State University, College of Medecine (Lasucom), PMB 21266, Ikeja, Lagos, Nigeria; Izegbu, M.C., Department of Morbid Anatomy, Lagos State University, College of Medecine (Lasucom), PMB 21266, Ikeja, Lagos, Nigeria; Adesanya, O.A., Department of Anatomy, Igbinedion University, Okada, Edo-State, Nigeria; Ashiru, O.A., Department of Anatomy, Lagos State University, College of Medecine (Lasucom), PMB 21266, Ikeja, Lagos, Nigeria
There is a dearth of knowledge on the level of agreement between all the various assessment tasks on the same content area, in order to test this hypothesis we adopted the concept of convergent validity and also to isolate area of academic weakness among the students and to readjust the curriculum content to balance the weakness. A blinded cohort retrospective study was carried out on a total of sixty-six third year medical students who had sat for their first professional examination in anatomy in the new medical college of Lagos State University. Using records of their grades in the various assessments parameters- the average end-in course assessment, short essays question (SEQ), multiplechoice questions (MCQ), and practical (Steeple-chase). The mean + S.D. Pearson's correlation with students t-test (p< 0.05 being significant) were analyzed using the computerized SPSS 11 (SPSS inc. Chicago, Illinois) software package. The practical was significantly correlated with overall performance (r = 0.89, p< 0.01); with the student t-value of 6.15 (p< 0.01). Although, the SEQ showed significant correlation to overall performance (r =0.72; p<0.01), the t-value of 0.4 was nonsignificant, but, within an acceptable range. The practical, MCQ, SEQ and end-incourse showed an overall rank order of relative performance in assessment tasks, therefore indicates that, in general, students performance in the Professional examination was better than in the end-incourse examination and hence, the need to reappraise this pattern and emphasize the role of incourse assessment in the curriculum. © 2007 Sociedad Chilena de Anatom•br>.