Sandy,
Thanks for articulating my own struggle with RAP questions. I have the
exact same issue: is the RAP a reading quiz or should it be more like Apps
and encourage team discussion during the tRAT? Like you I am torn and have
heard instructors which construct their RAPs in both forms. One thing I
remember hearing (might have been at last year's regional TBL conference in
Atlanta) is that the RAP should not be too onerous for students. It should
be an encouraging learning experience and that the difficult work of
applying course content should happen during the Apps. If this is the case,
I think that argues for RAPs that are more like reading quizzes rather than
higher order Apps. Or maybe it is entirely context dependent - depends upon
the course content and course level. Or maybe RAPs should be a mix? Perhaps
mostly reading quiz type questions with only one or two that are going to
cause teams to pause and consider carefully the question?
I suspect that there is not one correct answer to this issue, but I would
appreciate hearing what others think and do.
cheers
Neil
*Neil Haave, PhD*
Associate Professor, Biology
Managing Editor, *Collected Essays on Learning and Teaching
<http://celt.uwindsor.ca/ojs/leddy/index.php/CELT/index>*
University of Alberta, Augustana Faculty
Rm C155, Science Wing, Classroom Building, Augustana Campus
4901 - 46 Avenue, Camrose, AB, CANADA T4V 2R3
email <[log in to unmask]>
Augustana dossier <http://www.augustana.ualberta.ca/profs/nhaave/>
Google+ <https://www.google.com/+NeilHaave>
blog <http://activelylearning2teach.blogspot.ca/>
"We do not learn from experience . . . we learn from reflecting on
experience" - John Dewey
On Mon, Oct 6, 2014 at 5:37 PM, Sandy Cook <[log in to unmask]>
wrote:
> Dear Neil and all
>
>
>
> NBME has a great resource, and online tutorial that addresses many of
> these things too – especially in creating higher order, problem solving
> questions rather than just factual recall.
>
>
>
> This is their manual:
> http://www.nbme.org/publications/item-writing-manual.html
>
>
>
> This is their tutorial: http://download.usmle.org/IWTutorial/intro.htm
>
>
>
> They have years of experience writing (and assessing) high quality single
> best answer questions.
>
>
>
> However, given some recent discussions on the listserv and here about
> writing questions – there has been a growing debate on if the RAP questions
> SHOULD be written so well. The better and more clear the question, the
> less appeals (at least about the syntax of the question) but perhaps also
> less discussion among the teams– as it is clear. Unless in your response
> options, it is easy to craft plausible options that have common errors in
> thinking – that permit additional learning in the teams as they come to the
> single best right answer.
>
>
>
> So which is more important:
>
> · Having clear, well crafted, good item statistics, unambiguous RAT
> questions that ensures the students understand the core principles and
> spend the time on the application? OR
>
> · Having less well crafted questions, with possibly even more than
> one right answer, to engender rich debate and discussion during RAT, and
> more appeals (to create more thinking)? (as well as excellent application
> questions)?
>
>
>
> I personally am torn. Having been frustrated by vague questions but
> enriched by the team discussion – I see the value there. But sometimes,
> time is of the essence – I would rather spend the bulk of the time on a
> rich application that gets at those issues too.
>
>
>
> Sandy
>
>
>
>
>
> **********************************************************
> Sandy COOK, PhD | Senior Associate Dean, |
>
> Medical Education, Research, and Evaluation (MERE) Department|
>
> W: (65) 6516 8722| F: (65) 6227 2698 |
>
>
> Assistant Manager: Belinda Yeo | [log in to unmask] | 6516-8511
> Important: This email is confidential and may be privileged. If you
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>
>
> *From:* Team-Based Learning [mailto:[log in to unmask]] *On
> Behalf Of *Neil Haave
> *Sent:* Tuesday, October 7, 2014 1:19 AM
> *To:* [log in to unmask]
> *Subject:* Jim's great post on Faculty Focus
>
>
>
> See Jim Sibley's great post today on Faculty Focus about producing MCQs.
>
>
>
>
> http://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/educational-assessment/seven-mistakes-avoid-writing-multiple-choice-questions/
> <http://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/educational-assessment/seven-mistakes-avoid-writing-multiple-choice-questions/?ET=facultyfocus:e126:436922a:&st=email>
>
>
>
> Cheers
>
>
>
> Neil
>
>
>
> --
> Neil Haave, PhD
> Associate Professor, Biology
> Managing Editor, CELT
> Augustana Faculty
> University of Alberta
> Camrose, AB T4V 2R3
> Canada
> http://www.augustana.ualberta.ca/profs/nhaave/
>
> DISCLAIMER: Any and all spelling mistakes contained in this email were
> inserted at the whim of my iPhone.
>
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