Reflections on the Value of Mapping the Final Theory Examination in a Molecular Biochemistry Unit†

INTRODUCTION Intended learning outcomes (ILOs) are an integral part of teaching and learning at the university level (8), and consist of a set of statements that describe in unambiguous terms what the students are expected to be able to achieve after the completion of a particular unit. Because of this, the ILOs should lead into the assessment tasks and, in turn, contribute to the ILOs and broader student outcomes for the overall degree (4, 5). Hussey and Smith (8) have highlighted the significance of ILOs in aiding theoretical discussions about learning and teaching as well as for better course design. The key concept for designing curriculum is that all forms of assessment should reflect the ILOs (7). As a key assessment method, examinations therefore should also be designed to address the ILOs. Examination mapping is a process whereby allocation of marks to different sections of an examination can be related to the ILOs. This can inform the instructor as to how well the design of the exam fits the stated ILOs. We hypothesized that applying examination mapping to a second year unit in cellular and molecular biochemistry would illuminate how the design of the final written examination reflects the ILOs for this unit. PROCEDURE Assessment in the second year cellular and molecular biochemistry unit consists of five assessment tasks, including an end-of-semester written theory examination, the assessment task used for the mapping exercise. This examination consisted of 13 questions, each composed of specific subsections that assessed related aspects of a single topic. The unit had five ILOs, three of which (" conducting of experiments, " " laboratory record keeping, " and " ethical frameworks ") were not assessed in the written exam (Appendix 1, Table 1). The two ILOs that were assessed in the final examination (" explain the molecular basis and coordination of cell biology processes in healthy cells and tissues, and in contrast to diseased states " and " interpret, evaluate, and communicate molecular and biochemical data ") were structured into three task-specific criteria: " knowledge, " " interpretation, " and " application, " according to Bloom's taxonomy (1). The marks allocated to each of these criteria over the whole of the examination were then mapped (Appendix 1, Table 2). DISCUSSION Of the three task-specific criteria, " knowledge " accounted for 49% of available marks in the final examination, followed by " interpretation " (34%), and " application …