Test-taking Behaviors on a Multiple-Choice Exam are Associated with Performance on the Exam and with Learning Style

The goal of the study was three-fold: to investigate medical student behaviors (e.g., changing answers) while taking high-stakes multiple-choice exams; to determine if specific behaviors were associated with performance on the exam; and to determine if there are associations of learning style, as measured by Kolb’s Learning Style Inventory (LSI), with test-taking activities. We developed high-stakes, on-line exam applications that included server event logs, which provided a time sequence of entries/activities that students made while taking their exam. This new paradigm allows collection of detailed test taking behaviors that can be used to test a variety of hypotheses. Test taking activities were extracted from the event logs for a mid-term anatomy exam given to freshman medical students. Although student exam-taking activities showed considerable variability, one notable finding was that when students changed answers, they were 3 times more likely (on average) to change their answer from incorrectto-correct than they were to change it from correct-to-incorrect. Correlation of test-taking behaviors with performance on the exam revealed that there were significant negative correlations with the number of times answers were changed, and the number of times answers were changed from correct-to-incorrect. There were also significant associations of learning styles with exam-taking behaviors. The most consistent differences between students who did the best on the exam (Assimilators) and those who did the worst (Accommodators), concerned the frequencies with which answers were changed. Differences between Accommodators and Convergers, who received the next highest average score, involved behaviors related to variables other than changing answers (e.g., time spent reviewing the exam and number of questions marked for review). In summary, the use of objective computer entry logs allowed a better understanding of the associations of test-taking behaviors with academic performances and with learning styles. Based on these findings, learning strategies might be designed to help students cope with courses that rely heavily on multiple-choice exams for assessing student achievement. _____________________________________________________________________________________________