Assessing cognitive skills of pharmacy students in a biomedical sciences module using a classification of multiple-choice item categories according to Bloom's taxonomy

The purpose of this study was to assess the use of multiple-choice examinations in testing cognitive skills of pharmacy students. Multiple-choice exam questions for an integrated Biomedical Sciences module were classified according to question structure and level of cognitive ability, and student performance was compared between and within question classifications. Student performance was significantly higher for questions of factual recall than for questions testing explanation or application skills. Within a given question classification, question topic and authorship were overall not significant determinants of student performance. Greater disparity in performance among questions of different classification was noted for lower-achieving students than for higher-achieving students. Knowledge of specific deficiencies in student performance may be helpful in shaping future course instruction and assessment.