Akram Sanagoo; Soheyla Kalantari; Noshin Kashefi; Mohamad Zaman Majnoni; Leila Jouybari
Abstract
Background and Objectives Cheating is a common phenomenon that can undermine the credibility of university tests and certificates. Cheating is a more sensitive issue among medical students. The present study was conducted to investigate the performance and attitude of undergraduate students of Golestan ...
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Background and Objectives Cheating is a common phenomenon that can undermine the credibility of university tests and certificates. Cheating is a more sensitive issue among medical students. The present study was conducted to investigate the performance and attitude of undergraduate students of Golestan University of Medical Sciences in Iran towards cheating, as well asthe factors that influence cheating. Methods The present descriptive analytical and cross-sectional study was conducted in 2014 on 524 female and male undergraduate students of Golestan University of Medical Sciences. Convenience sampling was used to select the participants. The data were collected using a valid and reliable 64-item questionnaire on performance and attitude towards cheating with a Cronbach’s alpha of 0.88. The obtained data were then analyzed using descriptive tests and the χ test. P < 0.05 was set as the level of statistical significance. Results Demographically, women made up 58% of the study population. In terms of ethnicity, 68.5% of the population wereFars, 24.6% Turkmen, and the rest were other ethnicities. A total of 70.6% of students had negative attitudes towards cheating. In terms of performance, 57.1% of students admitted to cheating. Significant relationships were observed between the attitude and performance of students (P = 0.001). The relationship between gender and occupational status, and attitude and performance was also found to be statistically significant (P < 0.050). Male and employed students had more positive attitudes towards cheating and actually did it more frequently than their female counterparts. Conclusions The majority of nursing students were against cheating in terms of attitude and performance. Nevertheless, to better understand this behavior and develop coping strategies, further studies should be conducted on the phenomenon of cheating in other academic activities among medical students.
Mohammad Heidari; Sara Shahbazi
Volume 12, Issue 1 , May 2015, , Pages 56-63
Abstract
Background & Objective: Anxiety is a feeling of apprehension caused by the feeling of being at risk and can affect the performance of an individual Today exam anxiety is increasingly observed among educated people and this situation causes a loss of concentration Faith increases confidence ...
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Background & Objective: Anxiety is a feeling of apprehension caused by the feeling of being at risk and can affect the performance of an individual Today exam anxiety is increasingly observed among educated people and this situation causes a loss of concentration Faith increases confidence and patience and strength to deal with problems The aim of this study was to assess the effect of recitation of the Quran on exam anxiety in nursing and emergency medicine students Methods: This was a quasiexperimental study performed on nursing and emergency medicine students of Borujen School of Medical Emergency Nursing Iran The purposive sampling method was used in the present study and all students participated in this study The courses presented during one semester for each field of study were randomly divided into two groups An audio of Maryam Surah verses 1 to 26 were played for one group before the midterm exams and the other group before the end of term exams for 5 minutes Data collection was performed using a demographic questionnaire and Spielbergers StateTrait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) before all exams Data analysis was performed using descriptive and analytic statistics (such as independent ttest and paired ttest) in SPSS software Results: The results of this study showed that the mean levels of apparent anxiety in nursing students during exams without Quran recitation was 4873 ± 1352 and during exams with Quran recitation was 4472 ± 1526 The average level of hidden anxiety during exams without Quran recitation was 4333 ± 961 and in exams with Quran recitation was 4136 ± 1199 A statistically significant difference was observed among these averages (P < 005) The mean levels of apparent anxiety in emergency medicine students during exams without Quran recitation was 41 ± 1298 and during exams with Quran recitation was 3911 ± 1182 The average level of hidden anxiety during exams without Quran recitation was 4133 ± 878 and during exams with Quran recitation was 3846 ± 1101 A statistically significant difference was observed among these averages (P < 005) Conclusion: The results showed that the sound of the Quran before exams can reduce students anxiety levels Therefore it is recommended that managers and policy makers consider the results of this study and play audios of the Quran before exams in order to reduce stress but also take steps to promote familiarity with the Quran
Abdolhussein Shakurnia; Azar Khosravi Borojeni; Alireza Mozaffari; Houssein Elhampour
Volume 6, Issue 2 , January 2010, , Pages 129-138
Abstract
Background & Objective : Evaluation of educational achievement is an important part of an educational process such an evaluation is possible via holding exams Multiple Choice Question (MCQ) as an objective testing method is the most common tool for evaluating students Hence this study was ...
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Background & Objective : Evaluation of educational achievement is an important part of an educational process such an evaluation is possible via holding exams Multiple Choice Question (MCQ) as an objective testing method is the most common tool for evaluating students Hence this study was conducted to evaluate the exam questions designed by faculty members with emphasis on the MCQ structure in Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences Methods : In this descriptive study questions designed by 197 nonclinician faculty members were analyzed Data was collected using a checklist including demographic information properties of exam questions and items related to comparing MCQs with design rules of such questions Results : The results revealed that 81% of the questions developed by faculty members were essay 5532% and 3654% were objective and a combination of essay and objective respectively Among a total of 5208 evaluated questions 6496% contained no structural flaw The most common flaws included ambiguous or unclear question stems (1594%) use of negative verb in the stem (1222%) using “all” or “none” among option (1085%) and use of blank space in the beginning or middle of the stem (1041%) Almost 90% of the MCQs were at cognitive level (taxonomy I) Conclusion : Due to the importance of developing standard questions corresponding to guidelines for MCQs in acceptable exams regular revision of exam questions and further training courses for designing questions is recommended
