Polishing the examination – key points A presentation given at the Australian and New Zealand College of Veterinary Scientists Examination Writing Workshop, November 2013 Liz Norman, Massey University, New Zealand

1. Polishing the examination
Key points
Liz Norman
Massey University
Australian and New Zealand College of Veterinary Scientists,
Exam Writing Workshop, November 2013

2. Blueprinting
• Ensure the examination (as a whole)
representatively samples from the domain
specified for the examination
• Membership - this is all the learning outcomes
• Fellowship - this is all the learning
outcomes, except those that can only be
sampled in the credentials document

3. Blueprinting
• Ensure the examination (as a whole)
representatively samples from the domain
specified for the examination
–
–
–
–
Topics
Level
Species
Other things eg:
• diagnosis vs management
• principles vs application

4. Structuring the exam
• Ensure you follow the subject guidelines
explicitly
• Shorter vs longer Qs
• Scenario vs direct Qs

5. Marking schemes
• Give an indication of the key criteria for
discriminating passing answers from failing ones
• Then add in what would be a better performance
and what would be a lesser performance
• Think about both quantitative and qualitative
aspects of an answer

6. Marking schemes
• Quantitative:
– Which parts of the answer are essential
– How many errors in these parts are tolerated
• Qualitative
– What connections are essential/important
– How the structure of an answer will help you
differentiate a structured, related, connected thought
process from a multistructural list of unrelated facts

7. Marking schemes
• Think about how a candidate who includes
all/most of the right stuff but also includes wrong
stuff will be graded
• What it indicates about the knowledge structure
if there are contradictions/irrelevancies
in the answer

8. Marking schemes
• Keep them brief
• Think about them as specifying principles to
apply rather than exhaustive detail
• Concentrate on specifying the differentiating
characteristics and how much of this there
needs to be
• Don’t use them to educate examiners about the
topic 

9. Checking wording
• Check the question asks for what you are
rewarding in your marking scheme
• Ensure the wording gives an instruction
• Ensure the scope is clear – may need to be
specified
• Consider how the phrasing of the Q may distract
or misdirect candidates
• Simplify wording if necessary
• Check grammar and punctuation

10. Checking timing
• Allow reading time of 70 words per minute
(only necessary to check unusually wordy
examinations)
• Allow writing speed of no more than 20 words
per minute, preferably 15 words per minute