Presented by Dan Thompson, Coordinator of Instructional Design, Assessment and Educational Technology, Department of Medical Education, Oklahoma State University Center for Health Sciences Implementing a new curriculum presents a unique set of challenges that are difficult to accurately predict. Central to these challenges is ensuring the effectiveness of the curriculum in improving student outcomes. Student assessment performance data provides educators the opportunity to precisely understand which areas of the new curriculum are most effectively improving student outcomes. Specifically, through the implementation of ExamSoft categories faculty can accurately identify the necessary improvements for improving the curriculum, and most importantly, student performance. This presentation addresses the idea that appropriately researching and applying student performance data in a creative and efficient way will lead to continuous curricular development and improvement in student outcomes.

1. NAVIGATING CURRICULAR
CHANGE THROUGH CONTINUOUS
STUDENT ASSESSMENT DATA ANALYSIS
AND QUALITY IMPROVEMENT
Dan Thompson, M.S.
Coordinator of Instructional Design, Assessment
and Educational Technology
Oklahoma State University Center for Health Sciences

2. SESSION OBJECTIVES
 At the completion of this session, participants will be
able to:
1. Utilize ExamSoft categories to obtain student assessment performance
data
2. Recognize methods of utilizing formative and summative assessment
data to identify curricular strengths and weaknesses
3. Implement appropriate adjustments to updated curriculum utilizing
student assessment data

3. INTRODUCTION
 Implementing a new curriculum is not a finish line, it is a new
starting point
 Any curricular changes, no matter how small, put educators in
uncharted territory
 In an effort to constantly pursue improved student outcomes,
institutions should immediately evaluate their new curriculum
 Key to learn what small changes can be made to improve the new
curriculum

4. INTRODUCTION
 Many institutions collect internal data from surveys and focus groups and
conduct external research
 Internal quantitative data utilizing student assessments is a key component
to review
 Student performance data can be acquired retroactively for all ExamSoft
items
 Comparisons can be made between your former and current curricular
models
 This will lend insight into which teaching methods are most successful, which topics are
most difficult for students, which question types are most difficult, etc.
 This information can assist in making needed alterations to a newly
implemented curriculum

5. WHAT ARE CATEGORIES?
 Each question in ExamSoft can be tagged into categories that will
allow us to identify the exact subject matter, difficulty level, author,
type of teaching method implemented, style of question, etc.
 Items can be placed into an unlimited number of categories
 Stats can be acquired based on each category to learn the
appropriate information that will assist in evaluating a new
curriculum.

6. HOW TO CATEGORIZE QUESTIONS
 Questions can be easily categorized when the question is
being created in ExamSoft
 Questions that have already been created and used in
assessments can be categorized as well
 Statistical analyses of these questions can be done retroactively
 Categories will be pre-made, which will allow question
creators to simply click on the categories and add them for
each question
 Categories work as a folder structure if needed

7. WHY CATEGORIZE? – RATIONALE/BENEFITS
 Can categorize questions by the new curriculum
objectives/competencies to ensure the appropriate material is covered
as an institution
 Provides insight on curricular integration and order
 Makes reporting on assessment content and how we assess students
much easier

8. WHY CATEGORIZE? – RATIONALE/BENEFITS
 Quantity of exam items from each discipline/class meeting
 Student preparedness boards/licensure examinations
 Content
 Style of question
 Question difficulty
 As with most curricular changes, many disciplines will see their
contact hours altered
 The impact of this can be lessened with how assessment items are utilized
 Most importantly – be flexible!
 Tweaks to your new curriculum will almost certainly need to be made, it is simply part
of the process.

10. OUR EXPERIENCES
 Consistently tag questions in the following categories:
 Bloom’s taxonomy level
 Overall subject matter
 Individual class meeting topic/major course themes
 Instructional method
 Instructor
 Review results throughout each course to gain a deeper
understanding of how to continually improve student outcomes
 If a specific areas produces sub-standard outcomes, it can be quickly
identified and remediated.
 Overall course and individual students

11. MOVING FORWARD
 Typically requires educational staff and faculty to
complete
 Each institution has their own unique strengths and
weaknesses
 Using internal assessment data will help specifically identify this information
 Compare with board/licensure scores
 Proactively improve curricular model/instruction

12. THANK YOU!!
Questions/comments?
dan.thompson@okstate.edu

13. For More Information:
Call: 1.866.429.8889
Email: info@examsoft.com
Visit: learn.examsoft.com