J Educ Eval Health Prof.  2016;13:5. 10.3352/jeehp.2016.13.5.

Varying levels of difficulty index of skills-test items randomly selected by examinees on the Korean emergency medical technician licensing examination

• Koh B
• Hong S
• Kim SS
• Hyun JS
• Baek M
• Moon J
• Kwon H
• Kim G
• Min S
• Kang GH

• KMID: 2413754
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.3352/jeehp.2016.13.5

Abstract

PURPOSE
The goal of this study was to characterize the difficulty index of the items in the skills test components of the class I and II Korean emergency medical technician licensing examination (KEMTLE), which requires examinees to select items randomly.
METHODS
The results of 1,309 class I KEMTLE examinations and 1,801 class II KEMTLE examinations in 2013 were subjected to analysis. Items from the basic and advanced skills test sections of the KEMTLE were compared to determine whether some were significantly more difficult than others.
RESULTS
In the class I KEMTLE, all 4 of the items on the basic skills test showed significant variation in difficulty index (P<0.01), as well as 4 of the 5 items on the advanced skills test (P<0.05). In the class II KEMTLE, 4 of the 5 items on the basic skills test showed significantly different difficulty index (P<0.01), as well as all 3 of the advanced skills test items (P<0.01).
CONCLUSION
In the skills test components of the class I and II KEMTLE, the procedure in which examinees randomly select questions should be revised to require examinees to respond to a set of fixed items in order to improve the reliability of the national licensing examination.

Keyword

Emergency medical technicians, Item; Korea, Licensure; Reliability

MeSH Terms

Emergencies*
Emergency Medical Technicians*
Humans
Licensure*

Reference

References

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2. National Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians. Paramedic national registry skills test [Internet]. Ohio (USA): NREMT;2015. [cited 2015 September 1]. Available from: https://www.nremt.org/nremt/about/reg_para_history.asp.

3. National Health Personnel Licensing Examination Board. EMT practical examination notice [Internet]. Seoul (KR): National Health Personnel Licensing Examination Board;2015. [cited 2015 September 1]. Available from: http://www.kuksiwon.or.kr/index.aspx.

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