The use of excel spread sheet and printer in marking medical science objective questions: An alternative to manual marking method

Background: Multiple-choice question (MCQ) is an effective form of written assessments for knowledge acquisition. Optical mark reading scanner is used for grading MCQs. Major setback in the use of scanner is the cost of acquiring it. Consequently, several manual methods such as conference making and stencil overlay are used to mark MCQ. This paper highlights the use of Microsoft Excel Spreadsheet and printer to mark MCQ and compares the method with other manual methods of marking. Materials and Methods: Five sets of 100 stems of objective questions (true or false, one in five, and matching types) were administered to students. Answer script was designed using Excel Spreadsheet. Three groups of marking were done: directly on the question paper, use of stencil for marking on the answer script, use of Microsoft Excel soft copy. At the end of the marking process, mean marking time, mean collation time, mean counting time, and mean marking error were collated and compared. The instant computer statistical software was used to calculate means, standard deviations, and ANOVA.A P < 0.05 was regarded as statistically significant. Results: Results showed a statistically significant low mean marking time of 0.68 h (P < 0.0001) for the spreadsheet/printer marking method. Marking error was significantly low with this method (P < 0.001) as compared with other manual marking methods. The collation time and counting time were not significantly different across the groups. Conclusion: It is concluded that Excel Spreadsheet and printer marking method significantly reduced marking time and marking errors in marking MCQs.