Impact of reusing question banks on test integrity and student learning

Abstract

Instructors are increasingly utilizing the convenience of computer-based testing to produce randomized versions of examinations to maintain assessment integrity. As preparing a sufficiently large bank of questions for examinations can be very demanding, instructors may be tempted to utilize the same question bank for both practice quizzes and examinations. However, as some of the questions could be exposed during practice, sharing banks would raise concerns about the integrity of the examination. This study developed a formula for calculating the expected integrity of an examination’s question bank and then used non-parametric statistical tests to analyze the benefits and risks of sharing question banks between assessments. The study found that sharing banks can still provide learning benefits without significantly impairing the authenticity of an examination. The study also showed that a bank’s integrity was not correlated with student performance, question exposure alone did not lead to improved performance, and learning from practice questions improved students’ examination performance.