Literature Review on Student-led Workshop titled Enhancing Faculty Assessment Skills: Developing Quality MCQs and SAQs

Abstract

Background: Assessment literacy is a critical yet underdeveloped competency among faculty in health professions education, directly shaping the quality, validity, and reliability of tools used to measure student learning, particularly Multiple-Choice Questions (MCQs) and Short-Answer Questions (SAQs).

Objective: To examine current evidence on faculty assessment practices, with particular focus on principles of high-quality MCQ and SAQ construction, to establish the rationale for a student-led faculty workshop.

Methodology: A narrative review of literature published between 2021 and 2026 was conducted across Google Scholar, PubMed, ScienceDirect, and ERIC databases, using keywords related to assessment literacy, faculty development, and student-led learning.

Findings: The review identifies a persistent gap in structured faculty training for assessment design, inconsistent application of principles such as outcome alignment, cognitive-level targeting, plausible distractors, and standardized marking criteria, and limited institutional support for ongoing professional development. Collaborative, reflective, and practice-based workshops are effective at strengthening faculty assessment skills, while student-led and student-centered approaches offer additional benefits for engagement, critical thinking, and leadership development. Notably, few studies—especially within Pakistan and other developing countries—combine student-led facilitation with faculty assessment training in nursing and health professions education.

Conclusion: This gap underscores the rationale for the present student-led workshop, which aims to build faculty competency in developing high-quality MCQs and SAQs through a collaborative, evidence-informed approach