403 - Writing Nursing Test Questions
Prerequisites and Target Audience
There are no prerequisites to attend this seminar.
This web-based seminar is for all nursing educators who plan to develop nursing assessment content.
Purpose
The purpose of this course is to prepare educators to write assessment content (i.e., test items).
Learning Outcomes
The objectives of the course are as follows. Upon seminar completion, participants will be able to:
- Use item specifications to guide item development.
- Develop effective case scenarios.
- Can select the most useful item type for various cognitive and psychomotor tasks.
- Can develop effective item stems.
- Can develop effective response options.
- Can edit an item to increase usability and prevent bias and sensitivity issues.
- Can develop effective feedback for students providing incorrect responses.
Format
The NCLEX® Program Reports 403 Seminar contains 3 hours of lecture, discussion, and learning activities. Participants are expected to independently complete a 30-minute end-of-course assessment immediately after the seminar concludes.
Continuing Education
3.5 contact hours are awarded through the Alabama Board of Nursing (Provider Number ABNP1516) to all individuals completing the seminar and the end-of-course assessment.

Topics
The topics covered during the NCLEX® Program Reports 403 Seminar are:
- Working with Item Specifications
- The Universe of Relevant Cognitive & Psychomotor Tasks
- Sizing up an Item
- Anatomy of a Test Item
- Uses and Misuses of each Item Type
- Developing effective item stems
- Developing effective response options
- Developing effective case scenarios
- Developing items to assess higher levels of cognition
- Developing items to assess clinical decision making
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Developing NCLEX Items
- Writing items to the NCLEX Test Plan
- NGN Content Development
- Using style & format effectively
- Preventing Bias & Sensitivity Issues
- Key Validation
- Providing useful feedback to students