Assessment of Question Quality in Education Courses at Colleges of Education in Gombe State, Nigeria

Abstract

The study conducted an appraisal on the quality of questions in education courses among the colleges of education in Gombe State. Six colleges of education were involved in the study, 1 federal, 2, state owned and 3 privately owned. The study population focused on the core education courses as prescribed by the National Commission for Colleges of Education (NCCE) for the general education program. Question quality assessment framework" (Q-OAF) was used to collect data. The inter-ratter reliability of the ratings was assessed using the Intra-class Correlation Coefficient (ICC) with a two-way random effects model. The ICC was calculated using the one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) model implemented in statistical software. The study revealed in many questions a lack of clarity and conciseness, potentially leading to confusion and misinterpretation among students. Questions are not consistently aligned with specific learning objectives and course content, suggesting a lack of clarity regarding what students should focus on. Questions do not effectively encourage students to integrate knowledge from various sources or synthesize information. Questions do not sufficiently emphasize clear communication skills or require well-structured arguments. The study made the following recommendations. In order to improve clarity and conciseness of examination questions. Lecturers are to use clear and concise language, avoiding jargon and complex sentence structures. They are to ensure that the questions are unambiguous and easy to understand. For improved focus and specificity in question design, educators must establish explicit connections between questions and specific learning objectives and course materials.