Evaluation of Multiple Choice Questions Quality Trend as Structure and Taxonomy

Background: evaluation of multiple-choice questions is a strategic activity and the most effective tool in educational system and improvement. in this study, the quality of some indexes of multiple-choice exams in babol para medical faculty was investigated on the basis of structure and knowledge level distribution in the first semesters of 2007 and 2012. methods: the milman checklist was used for evaluating the structure quality of these questions. and these questions were also evaluated in terms of knowledge level in 3 taxonomies: 1. reminding, 2. perception and 3. applying. data analysis was performed by spss 16. results: more than 70% of these multiple-choice pre-tests contained structural flaws, while the errors decreased from 70% to 30% in post-test and this difference was statistically significant (p= 0.05). 83.9% and 79.5 % of these questions were located at taxonomy 1 in pre and post-tests, respectively. conclusion: the result showed that the structural quality of these questions had desirable improvement, but there was no significant difference in taxonomy shifts- from 1 to 2, and 3- in terms of knowledge level distribution. therefore, it is necessary to hold workshops in order to improve the quality of multiple-choice questions in terms of knowledge level distribution at university.