Adaptive Quizzing Improves End-of-Program Exit Examination Scores

Background A third of nursing schools use a standardized, end-of-program exit examination requiring minimum passing scores for student progression. Student failures on high-stakes tests have negative implications for students and schools of nursing. Adaptive quizzing has increased grades, graduation rates, and NCLEX-RN passing rates and reduced test anxiety in nursing students. Purpose To diminish the negative effects of high-stakes testing and increase standardized exit examination scores, an undergraduate nursing program incorporated customized adaptive quizzing for nursing students in their final nursing course before graduation. Methods End-of-program exit examination scores were compared in a preintervention cohort of students and postintervention cohort assigned individualized adaptive quizzing. Results Statistically significant increases in end-of-program exit examination scores were evident in groups of students completing the customized adaptive quizzing assignments. Conclusion The use of tailored adaptive quizzing increased exit examination scores, supporting the implementation of customized assignments for remediation.