All of the following are part of the mucosal layer of the digestive tract at the esophagus EXCEPT ________.
a. lamina propria
b. epithelial cells
c. muscularis externa
d. nonkeratinized stratified squamous cells
e. All are found in the mucosa of the esophagus
This question did not get revised. I used this exact question during a review session and roughly 90% of the students (roughly 40-50) got it wrong even though it is such a low level question. The correct answer is 'c'. The student responses were split between lamina propria and nonkeratinized stratified squamous cells. This really surprised me. The 4 main layers of the digestive tract at the esophagus are the mucosa, submucosa, muscularis externa, and the serosa. Within the mucosa there are epithelial cells (nonkeratinized stratified squamous cells are a form of the epithelial tissue found there), lamina propria, and the muscularis mucosae. It appears that the students are mistaking the muscularis externa for the musclaris mucosae. I think this question aligned nicely with both the Caldwell paper and the Beatty et al. paper in that it addresses a seemingly common misconception.
I'm wondering if your students maybe thought that this was a bit of a trick question since you say EXPECT in the question and that all are correct in one of the answers. I wondered if you had asked "What is the connection between the lamina propria, epithelial cells, muscularis externa, and nonkeratinized stratified squamous cells?" Or something like that, if they would have come to the correct answer. Although if you asked it two different ways and the majority still got it wrong, then you would know for sure that it was a content gap and not poor reading skills.
ReplyDeleteI think that the word expect makes the student feel that they must choose a definition. In addition, it is in capital letters which makes it very important. If I was a student in that class I would feel that I must make a choice between a-d and e is not even an option.
ReplyDelete