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Writing problems for "solution"

In the Pharmacology course, problems have been developed for purposes of evaluation. These problems present a limited set of data. Students are asked to provide suitable explanations for the data provided within a limited time. They are then asked to select their best explanation and either design experimental tests or suggest avenues for further exploration. In the third phase, the students are provided with more information and asked to reassess their original explanations and approaches. I include examples from two Pharmacology courses.

Writing such problems is tricky as, under pressure, students tend to misunderstand/ misread. I permit students to take the problems with them, which makes it difficult to re-use them for another year.