Original Research Article
Year: 2019 | Month: January | Volume: 6 | Issue: 1 | Pages: 176-182
A Study to Assess the Effects of Continuous Weekly Assessment along with Providing Feedback on the Final Performance in Examination of First MBBS Students in Physiology>
Dr. Arunima Chaudhuri1, Dr. Debasis Adhya2
1Associate Professor Department of Physiology, Rampurhat Government Medical College and Hospital (Affiliated to West Bengal University of Health Sciences), Rampurhat, West Bengal, India.
2Professor Department of Physiology, Burdwan Medical College and Hospital (Affiliated to West Bengal University of Health Sciences), Burdwan, West Bengal, India.
Corresponding Author: Dr. Arunima Chaudhuri
ABSTRACT
Background: Assessment and evaluation is a continuous activity in medical education which should be designed simultaneously with curriculum development. Aims: The present study was conducted to assess the effects of continuous weekly assessment along with providing feedback on the final performance of first MBBS students in examination in Physiology.
Materials and Methods: The study was conducted over a period of 2 years in the Department of Physiology at Burdwan Medical College and Hospital, West Bengal, India. This was an interventional study involving 300 students, who took a comprehensive internal assessment and final examination in Physiology in 2016 and 2017. The first MBBS students of batch 2015-16 (Group A) were exposed to weekly assessment which comprised of written tests. The questions were short answer type of structured questions and they were formulated by senior faculty members of the department. The topics on which the examinations were conducted were declared to the students one week ahead of the examinations so that they had time for their own preparation. All important and difficult topics were covered in these weekly examinations. The papers were corrected by the faculty members and residents and randomization of allocation of the answer sheet to the examiners were done using an online randomizer. A model answer was also prepared by the paper setter and it was distributed to all examiners. The examined papers were handed over to the students and the shortcomings were discussed in details by the teacher who had examined the papers. Two semester examinations were also conducted as per university guidelines and periodical tutorial classes were conducted as usual. The first MBBS students of batch 2016-17 (Group B) were not exposed to weekly assessment. Two semester examinations were also conducted as per university guidelines and periodical tutorials were conducted as usual. The computer software “Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 16 (SPSS Inc. Released 2007. SPSS for Windows, Version 16.0. Chicago, SPSS Inc.)” was used to analyze the data, P < 0.05* was considered as significant and P < 0.01** was considered as highly significant.
Results: This study was conducted in a time span of two years on three hundred students. Mean and SD value of age was 18.62± 1.28 years consisting of 2 batches of first MBBS students Group A and Group B. Learner satisfaction was high with an overall score of 4.8 on a 5-point Likert scale in Group A while in Group B it was 3.9. In written comments, students reported that repeated internal assessments with weekly feedback in small groups with faculty involvement provided a safe learning environment. They felt that weekly internal assessment was more effective than traditional methods of assessment. Faculty reported that students remained engaged and required minimal oversight. The Percentage of marks obtained by Group A in semester I was 65.26 + 12.67 and by Group B was58.69 + 10.45; P value <0.01. The Percentage of marks obtained by Group A in semester II was 76.24 ± 7.5 and by Group B was 65.3± 16.7; P value <0.01. The results demonstrated that Group A had a significantly better performance as compared to Group B in both the semester examinations.
Conclusions: The present study revealed a definite better performance of medical students in internal assessment and final summative examination in First MBBS Physiology examination with weekly regular examinations and feedback. Emphasis should also be laid upon the assessment of attitudes, communication skills, ethics and interpersonal skills in order to improve the level of performance in continuous assessments as well as in the final examinations of the undergraduate medial students.
Key words: Medical education, continuous internal assessment, feedback.
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