Comment on: creating assessments as an active learning strategy: what are students’ perceptions? A mixed methods study

Autor: Karri L. Grob, Seetha U. Monrad, Michael A. Lourie, Josh Kurtz, Elizabeth E Holman
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2020
Předmět:
Adult
Male
Educational measurement
Medicine (General)
Students
Medical

020205 medical informatics
Writing
media_common.quotation_subject
MEDLINE
02 engineering and technology
Likert scale
Education
Young Adult
03 medical and health sciences
0302 clinical medicine
R5-920
Perception
active learning
Quantitative research
0202 electrical engineering
electronic engineering
information engineering

Humans
030212 general & internal medicine
Letter to the Editor
Qualitative Research
Multiple choice
media_common
lcsh:LC8-6691
lcsh:R5-920
Medical education
lcsh:Special aspects of education
LC8-6691
General Medicine
Problem-Based Learning
quantitative research methods
curriculum development/evaluation
Focus group
Special aspects of education
Problem-based learning
Active learning
Female
Educational Measurement
Qualitative research methods
multiple-choice questions
lcsh:Medicine (General)
Psychology
Qualitative research
Research Article
Zdroj: Medical Education Online, Vol 25, Iss 1 (2020)
Medical Education
Medical Education Online, Vol 24, Iss 1 (2019)
ISSN: 1087-2981
Popis: Background: Teaching students how to create assessments, such as those involving multiple-choice questions (MCQs), has the potential to be a useful active learning strategy. In order to optimize students’ learning, it is essential to understand how they engage with such activities. Objective: To explore medical students’ perceptions of how completing rigorous MCQ training and subsequently writing MCQs affects their learning. Design: In this mixed methods exploratory qualitative study, eighteen second-year medical students, trained in MCQ-writing best practices, collaboratively generated a question bank. Subsequently, the authors conducted focus groups with eight students to probe impressions of the process and the effect on learning. Responses partially informed a survey consisting of open-ended and Likert rating scale questions that the remaining ten students completed. Focus group and survey data from the eighteen participants were iteratively coded and categorized into themes related to perceptions of training and of collaborative MCQ writing. Results: Medical students felt that training in MCQ construction affected their appreciation for MCQ examinations and their test-taking strategy. They perceived that writing MCQs required more problem-solving and content-integration compared to their preferred study strategies. Specifically, generating plausible distractors required the most critical reasoning to make subtle distinctions between diagnoses and treatments. Additionally, collaborating with other students was beneficial in providing exposure to different learning and question-writing approaches. Conclusions: Completing MCQ-writing training increases appreciation for MCQ assessments. Writing MCQs requires medical students to make conceptual connections, distinguish between diagnostic and therapeutic options, and learn from colleagues, but requires extensive time and knowledge base.
Databáze: OpenAIRE