scholarly journals Making Progress: Introducing progress testing approaches to a single semester paramedic subject

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
James Thompson ◽  
Don Houston
Keyword(s):  
Medical Education ◽  
Student Performance ◽  
Student Perceptions ◽  
Assessment Practices ◽  
Student Knowledge ◽  
Progress Testing ◽  
Broad Agreement ◽  
Program Of Study ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Don't Know Responses

Abstract Abstract Background. Paramedicine is a rapidly evolving profession with continually increasing demands placed upon educating its future workforce. Ensuring graduates are adequately prepared places many expectations on the suitability and effectiveness of university assessment practices, in a discipline where summative credentialing has established traditions of use. Progress tests and programmatic assessment have growingly become common fixtures of medical education, offering longitudinal information about student knowledge, ability and progress, usually across an entire program of study. Methods. Our project explored the development, implementation and evaluation of progress testing in a single semester capstone undergraduate paramedic topic. We examined the changes in student performance between two MCQ tests spaced ten weeks apart, and performance in a final oral assessment based on the same test content. Student perceptions and experiences of these events were also evaluated. Results. 55% of students indicated it was common practice to guess answers in exams. After introducing of negative marking students achieved 40% mean correct answers on previously satisfied curriculum content in our test 1. Scores increased by 65% by test 2, with substantial declines in numbers of incorrect and don’t know responses. Conclusion. Our results demonstrate a substantial increase in correct responses between the two tests, a high mean score in the viva, and broad agreement about the significant impact the approaches have had on learning growth.

scholarly journals Programmatic assessment condensed: Introducing progress testing approaches to a single semester paramedic subject

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 195-211
Author(s):  
James Thompson ◽  
◽  
Donald Houston ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Student Performance ◽  
Choice Test ◽  
Assessment Practices ◽  
Student Knowledge ◽  
Programmatic Assessment ◽  
Progress Testing ◽  
Oral Assessment ◽  
Knowledge Requirements ◽  
Don't Know Responses ◽  
The University

The paramedic profession is rapidly evolving and has witnessed significant expansion in the scope of practice and the public expectations of the paramedic role in recent years. Increasing demands for greater knowledge and skills for paramedics has implications for the university programs tasked with their pre-employment training. The certification of paramedic student knowledge typically occurs incrementally across degree programs with aggregate results used to determine student qualification. There are concerns regarding learning sustainability of this approach. The narrowed focus of assessment practices within siloed subjects often neglects the more holistic and integrated paramedic knowledge requirements. Programmatic assessment is becoming increasingly common within medical education, offering more comprehensive, longitudinal information about student knowledge, ability and progress, obtained across an entire program of study. A common instrument of programmatic assessment is the progress test, which evaluates student understanding in line with the full broad expectations of the discipline, and is administered frequently across an entire curriculum, regardless of student year level. Our project explores the development, implementation and evaluation of modified progress testing approaches within a single semester capstone undergraduate paramedic topic. We describe the first reported approaches to interpret the breadth of knowledge requirements for the discipline and prepare and validate this as a multiple-choice test instrument. We examined students at three points across the semester, twice with an identical MCQ test spaced 10 weeks apart, and finally with an oral assessment informed by student’s individual results on the second test. The changes in student performance between two MCQ tests were evaluated, as were the results of the final oral assessment. We also analysed student feedback relating to their perceptions and experiences. Mean student correct response increased by 65 percent between test 1 and 2, with substantial declines in numbers of incorrect and don’t know responses. Our results demonstrate a substantial increase in correct responses between the two tests, a high mean score in the viva, and broad agreement about the significant impact the approaches have had on learning growth.

scholarly journals From Drug Literature Evaluation to Evidence-Based Medicine: Transforming the Focus of a First Year Pharmacy Curriculum

2016 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Shannon Reidt ◽  
Keri Hager ◽  
James Beattie ◽  
Amy Pittenger ◽  
Maureen Smith ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Student Performance ◽  
Student Perceptions ◽  
Evidence Based Medicine ◽  
Integrated Design ◽  
First Year ◽  
Evidence Based ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Pharmacy Curriculum ◽  
Based Medicine

This case study describes a longitudinal curricular sequence implemented to teach evidence-based medicine (EBM) skills. The longitudinal sequence is innovative in its approach, design, and assessment of EBM. This approach moves away from the conventional strategy of teaching drug information and drug literature evaluation as stand-alone courses and instead embraces the EBM Framework and its use in the context of authentic problem solving. The EBM Framework—Ask, Acquire, Appraise, and Apply—was used as the basis for defining seven EBM skills. These skills were targeted in the evidence-based, integrated design of 17 learning episodes delivered with eight faculty members through six courses in the first year. Student perceptions of relevance of EBM and performance on assessments and learning activities throughout the sequence suggest that integrating EBM across the first year of the curriculum is an effective strategy for teaching EBM skills. Three themes emerged from analysis of the data and experience, including the need for: a strong teaching team, a whole task approach with a focus on solving authentic problems, and care in interpreting the progression of assessments and patterns of student performance. Through instructor observations and peer review, the longitudinal sequence has been refined and has had an impact on the rest of the curriculum.   Type: Case Study

scholarly journals Does the Room Matter? Active Learning in Traditional and Enhanced Lecture Spaces

2016 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
pp. ar68 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jon R. Stoltzfus ◽  
Julie Libarkin
Keyword(s):  
Active Learning ◽  
Student Performance ◽  
Student Perceptions ◽  
Scale Up ◽  
Lecture Hall ◽  
Student Centered ◽  
Traditional Lecture ◽  
Quasi Experimental ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Based Instruction

SCALE-UP–type classrooms, originating with the Student-Centered Active Learning Environment with Upside-down Pedagogies project, are designed to facilitate active learning by maximizing opportunities for interactions between students and embedding technology in the classroom. Positive impacts when active learning replaces lecture are well documented, both in traditional lecture halls and SCALE-UP–type classrooms. However, few studies have carefully analyzed student outcomes when comparable active learning–based instruction takes place in a traditional lecture hall and a SCALE-UP–type classroom. Using a quasi-experimental design, we compared student perceptions and performance between sections of a nonmajors biology course, one taught in a traditional lecture hall and one taught in a SCALE-UP–type classroom. Instruction in both sections followed a flipped model that relied heavily on cooperative learning and was as identical as possible given the infrastructure differences between classrooms. Results showed that students in both sections thought that SCALE-UP infrastructure would enhance performance. However, measures of actual student performance showed no difference between the two sections. We conclude that, while SCALE-UP–type classrooms may facilitate implementation of active learning, it is the active learning and not the SCALE-UP infrastructure that enhances student performance. As a consequence, we suggest that institutions can modify existing classrooms to enhance student engagement without incorporating expensive technology.

scholarly journals BEYOND STUDENT PERCEPTIONS: ISSUES OF INTERACTION, PRESENCE, AND PERFORMANCE IN AN ONLINE COURSE

2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Anthony G. Picciano
Keyword(s):  
Student Performance ◽  
Student Perceptions ◽  
Research Literature ◽  
Online Course ◽  
Institutional Performance ◽  
Web Based ◽  
Performance Variables ◽  
Institutional Performance Measures ◽  
Sense Of Presence ◽  
And Performance

The research literature on Web-based learning supports the assumption that interaction is important for a successful course, yet questions exist regarding the nature and extent of the interaction and its effects on student performance. Much of the research is based on student perceptions of the quality and quantity of their interactions and how much they have learned in an online course. The purpose of this study is to examine performance in an online course in relationship to student interaction and sense of presence in the course. Data on multiple independent (measures of interaction and presence) and dependent (measures of performance) variables were collected and subjected to analysis. An attempt was made to go beyond typical institutional performance measures such as grades and withdrawal rates and to examine measures specifically related to course objectives.

Active physiology learning in a diverse class: an analysis of medical student responses in terms of sex, home language, and self-reported test performance

2012 ◽  
Vol 36 (2) ◽  
pp. 116-124 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan B. Higgins-Opitz ◽  
Mark Tufts
Keyword(s):  
Student Performance ◽  
Student Perceptions ◽  
Learning Strategies ◽  
Test Performance ◽  
Demographic Data ◽  
Home Language ◽  
Student Body ◽  
Student Responses ◽  
Challenges And Opportunities ◽  
And Performance

The student body at the Nelson R. Mandela School of Medicine (NRMSM) is very diverse, representing many cultures, religions, and languages. Research has shown that weakness in English can impact student performance. Recent studies have also highlighted sex-based differences in students' learning and listening styles. These factors pose both challenges and opportunities for teachers of physiology. Student presentations were incorporated for a number of years into the traditional didactic second-year medical physiology curriculum at the NRMSM. Feedback obtained about the perceived benefits of these presentations for the learning of gastrointestinal and endocrine physiology included demographic data pertaining to students' sex, home language, and self-reported performance in tests. Analysis of the 50-item questionnaire responses, obtained over a 2-yr period, provided some interesting insights. Student responses to the items differed significantly in 27 of the 50 items in the questionnaire, based on sex alone (22%), sex and home language (7%), home language alone (37%), performance alone (26%), and performance and home language (7%). Our analyses of student perceptions support the findings of other studies and show that factors such as sex, home language, and student performance can play an important role in the way students are motivated to learn. In designing active learning strategies, academics need to take into account the potential influences that might affect student learning in diverse, multicultural, and multilingual classes.

scholarly journals Comparing active learning techniques: The effect of clickers and discussion groups on student perceptions and performance

2018 ◽  
Vol 34 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ryan J. Walker ◽  
Brooke R. Spangler ◽  
E. Paige Lloyd ◽  
Bethany L. Walker ◽  
Peter M. Wessels ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Active Learning ◽  
Student Performance ◽  
Student Perceptions ◽  
Discussion Groups ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
Learning Techniques ◽  
Quasi Experimental ◽  
Secondary Analyses ◽  
Students Attitudes ◽  
And Performance

Instructors often implement technology-based active learning pedagogies, such as clickers, to maximise student engagement and facilitate learning outcomes. Despite the abundance of clicker research, no work has directly compared student performance as well as student perceptions of clickers to a distinct, non-technological active learning pedagogy. Using a mixed methods quasi-experimental design, the current research compared clickers to a collaborative active learning pedagogy, student discussion groups. As predicted, clickers were evaluated more favourably than discussion groups. Qualitative analysis of students’ open-ended evaluations augmented these quantitative findings. Secondary analyses suggested that student performance was equivalent for clicker and discussion sections. Together, these results suggest that incorporating clickers into introduction courses may improve students’ attitudes towards the instructor’s pedagogy without any negative consequences for performance.

scholarly journals Blending Formative and Summative Assessment in a Capstone Subject: 'It's not your tools, it's how you use them'

2017 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 5-18
Author(s):  
Don Houston ◽  
◽  
James N. Thompson ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Formative Assessment ◽  
Student Performance ◽  
Student Perceptions ◽  
Summative Assessment ◽  
Communication Process ◽  
Learning Assessment ◽  
Assessment Practices ◽  
Assessment Of Learning ◽  
Outcome Information ◽  
Professional Disciplines

Discussions about the relationships between formative and summative assessment have come full circle after decades of debate. For some time formative assessment with its emphasis on feedback to students was promoted as better practice than traditional summative assessment. Summative assessment practices were broadly criticised as distanced from the learning process. More recently discussions have refocused on the potential complementary characteristics of formative and summative purposes of assessment. However studies on practical designs to link formative and summative assessment in constructive ways are rare. In paramedic education, like many other professional disciplines, strong traditions of summative assessment - assessment ‘of’ learning - have long dominated. Communities require that a graduate has been judged fit to practice. The assessment redesign described and evaluated in this paper sought to rebalance assessment relationships in a capstone paramedic subject to integrate formative assessment for learning with summative assessment of learning. Assessment was repositioned as a communication process about learning. Through a variety of frequent assessment events, judgement of student performance is accompanied with rich feedback. Each assessment event provides information about learning, unique to each student’s needs. Each assessment event shaped subsequent assessment events. Student participants in the formal evaluation of the subject indicated high levels of perceived value and effectiveness on learning across each of the assessment events, with broad agreement also demonstrated relating to student perceptions for preparedness: ‘readiness to practice’. Our approach focused on linking assessment events, resulted in assessments providing formative communication to students and summative outcome information to others simultaneously. The formative-summative dichotomy disappeared: all assessment became part of communication about learning.

Oncology boot camp: A preparatory curriculum for advanced pharmacy practice experience students

2021 ◽  
pp. 107815522110191
Author(s):  
Bethannee Horn ◽  
Lyn Wells ◽  
Zachery Halford
Keyword(s):  
Student Perceptions ◽  
Pharmacy Practice ◽  
Boot Camp ◽  
Primary Objective ◽  
Comfort Level ◽  
Post Intervention ◽  
Student Knowledge ◽  
Survey Tool ◽  
Practice Experience ◽  
Drug Knowledge

Introduction The primary objective of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of an autonomous oncology boot camp on Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experience (APPE) student knowledge. Secondary objectives included assessing student perception of the virtual learning experience and overall comfort level with the material. Methods APPE students rotating through our institution between November 2019 and March 2020 were voluntarily enrolled in a 4-hour oncology-focused boot camp, which included five PlayPosit (Denver, CO, USA) interactive video lectures embedded with case-based application questions followed by one comprehensive web-based Quandary (Victoria, BC, Canada) action-maze case. Student learning was measured by a pre- and post-intervention exam. A web survey tool (Qualtrics, Provo, UT, USA) collected student perceptions evaluating their comfort with oncology-specific drug knowledge and APPE rotations tasks. Results Fifty students enrolled in the oncology boot camp, with 100% completing the pre- and post-intervention assessments. Overall, pre-intervention exam scores (mean: 55.4%, SD: 21.8%) improved by 23.2% following the boot camp (mean: 78.6%, SD: 19.2%; p < 0.001). Students performed better on all 10 exam questions, with 6 questions showing a statistically significant improvement (p < 0.05). Forty-five students (90%) completed the perception surveys. Of those, 93% agreed that it effectively reinforced important oncology knowledge, 91% supported the autonomous design, and 82% would recommend the oncology boot camp for future students. Conclusion The boot camp proved to be a beneficial educational tool that enhanced student knowledge and confidence in navigating common oncology concepts. Students valued the ability to independently complete the activities and supported its continuation.

scholarly journals The Influence of Video Format on Engagement and Performance in Online Learning

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 128
Author(s):  
Sergej Lackmann ◽  
Pierre-Majorique Léger ◽  
Patrick Charland ◽  
Caroline Aubé ◽  
Jean Talbot
Keyword(s):  
Student Performance ◽  
Cognitive Engagement ◽  
Emotional Engagement ◽  
Emotional States ◽  
Lecture Capture ◽  
Improved Performance ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Subject Experiment ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Video Format

Millions of students follow online classes which are delivered in video format. Several studies examine the impact of these video formats on engagement and learning using explicit measures and outline the need to also investigate the implicit cognitive and emotional states of online learners. Our study compared two video formats in terms of engagement (over time) and learning in a between-subject experiment. Engagement was operationalized using explicit and implicit neurophysiological measures. Twenty-six (26) subjects participated in the study and were randomly assigned to one of two conditions based on the video shown: infographic video or lecture capture. The infographic video showed animated graphics, images, and text. The lecture capture showed a professor, providing a lecture, filmed in a classroom setting. Results suggest that lecture capture triggers greater emotional engagement over a shorter period, whereas the infographic video maintains higher emotional and cognitive engagement over longer periods of time. Regarding student learning, the infographic video contributes to significantly improved performance in matters of difficult questions. Additionally, our results suggest a significant relationship between engagement and student performance. In general, the higher the engagement, the better the student performance, although, in the case of cognitive engagement, the link is quadratic (inverted U shaped).

scholarly journals 136 Reflections on the foundational scientific knowledge of undergraduate animal science students: a three-year study

2019 ◽  
Vol 97 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 79-79
Author(s):  
Lauren R Thomas ◽  
Jeremy G Powell ◽  
Elizabeth B Kegley ◽  
Kathleen Jogan
Keyword(s):  
Student Performance ◽  
Scientific Knowledge ◽  
Assessment Tool ◽  
Undergraduate Teaching ◽  
Experimental Unit ◽  
Student Knowledge ◽  
Animal Science ◽  
Muscle Foods ◽  
Assessment Scores ◽  
Percentage Points

Abstract In 2015, the University of Arkansas Department of Animal Science developed a strategy for assessing student-learning outcomes within its undergraduate teaching program. The first recognized outcome states that students will demonstrate foundational scientific knowledge in the general animal science disciplines of physiology, genetics, nutrition, muscle foods, and production animal management. Subsequently, a 58-item assessment tool was developed for direct assessment of student knowledge—focusing primarily on freshmen and senior students. Over the past 3 academic calendar years, 381 students (196 freshmen, 48 sophomores, 19 juniors, 113 seniors, 5 graduates) were assessed, either during an introduction to animal science course or by appointment with outgoing seniors majoring in animal science. Scores were categorized using demographic data collected at the beginning of the assessment tool. Comparison categories included academic class, major, and general student background (rural or urban). Data analysis were performed using the Glimmix procedure of SAS, with student serving as the experimental unit and significance set at P ≤ 0.05. Generally speaking, animal science majors performed better (P < 0.01) than students from other majors, and students with a rural background performed better (P < 0.01) than their urban-backgrounded peers. Overall, senior assessment scores averaged 23-percentage points greater (P < 0.01) than freshmen assessment scores, and the average scores for freshmen and seniors were 43% and 66% respectively. In regards to student performance within each discipline, there was an average improvement of 24 percentage points between freshmen and seniors in all of the measured disciplines except for muscle foods, which only saw a 10-percentage point improvement between the two classes. While the overall improvement in scores is indicative of increased student knowledge, the department would like to see greater improvement in all discipline scores for seniors majoring in animal science.

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