Department of Anatomy, Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre, PO Box 9101, 6500 HB, Nijmegen, the Netherlands.
Department of Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Health Technology Assessment, Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre, Nijmegen, the Netherlands.
Perspect Med Educ. 2012 Nov;1(4):180-191. doi: 10.1007/s40037-012-0027-y. Epub 2012 Sep 27.
In a previous study we demonstrated by a prospective controlled design that an interim assessment during an ongoing small group work (SGW) session resulted in a higher score in the course examination. As this reflects the so-called testing effect, which is supposed to be enhanced by feedback, we investigated whether feedback following an interim assessment would have an effect on the score of the course exam, and whether the effect is influenced by the gender of the student. During a General Pathology bachelor course all 386 (bio) medical students took an interim assessment on the topics cell damage (first week) and tumour pathology (fourth week). The intervention consisted of immediate detailed oral feedback on the content of the questions of the interim assessment by the tutor, including the rationale of the correct and incorrect answers. It concerned a prospective randomized study using a cross-over design. Outcome measures were: (1) the difference in the normalized scores (1-10) of the course examination multiple choice questions related to the two topics, (2) effect of gender, and (3) gender-specific scores on formal examination. The effect of feedback was estimated as half the difference in the outcome between the two conditions. Mixed-model analysis was used whereby the SGW group was taken as the study target. The scores of the questions on cell damage amounted to 7.70 (SD 1.59) in the group without and 7.78 (SD 1.39) in the group with feedback, and 6.73 (SD 1.51) and 6.77 (SD 1.60), respectively, for those on tumour pathology. No statistically significant effect of feedback was found: 0.02 on a scale of 1-10 (95 % CI: -0.20; 0.25). There were no significant interactions of feedback with gender. Female students scored 0.43 points higher on the formal examination in comparison with their male colleagues. No additional effect of immediate explicit feedback following an interim assessment during an SGW session in an ongoing bachelor course could be demonstrated in this prospective randomized controlled study. Gender analysis revealed a higher performance of female students on the formal examination, which could not be explained by the effect of feedback in the current study. In this particular learning environment, SGW, explicit feedback may have little added value to the interactive learning that includes implicit feedback.
在之前的一项前瞻性对照研究中，我们证明了在进行中的小组作业（SGW）课程中进行中期评估会导致课程考试成绩提高。由于这反映了所谓的测试效应，而反馈应该会增强这种效应，因此我们研究了中期评估后的反馈是否会对课程考试成绩产生影响，以及这种影响是否受到学生性别差异的影响。在一门普通病理学学士课程中，所有 386 名（生物）医学专业学生在第一周的细胞损伤和第四周的肿瘤病理学主题上进行了中期评估。干预措施包括导师对中期评估问题的内容进行即时详细的口头反馈，包括正确和错误答案的原理。这是一项使用交叉设计的前瞻性随机研究。主要观察指标为：（1）与这两个主题相关的课程考试多项选择题的标准化分数（1-10）的差异；（2）性别的影响；（3）正式考试的性别特异性分数。反馈的效果估计为两种情况下结果差异的一半。使用混合模型分析，将 SGW 组作为研究目标。细胞损伤问题的分数在没有反馈的组中为 7.70（SD 1.59），在有反馈的组中为 7.78（SD 1.39），而肿瘤病理学问题的分数分别为 6.73（SD 1.51）和 6.77（SD 1.60）。未发现反馈有统计学显著效果：在 1-10 的量表上为 0.02（95%CI：-0.20；0.25）。反馈与性别之间没有显著的相互作用。与男性同事相比，女性学生在正式考试中高出 0.43 分。在这项前瞻性随机对照研究中，没有证据表明在进行中的学士课程的 SGW 课程中进行的中期评估后进行即时明确反馈会产生额外效果。性别分析显示，女性学生在正式考试中的表现更高，但这不能用本研究中反馈的效果来解释。在这种特殊的学习环境中，SGW 中的明确反馈可能对包括隐性反馈在内的互动学习没有什么附加价值。
