Dr. Armson: Professor, Department of Family Medicine; Assistant Dean, Office of Continuing Medical Education and Professional Development, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB; and Research Director, The Foundation for Medical Practice Education, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON; Dr. Roder: Research Program Coordinator, The Foundation for Medical Practice Education, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON; Dr. Wakefield: Professor Emeritus, Department of Family Medicine, McMaster University; and Senior Editor, The Foundation for Medical Practice Education, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON; and Dr. Eva: Professor and Director of Education Research and Scholarship, Department of Medicine; and Associate Director and Senior Scientist, Centre for Health Education Scholarship, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC.
J Contin Educ Health Prof. 2020 Fall;40(4):248-256. doi: 10.1097/CEH.0000000000000316.
Using assessment to facilitate learning is a well-established priority in education but has been associated with variable effectiveness for continuing professional development. What factors modulate the impact of testing in practitioners are unclear. We aimed to improve capacity to support maintenance of competence by exploring variables that influence the value of web-based pretesting.
Family physicians belonging to a practice-based learning program studied two educational modules independently or in small groups. Before learning sessions they completed a needs assessment and were assigned to either sit a pretest intervention or read a relevant review article. After the learning session, they completed an outcome test, indicated plans to change practice, and subsequently documented changes made.
One hundred twelve physicians completed the study, 92 in small groups. The average lag between tests was 6.3 weeks. Relative to those given a review article, physicians given a pretest intervention: (1) reported spending less time completing the assigned task (16.7 versus 25.7 minutes); (2) performed better on outcome test questions that were repeated from the pretest (65.9% versus 58.7%); and (3) when the learning module was completed independently, reported making a greater proportion of practice changes to which they committed (80.0% versus 45.0%). Knowledge gain was unrelated to physicians' stated needs.
Low-stakes formative quizzes, delivered with feedback, can influence the amount of material practicing physicians remember from an educational intervention independent of perceptions regarding the need to engage in continuing professional development on the particular topic.
在教育中，使用评估来促进学习是一项既定的优先事项，但它对继续专业发展的效果却各不相同。哪些因素调节了测试对从业者的影响尚不清楚。我们旨在通过探索影响基于网络的预测试价值的变量来提高支持维持能力的能力。
参加基于实践的学习计划的家庭医生独立或分组学习两个教育模块。在学习课程之前，他们完成了需求评估，并被分配参加预测试干预或阅读相关评论文章。在学习课程之后，他们完成了结果测试，表明计划改变实践，并随后记录所做的更改。
112 名医生完成了研究，其中 92 名医生参加了小组学习。两次测试之间的平均时间间隔为 6.3 周。与阅读评论文章的医生相比，接受预测试干预的医生：(1)报告完成任务的时间更少（16.7 分钟对 25.7 分钟）；(2)在重复的结果测试问题上表现更好（65.9%对 58.7%）；以及 (3)当独立完成学习模块时，报告做出了更多他们承诺的实践改变（80.0%对 45.0%）。知识的获得与医生的需求无关。
低风险的形成性测验，在提供反馈的情况下，可以影响执业医师从教育干预中记住的信息量，而与他们对特定主题继续专业发展的需求的看法无关。
