Wingate University, School of Pharmacy, Wingate, North Carolina.
Adv Physiol Educ. 2021 Sep 1;45(3):575-579. doi: 10.1152/advan.00065.2021.
Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) degree program curricula are typically comprised of heavy course loads and assessment burden. Typically, students "live" from exam to exam only preparing and studying for the exam directly ahead of them while neglecting concurrent courses. Therefore, the aim of the study was to determine the impact of weekly multicourse collective exams academic behaviors and learning in an integrated biological sciences (BSI) course within a PharmD program. Weekly multicourse exams included questions, four per credit hour, from all first semester courses that traditionally included summative exams. Seven courses contributed questions, which amounted to 15 weekly exams of ∼60 questions. No other graded assessments were given in any of the courses, other than individual course cumulative final exams; the final exams in each course were not collective. After completion of final exams, a Qualtrics survey was emailed to all students and the two professors teaching the course. Course grades, not including the final exam, were compared between two cohorts with or without the collective exams to determine impact on learning. The cumulative final exam was compared between cohorts to determine impact on retention. The majority of students agreed or strongly agreed that the weekly collective exams encouraged them to study BSI more frequently, most days of the week, reduced the likelihood of skipping class, and increased likelihood to pay attention and engage in class. The majority believed that they better learned and retained the BSI material. The majority specified that they liked the collective exams for BSI and preferred it over a traditional exam schedule. Learning also appeared to be improved. However, the impact on retention is less clear and requires further research. In conclusion, the weekly multicourse collective exams improved academic behaviors and learning.
药学博士（PharmD）学位课程的课程通常包括繁重的课程作业和评估负担。通常，学生们只能“活”在考试中，只为即将到来的考试做准备和学习，而忽略了同时进行的课程。因此，本研究旨在确定在 PharmD 课程的综合生物科学（BSI）课程中，每周多门课程的集体考试对学术行为和学习的影响。每周多门课程的考试包括来自传统上包含总结性考试的所有第一学期课程的四个学分每小时的问题。七个课程提供了问题，总共进行了 15 次每周考试，约有 60 个问题。除了个别课程的累计期末考试外，没有在任何课程中给予其他评分评估，每门课程的期末考试都不是集体考试。期末考试结束后，向所有学生和教授这门课程的两位教授发送了一份 Qualtrics 调查。将没有或没有集体考试的两个队列的课程成绩（不包括期末考试）进行比较，以确定对学习的影响。将两个队列的累积期末考试进行比较，以确定对保留率的影响。大多数学生同意或强烈同意每周的集体考试鼓励他们更频繁地学习 BSI，每周的大多数日子，减少逃课的可能性，并增加注意力和参与课堂的可能性。大多数人认为他们更好地学习和保留了 BSI 材料。大多数人表示，他们喜欢 BSI 的集体考试，并喜欢它胜过传统的考试时间表。学习似乎也有所提高。然而，保留率的影响不太明确，需要进一步研究。总之，每周多门课程的集体考试提高了学术行为和学习成绩。
