Assessment of medical courses in Brazil using student-completed questionnaires. Is it reliable?

Abstract

SUMMARY: Introduction:Debates about the quality of medical education have become more evident in the recent past, and as a result several different assessment methods have been refined for that purpose. The use of questionnaires filled out by medical students to assess the quality of lectures is one of the most common methods employed in our milieu. However, the reliability of this investigation method has not yet been systematically tested. The authors present the reliability of a specific form applied to the fourth grade medical students during the clinical psychiatry course.Method: Eighty-one fourth grade medical students were instructed to complete a form immediately after each clinical psychiatry lecture. Thirty-four students (42%) failed to turn in the forms after the final lecture. These students were given an identical form to assess the lectures in a retrospective fashion. The grades given by both groups of students for each performed lecture and the number of students who have graded an unperformed lecture were compared. Statistical significance for both groups was determined by means of the chi-square test (p< 0.05).Results: Eighteen out of the 34 students who filled out the forms retrospectively (53%) rated the unperformed lecture, whereas only 5 out of the 47 students who filled out the forms during the course (11%) did so. This is statistically significant (p< 0.05). There was no statistical difference for the grades given to the lectures that were actually performed.Discussion: The authors concluded the low reliability rate of the retrospective evaluation warrant a continuous assessment method during the course.

Individual class evaluation and effective teaching characteristics in integrated curricula

“…For course evaluation, it was only one category that was associated with students’ scores, but six categories in class evaluations were significantly related to class scores. This result is in line with that of a preliminary study that compared prospective class assessment and retrospective course assessment [ 15 ]. In the study, the researchers concluded that evaluation immediately after classes was higher than retrospective course evaluation in quality, since medical students could not remember and rate every class in course evaluation.…”

Development of teaching quality evaluation questionnaire for preclinical courses: an exploratory factor analysis

“…However, this study still has some limitations. First, the course evaluation was administered at the middle of a curriculum; however, some studies suggested that continuous assessment during the courses brings up higher reliability ratings rather than the retrospective evaluation [1,20]. Second, the questionnaire is collected from the view of students, but it should be also accessible to teachers.…”

Evaluation of training of trainers courses for Oromia (Ethiopia) health professional schools’ tutors*

“…The reliability of retrospective student‐completed questionnaires has recently been discussed by Peluso et al. (2000).…”