An evaluation of the use of continuous assessment in the teaching of physiology

Abstract

The level of understanding achieved by a class of 160 lst-year medical students was assessed from their answers to exam questions related to a series of physiology lectures in which students were taught for conceptual understanding. Questionnaire data showed that about 90% of the class perceived the subject matter to be relevant.Information collected by interview from a sample of 30 students indicated that frequent summative assessment exerted a profound negative influence over their learning. Students adopted a surface reproductive approach aimed at passing the exams rather than at understanding the subject matter. Lectures failed to affect the way that students represented, structured and selected their knowledge, which remained encapsulated in the textbook context and was non-functional.Assessments comprised a high proportion of multiple-choice questions and emphasized low-level skills resulting in the establishment of a 'hidden curriculum'. Furthermore, the curriculum failed to provide appropriate opportunities for students to consolidate and internalize information presented in lectures. The students had inadequate abstract reasoning and integration skills and so were unable to ignore the 'hidden curriculum'.In the absence of high-level conceptual development students cannot apply theory to practice. It is argued that the early introduction of clinical experiences (in year-2) cannot promote effective integration between theory and practice and the development of an holistic attitude and heuristic thinking, when students lack prerequisite basic reasoning skills and do not know how to learn meaningfully.

Leveraging member expertise to improve knowledge transfer and demonstrability in groups.

“…In fact, some individual problem solvers would actually be expected to find themselves at a disadvantage in this condition. This is consistent with Bereiter's (1995) observation that knowledge transfer is often worst in those who need its benefits the most (i.e., poor problem solvers) and with similar observations from diverse fields of inquiry (Resnick, 1989;Tan, 1992). This prediction is also consistent with the findings of Gigerenzer and colleagues (Gigerenzer, 2004(Gigerenzer, , 2007Gigerenzer & Goldstein, 1996) that those less expert on a topic may be hindered in their performance by focusing on an information-processing approach rather than relying on their intuitions.…”

Effect of Open Note Quizzes on Community College Science Students Grades and Attrition Rates

“…Presumably, reinforcement of learning strategies the student has already fully mastered and applied will not improve their academic performance. Indeed, repeated quiz formats were shown to adversely affect learning in medical school students, where repetition of material apparently caused students to lose interest (Tan, 1992). Learning strategies that are unrealistically challenging are also unlikely to meet with success.…”

Influence of context and preferred learning environments: approaches to studying physiology

“…The findings confirm that surface approaches to learning are associated with perceived heavy work‐loads and fact‐testing assessments, and that learning tasks which induce anxiety and emphasize competition reinforce the use of the surface approach. Continuous assessment as practised by the Department of Physiology is nothing more than frequent examinations (Tan 1992).…”

“…In the present study, time spent on independent study and effort was not significantly related to academic performance, indicating that there is considerable confusion and loss of direction. Thus few students really know what an academic essay is supposed to be (Tan 1992). In the survey of first‐year medical students mentioned earlier, only 9% of the students felt that they were well prepared in terms of being able to write essays.…”