Implementation of formative assessment and its effectiveness in undergraduate medical education: an experience at a Caribbean Medical School.

Samprith Ala,Vishnupriyan Ilavarasan,Sateesh Babu Arja,Sireesha Bala Arja,Yogesh Acharya,Sabah Alezaireg

doi:10.15694/mep.2018.0000131.1

Abstract

Two types of assessments used in the medical education are summative and formative assessments. Summative assessments evaluate a student's learning progress and typically provide concrete grades or pass/fail decisions. The main purpose of the formative assessments is to provide the feedback and improve the learning behavior of the students. However, it is less known about the impact of the formative assessments on overall student's performance in summative assessments. This study is intended to study the effects after the implementation of formal formative assessments on students overall performance in summative assessments or any changes in the total grade point average in a Caribbean Medical School which is a low resource context. A longitudinal cohort study was conducted among the basic sciences students at AUSOM in May 2017. The study was supported by quantitative data, quantitative and qualitative questionnaires to address the objectives of the study. Data collected and analyzed with Stata (Stata 15). 58, among 67 total students took part in the study. The mean grade point average (GPA) with and without formative assessment was 2.83 (SD±.624745) and 2.29 (SD±.76575) respectively. There was a significant improvement in the overall GPA after the introduction of the formative assessments t (58) = 0.000567, p < .001. There was a significant improvement in the student's academic performance after the implementation of formative assessments. Formative assessments consolidate the learning and reinforce the learning behavior. It is necessary that formative assessments should be incorporated into the regular assessment system for the optimal educational output.

Highlights

This study was done at a Caribbean Medical School, Avalon University School of Medicine (AUSOM), Curacao which is offering four-year Doctor of Medicine (MD) program for bachelor’s graduates and 5-year premed/MD program for high school students
Research demonstrates that the combination of formative and summative assessments provides beneficial and long-lasting effects on learning in medical students (Juwah, C. et al 2004; Veloski, J. et al 2006; Celebi, N. et al 2009; Holmboe, J. et al 2010) It is effective in consolidating the learning such that global gains are made and reflected in other objective measurements such as grade point average
Proper assessment technique should be employed in the medical education to facilitate the learning process

Summary

Introduction

This study was done at a Caribbean Medical School, Avalon University School of Medicine (AUSOM), Curacao which is offering four-year Doctor of Medicine (MD) program for bachelor’s graduates and 5-year premed/MD program for high school students. The main purpose of the formative assessments is to provide the feedback and improve the learning behavior of the students. It is less known about the impact of the formative assessments on overall student’s performance in summative assessments. Summative assessments evaluate a student’s learning progress and typically provide concrete grades or other objective measures (Wallace, D. et al 2016). Formative assessments are used to reinforce the learning It focuses on providing the student with feedback on their performance to improve their skills (Cox, M. et al 2007), knowledge, and learning behavior

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Conclusion