Student Interactions During Collaborative Group Testing

Abstract

We used collaborative group testing in a veterinary physiology course (65 students) to answer the following research questions: 1.‐ When students change their initial answer following the discussion, which students change; students with initial incorrect responses or students with initial correct responses?, and 2.‐ When is the discussion most effective; when students initially agree or disagree?. For the collaborative testing format, students answered questions in the traditional format as individuals. Immediately after completing the exam as individuals, students answered the same questions in groups of two, and finally, the same questions were discussed by the instructor and the students. We found that students with initial incorrect responses changed their answers more often than students with initial correct responses (OR: 7.58, P=0.001). Furthermore, student feedback is more beneficial when group members have different initial responses (P<0.05). Finally, when group members have different initial responses more students change to the correct answer than to the incorrect answer (77% vs. 23%, P<0.001). In conclusion, student discussion during collaborative group testing significantly enhanced student performance.