Exam Failure Research Articles

Development of a recommendation engine for university study programme selection: A regression-based approach

This paper is the third in a series focused on bridging the gap between secondary and higher education. Our primary objective is to develop a robust theoretical framework for an innovative e-business model called the Undergraduate Study Programme Search System (USPSS). This system considers multiple criteria to reduce the likelihood of exam failure or the need for multiple retakes, while maximizing the chances of successful program completion. Testing of the proposed algorithm demonstrated that the Stochastic Gradient Boosted Regression Trees method outperforms the current method used in Lithuania for admitting applicants to 47 educational programs. Specifically, it is more accurate than the Probabilistic Neural Network for 25 programs, the Ensemble of Regression Trees for 24 programs, the Single Regression Tree for 18 programs, the Random Forest Regression for 16 programs, the Bayesian Additive Regression Trees for 13 programs, and the Regression by Discretization for 10 programs.

Encountering Bias: Examining Biases and Stereotypes in the Evaluation Process Among Expert Psychologists During Specialization Exams.

The study of cognitive biases in job interviews has garnered significant attention due to its far-reaching implications for the economy and society. However, little research has focused on the biases exhibited by expert psychologists serving on psychology specialization examination committees. As such, this study has conducted a comprehensive examination of biases within the specialization exam in Israel. One additional objective of the research is to assess the levels of distress experienced by examinees following the examination. Questionnaires were administered to 418 psychologists participating in the clinical and educational psychology specialization exams. The findings unveiled several noteworthy outcomes. Firstly, several biases were identified, including ethnic stereotypes, biases stemming from cognitive load, and more. Secondly, examinees who presented a cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) case experienced a higher failure rate. Thirdly, a positive association was found between exam failure and personal distress and this effect was stronger for educational examinees compared to clinical examinees. The most intriguing discovery was that all biases, without exception, occurred among clinical psychologists, whereas educational psychologists displayed no biases. This outcome contrasted with initial expectations. Consequently, the present study aims to expand the existing knowledge about psychological biases and stereotypes by elucidate the reasons behind this discrepancy between the two disciplines while considering the advantages and disadvantages associated with a sense of "expertise" in the realm of adult diagnostics.

Evaluating the referred students’ coaching programme through student surveys

Background: Students completing a healthcare degree can experience difficulties, both academic and non-academic. Early intervention for struggling students may present an opportunity for remediation. Students may be coached in academic performance, clinical communication, values-based learning and development of professional identity. The referred students’ coaching programme at the University of Birmingham is a unique offering, encompassing eight different healthcare programmes. Referrals can be triggered by academic performance and ‘concern forms’ by stakeholders. Concerns by referrers include exam failure, performance anxiety, lack of confidence, poor team and/or patient/public communication or inadequate self-presentation as well as issues with attitudes/values, study methods, organisation, writing, language, motivation and conduct. Each student referred to the programme receives a bespoke coaching service. Sessions may include role play, narrative reflection, review and revision of academic work, structured feedback and signposting of resources. Methods and analysis: A qualitative evaluation is carried out of students referred to the Interactive Studies Unit at the University of Birmingham for coaching support with language, communication and professional development. This evaluation explores the experiences of referred students via qualitative surveys. The results are examined using thematic analysis and corpus linguistics. There is a minimum target of 15 participants. Dissemination: The findings will be published and shared internally for training and internal process improvement purposes.

Prediction of general practice licensure/certification examination performance by a measure of 'questionable' activities in clinical practice: a retrospective cohort study.

'Low-value' clinical care and medical services are 'questionable' activities, being more likely to cause harm than good or with disproportionately low benefit relative to cost. This study examined the predictive ability of the QUestionable In Training Clinical Activities Index (QUIT-CAI) for general practice (GP) registrars' (trainees') performance in Australian GP Fellowship examinations (licensure/certification examinations for independent GP). The study was nested in ReCEnT, an ongoing cohort study in which Australian GP registrars document their in-consultation clinical practice. Outcome factors in analyses were individual registrars' scores on the three Fellowship examinations ('AKT', 'KFP', and 'OSCE' examinations) and pass/fail rates during 2012-21. Analyses used univariable and multivariable regression (linear or logistic, as appropriate). The study factor in each analysis was 'QUIT-CAI score percentage'-the percentage of times a registrar performed a QUIT-CAI clinical activity when 'at risk' (i.e. when managing a problem where performing a QUIT-CAI activity was a plausible option). A total of 1265, 1145, and 553 registrars sat Applied Knowledge Test, Key Features Problem, and Objective Structured Clinical Exam examinations, respectively. On multivariable analysis, higher QUIT-CAI score percentages (more questionable activities) were significantly associated with poorer Applied Knowledge Test scores (P = .001), poorer Key Features Problem scores (P = .003), and poorer Objective Structured Clinical Exam scores (P = .005). QUIT-CAI score percentages predicted Royal Australian College of General Practitioner exam failure [odds ratio 1.06 (95% CI 1.00, 1.12) per 1% increase in QUIT-CAI, P = .043]. Performing questionable clinical activities predicted poorer performance in the summative Fellowship examinations, thereby validating these examinations as measures of actual clinical performance (by our measure of clinical performance, which is relevant for a licensure/certification examination).

Causes of Suicides in Pakistan

Background: Suicide is a complex phenomenon that involves social, cultural, biological, psychological, and environmental factors. Pakistan is a low-income Muslim country, in which suicide cases have increased in recent years. Aim: Our review focuses on the causes of suicide in Pakistan. Methodology: A systematic review was done to find out about the causes of suicide in Pakistan. Databases like PubMed, Google Scholar, and Science Direct were searched using keywords like “suicide”, “suicide attempt”, “etiology”, “causes”, and “Pakistan”. A total of 208 articles were screened out of which only 7 met our inclusion criteria. The rest were excluded because the data wasn’t of Pakistan or wasn’t just limited to Pakistan, Qualitative data were extracted from these articles and were tabulated and exposed to the major causes of suicide in Pakistan. Results: Systematic review was conducted to find out about the causes of suicide in different age groups, genders, and regional groups. The majority of suicides were linked to domestic problems. Most suicide attempts were done by females, married people, and youth, indicating the strong association of gender bias, family disputes, and depression, with suicide. Mental health problems, unemployment and prolonged illnesses, and low income also contributed a great deal to suicide. Other causes like social injustice, failure in love, failure in exams, bullying, and sexual abuse were also there. There is a need for greater attention and in-depth studies to elaborate on causative mechanisms for these public health issues. Conclusions: The most common reasons that compel an individual to take his/her own life are depression/mental illness, socioeconomic conditions, domestic violence and disputes, unemployment, and some major failure in life.

Admission Factors and Academic Achievements Associated with the Risk of Grade Retention and National Exam Failure in the School of Dentistry

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the risk factors associated with grade retention and national exam failure in the school of dentistry.Methods: The subjects of this study were students who enrolled at the school of dentistry from 2013-2017. Univariable and multivariable analyses were examined through logistic regression analysis. The potential contributing factors of grade retention and national exam failure include: graduated high school, graduated college, major, admission score, admission type, decision type, gender, age at the time of admission, and dental school Grade Point Average(GPA).Results: Higher dental school score correlated with lower risk of grade retention or failing national exam, but undergradu-ate GPA was not related to the risk of national exam failure. Older students and specific admission types had higher risk of repeating school year.Conclusion: It's important to provide focused guidance for high-risk students, especially those with average of dental school score below 80, to prevent grade retention or national exam failure. Developing a student achievement monitoring system can help prevent grade retention or national exam failure.

Identification of Causes of Enrolment Gap From Nursery to 5th Class in Pakistan: A Case Study of District Rahim Yar Khan

The study was designed to identify the Causes of the Enrolment Gap from Nursery to 5th Class in district Rahim Yar Khan. The population of the study was all teachers of Govt boys and girls’ primary schools of District Rahim Yar Khan. The total sample was 720 Primary teachers of 360 Govt. Primary Schools of 90 Clusters of District Rahim Yar Khan. The filled questionnaires were received from 598 teachers. So the rate of responses was 83%. Further, mean and accumulative mean scores were calculated and compared and results were drawn. Further enrolment gaps were identified from enrolment sheets. According to respondents' failure in exams, unavailability of learning materials, and lack of financial resources are the main causes of enrolment gaps. There is a need to implement plans and Policies at the Primary level.

Rural adolescents schooling, skills learning-economic development for their own and community health and development

Background: Adolescents should be studying, have socio-cultural development, economic sufficiency is essential. But in remote, rural regions, there are many school drop-outs because of various reasons with possibilities of sequalae which affect health, development and wellbeing. Methods: After Institute’s Ethics Committees’ approval descriptive study was conducted in 100 villages to collect information from adolescents/young, 14-25, years neither studying nor working, as per objectives, 1046 study subjects. divided into, 14-17 years, 18-21 years, and 22-25 years. Results: Of 1046 study subjects, 717 (68.54%) were girls/ women 29.72% of 14-17 years, 32.35% of 18-21 years 37.93% of 22-25 years, 45 (6.27%) illiterates, 28.17% dropped at primary school. Reasons for dropouts included care of siblings, work in farms, household work. Total 693 of 1046 wanted to learn stitching. The 329 (31.46) boys/men, 30.30% 14-17 years old, 32.21%, 18-21 years, 37.99% 22-25 years 21 (6.38%) males were illiterate, 37.38% dropouts at primary level due to poverty, lack of interest, failure in examinations. Reasons for dropouts included work in farms; work at other places, household work. When asked about desires for skills learning, 1st choice of most of girls/women boys/ men was stitching second choice beauty parlour. Conclusions: Some adolescents/young were illiterate, many school dropout at primary level, more females married. Lack of support from family, poverty, care of sibling, infrastructure, lack of interest in education, repeated failure in exams, were reasons for drop outs. Most were interested in tailor’s job/beautician. They lacked vision of many possibilities.

Reasons and Patterns of Self-Poisoning Among Adult Females in Bangladesh

Background: Suicide is a prevalent cause of unnatural death in Bangladesh and a long-standing social concern. Self-poisoning is a frequently observed method of suicide in this area. Domestic abuse, stalking, eve-teasing, physical and sexual assault, demands for dowry, failure in exams, and romantic disappointments were prominent reasons for suicide among Bangladeshi females. Aim of the Study: The purpose of the study was to assess the reasons and patterns of self-poisoning among adult females in Bangladesh. Method: This descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out from January 2016 to June 2016 at the Department of Medicine, Dhaka Medical College Hospital, Dhaka, Bangladesh. This study relied on 100 adult female self-poisoning patients as study participants. MS Excel and the SPSS version 23.0 application were used to handle the research. Result: The participants' average age was 28.19±9.84 years. Most were from rural areas (62%), 75% were Muslims, 55% were from joint families, and the role of 'housewife' (30%) was the most common job. Family disharmony was the reported reason for self-poisoning in more than one-third (35%) of our participants, while romantic disappointment accounted for 27% of the cases, both notable ratios. Additionally, 8% cited education-related issues, 12% mentioned misunderstandings with parents, 9% attributed self-poisoning to poverty, 5% to chronic illness, and 4% to various other reasons. Conclusion: Among adult females in Bangladesh, family disharmony and romantic disappointment are the most common reasons for self-poisoning. Additionally, education-related issues, misunderstandings with parents, poverty, and chronic illness are also cited as contributing factors for incidents of self-poisoning.

A phenomenological exploration of the feedback experience of medical students after summative exam failure

BackgroundPreventing medical students entering cycles of underperformance following assessment is a priority due to the consequences for the student, faculty, and wider society. The benefits from feedback may be inadequately accessed by students in difficulty due to the emotional response evoked by examination failure. This study aims to explore medical students’ experiences of receiving feedback after summative assessment failure and investigate the role of emotions on motivation for learning after underperformance, to better support remediation and preparation for future assessments.MethodsThis study used interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) to explore the experiences of four medical students who failed summative assessments. Additionally, a content analysis was conducted using Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC) to investigate the characteristics and use of language to describe their emotional response.ResultsAnger, fear, anxiety, and sadness were emotions frequently experienced after examination failure. These emotions led to feelings of mistrust of the medical school and subsequent distrust in the university’s assessment processes, impacting on the desire to engage with feedback. There was dissonance between the students' perceptions of what feedback should provide and what benefit feedback provided after summative assessments. The linguistic inquiry further confirmed an initial (and sometimes long lived) negative affective state after experiencing failure, and a barrier to engagement with remediation when not effectively managed.ConclusionsA range of emotions, directed at themselves and the medical school are experienced by students following exam failure. These emotions lead to a range of negative feelings and responses that affect how students make sense of and move on from the failure experience. There is a need for educators to better understand and support students to manage, reflect and contextualise their emotional responses, minimise external attribution and to enable focus on remediation and learning.

Crisis Management skills For International Medical Graduates

Crisis management is based on clarity, commitment, consistency and confidence. Strategy of Crisis intervention involves awareness, promoting compassion and implementing orders. The assessment crisis Intervention trauma model consists of assessing the affected person, establishing a relationship, understanding the problem, providing emotional support, exploring coping strategies, implementing a plan, and following up. The most common personal crisis can be a failure in exam , switching from one profession to the other, financial crisis, changing your native city or country, loss of a loved one, natural disaster or health crisis. Thinking about the crisis as a learning opportunity to become stronger through coping strategies and personal growth.

Assessment of Test Anxiety and its Correlation with Academic Performance among Undergraduate Students

Globally, around one in every three medical students suffer from anxiety. Test anxiety is a physical, mental and emotional reaction to threat of failure in exams and consists of worry and perception as components and it may lead to poor academic performance. Objective: To assess the level of test anxiety and its correlation with academic performance among undergraduate students. Methods: This cross-sectional analytical study was conducted from 1st September to 15th December, 2022 with purposive sampling technique to collect the data from the undergraduate students at Sohail University, Karachi. Westside Test Anxiety Scale questionnaire was used. Data were analyzed by using SPSS version 22.0. Descriptive statistics, Mann Whitney and Spearman’s correlation were measured. Results: 44% of the participants were male, 94% were single, 50% were nursing students and 57.5% were 1st and 2nd year undergraduate students. Majority of the respondents (70.5%) were suffering from high to extremely high-test anxiety whereas (17.5 %) participants had mild to moderate level of anxiety. The significant association was found between test anxiety and study program (p-value 0.021). The weak reciprocal correlation coefficient was found between academic performance and test anxiety (r = -.473). Conclusions: Findings of this study suggest that 88% of undergraduates had high to extremely high-test anxiety. A significant link between the study program and level of anxiety and a significant correlation were also found between academic performance and test anxiety. The causes and contributing elements of anxiety must be addressed. The test anxiety puts the undergraduates on high risk for learning deficits and unhealthy consequences.

Distressing testing: A propensity score analysis of high-stakes exam failure and mental health.

This study used rich individual-level registry data covering the entire Norwegian population to identify students aged 17-21 who either failed a high-stakes exit exam or who received the lowest passing grade from 2006 to 2018. Propensity score matching on high-quality observed characteristics was utilized to allow meaningful comparisons (N = 18,052, 64% boys). Results showed a 21% increase in odds of receiving a psychological diagnosis among students who failed the exam. Adolescents were at 57% reduced odds of graduating and 44% reduction in odds of enrolling in tertiary education 5 years following the exam. Results suggest that failing a high-stakes exam is associated with mental health issues and therefore may impact adolescents more broadly than captured in educational outcomes.

Predictors of Students' Performance in Nursing and Midwifery Technician Licensure Examination in Southern Malawi.

Success in the nursing and midwifery licensure examination is the only legal prerequisite to practice as a nurse and midwife in Malawi. However, the past decade has registered poor performance of students in Nursing and Midwifery Technician (NMT) licensure examinations for candidates who failed on the first attempt. The study sought to unravel whether students' socio-demographic and academic characteristics could predict NMT licensure examination performance on the first attempt. We conducted a quantitative ex post facto using stratified random sampling. We reviewed 280 former NMT licensure exam candidate records from 2013 to 2017 with a study population of 2,668 NMTs. We reported descriptive statistics and used Chi-square / Fisher's exact test and logistic regression to determine the significance of associations and predictors respectively. We found that the NMT licensure examination could be predicted by students' academic characteristics, especially entry Malawi School Certificate of Education (MSCE) point scores [p < 0.001, OR 0.830, 95% CI (0.771-0.892)], and exit college final scores [p < 0.001, OR 1.214, 95% CI (1.131-1.303)]. We established that students' socio-demographic characteristics like age [χ2 (2, N =280) =13.143, p < 0.001], and marital status [χ2 (1, N = 280) = 5.645, p = 0.018] were significantly associated with NMT licensure examination performance but were not predictors of NMT licensure examination outcome. Furthermore, we did not find any association between NMT licensure examination performance and the sex of the students [χ2 (1, N = 280) = 0.523, p = 0.470]. NMT licensure examinations performance predictors are academic variables like entry MSCE and exit college final scores. Consequently, teaching institutions should frame relevant admission criteria, and timely support the students at risk of failure in licensure exams.

An evaluation of The Social Prescribing Scheme Pilot for International Medical Graduate GP Trainees in Yorkshire and the Humber.

IMG's experience disproportionally worse outcomes in GP Specialty Training when compared to their peers.1 This disparity in outcomes is not explained by any single identifiable trainee factor such as the academic ability, or trainee motivation and is called Differential Attainment.2Woolfe et al (2016) found factors such as lack of autonomy about the geographical location of work, combined with poor work-life balance can leave trainees unsupported, isolated, and vulnerable to anxiety, depression and other mental health conditions 3 coupled with potential stigma of supplementary help, anxiety about the increased probability of exam failure, visa difficulties and costs, all impact on the trainees' chances of progressing through training. 3 AIM: An evaluation of The Social Prescribing Scheme Pilot for International Medical Graduate GP Trainees in Yorkshire and the Humber. The data collected was readily available from the social prescribing team. They held data on how many trainees used the scheme, for what reasons and outcomes from their meetings. The IMG GP Trainees are engaging with the service, and asking for help with complex issues, including mental health, and visa queries. Of the 33 referrals, 21% of requests have been for accommodation issues, 18% for childcare issues and 11% for mental health issues. The Pilot scheme has met all short-term outcomes and all available trainee feedback (limited) has been excellent. Human factors such as accommodation and financial worries can have a huge impact on trainees' wellbeing and progression and should not be underestimated.

The land of the fee: the effect of Baden-Württemberg's tuition fees on international student outcomes

ABSTRACT Despite the increasing number of students learning abroad, little is known about the way international students migrate and how policies influence their decision. This article evaluates one German state's recent policy to charge international students for tuition, while tertiary education remains free elsewhere. For my difference-in-differences analysis, I collect and combine publicly available records for German higher education institutions since 1998. I find that the international enrollment rate decreases by 2 percentage points at treated institutions, driven by African and Asian students. In contrast to state government motivations, I find no evidence for a short-term decrease in exam failure rates.

Prevalence of research-related anxiety among students of Allied Health Sciences

Background: Anxiety is one of the most common mental disorders. Although being detrimental, it is less researched upon than depression. While research is an essential component of medical education, it is also unfamiliar to undergraduate medical students. Therefore, research at the undergraduate level has been shown to cause anxiety among students. Objective: To determine research-related anxiety among allied Health Sciences students. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in which a sample of 150 undergraduate students was selected on the basis of inclusion (no past history of mental illness, no traumatic incident in past 6 months and allied health sciences student from final year) and exclusion (traumatic incident in past 3 months, failure in recent major exam) criteria. The participants after signing the informed consent were recruited in the study through a non-probability convenient sampling technique. The data was collected using the Generalized Anxiety Disorder scale (GAD-7 scale). Data were analyzed through SPSS version 21. Results: In this study, 150 undergraduate students participated in the study. Results showed that out of the 150 students, 90 (60%) had mild anxiety related to research, 32(21%) students had moderate-level anxiety, and 28(18%) students had severe anxiety. Conclusion: According to the results of this study, the majority of students in their final year or semester experienced mild levels of research related-anxiety.

Building a student learning-focused assessment and grading system in dental school: One school's experience.

As health professions education moves toward competency-based education, there has been increased focus on the structure of assessment systems that support student competency development and learning. This has been buoyed by a growing body of research supporting assessment for learning processes to promote student growth and learning rather than relying on assessment systems primarily to measure performance. This paper presents the rationale and evidence for moving to an assessment for learning system and the results of a quasi-experimental interrupted time series study using data from 2015 to 2022 to evaluate the impacts of these changes. Columbia University College of Dental Medicine faculty voted to implement assessment for learning system changes beginning in 2017 with the graduating class of 2021. These changes included moving from using a grading system for didactic courses with Honors, Pass, and Fail as available grades to a grading system with only Pass and Fail as available grades, as well as creating synthesis and assessment weeks, weekly problem sets, post-exam review sessions, exam remediation opportunities, and formative progress exams throughout the curriculum. The revised assessment and grading system changes were communicated to residency program directors, and programmatic competency data about student performance across the curriculum were shared with programs in Dean's Letters. Once assessment system changes were implemented, it was found that student exam failure rates were lower, course exam scores were the same or higher, and performance on board exams improved compared to the national average. Students reported positive perceptions with regard to well-being and learning climate that they associated with the adoption of Pass/Fail grading. Match outcomes, including student satisfaction and program director ratings, have remained consistently positive. As dental educators, our goal is to nurture students to become life-long learners. Adopting a grading structure that is Pass/Fail and an assessment system that fosters learning allows students to shape learning practices that favor long-term retention and application of information, also enhancing the learning environment and student well-being. These system changes may also facilitate the inclusion and support of students whose backgrounds are underrepresented in dentistry.

Analytical Study of Suicidal Deaths in Female Reproductive Age Groups, Based on Autopsies Conducted in GGH, Mortuary

Suicidal death is nothing but ending one’s own life, which is the most daunting human tragedies and a seriouspublic health problem. As for NCRB the suicide rate has increased from 6.2% (2020) to 7.2% (2021).This study takes100 cases retrospectively for the duration of 6 months. All suicidal deaths postmortem examinations are donein the reproductive age group females from April 2022 to September 2022. Those deaths occurred on the spot,or in the GGH Guntur, while undergoing treatment. The distribution of cases based on age, geographical area,marital status, educational status, place of occurrence, history of previous attempt of suicide, hormonal status infemale, case of death and motive behind the suicide. Majority of cases belong to age group 19-29 years and 58%of urban population committed suicide with common motive behind the suicide is failure in exam. Preferredmethod for death is ingestion of poison which is seen in 46% of cases. Victims with changes in hormonal statuslike in menstruation are considerable in number. Family history of committing suicides or history of suicides inthe neighbors have provocated some people. Counselling of such identified group of people at various levelswill help the needy victims and decrease the suicide incidence.

Pattern of Mortality among Adolescent Suicides in Victoria Hospital Mortuary

Background: Each year approximately 8 lakh people die by suicides worldwide.(1) Suicideamong adolescentswarrants special concern for several reasons. Early adolescence and young adulthood display increase indeaths from suicides.(2) It is the second leading cause of death in adolescents in comparison to other age groups.Adolescence and youth are predominant ages during which suicide is attempted.(3) Hence, studies on adolescentsuicides potentially presents opportunities to prevent the same, thus saving many lives.Objectives: To determine pattern of adolescent suicides in terms of socio-demographic parameters, methods, andcauses.Materials &amp; Methods: A Cross sectional study was conducted at the Victoria Hospital Mortuary for 18 monthsbetween November 2017 to May 2019. Medicolegal autopsies were performed on the victims of suicidal deathsbetween the age group of 13-18 years during that period. The cases were then analysed with the informationgleaned from the police, family, and the autopsy procedure.Results: 192 cases belonged to the study age group and 48% (92 cases) of the cases were suicides. Majority of thevictims were between 17-18 years of age and belonged to lower middle socio-economic status.Family history ofsuicide was seen in 1%. Hanging was the commonest method of suicide followed by poisoning and burns. Familyconflicts,Love failure, psychiatric disorder, financial problems, exam failure werefew reasonscompelling suicide.Conclusion: Adolescence is a vulnerable age. Adequate addressal of increasing suicide rates among teenagers isthe need of the hour by increasing psycho-social awareness and implementing necessary regulations.