Free-response Format Research Articles

What College Biology Students Know about How Vaccines Work.

Vaccines are an important and societally relevant biology topic, but it is unclear how much college biology students know about how vaccines work and what inaccurate ideas they have about that process. Therefore, we asked more than 600 college students taking biology courses at various levels to explain, "How does a vaccine work?" in a free-response format. Based on authoritative sources and responses from immunology and other biology faculty, we created a rubric to gauge the basic knowledge and accuracy present in student responses. Basic knowledge was defined as knowing that vaccines mimic the pathogen, elicit an active immune response, and provide protection against future infection. Accuracy was defined as the absence of scientifically inaccurate ideas. We found that advanced biology majors score significantly higher in basic knowledge and accuracy when compared with all other student groups, but there were no differences between entering biology majors, pre-health majors, and non-pre-health majors. We also uncovered a variety of inaccurate ideas, with the most common being that vaccines contain the original, unmodified pathogen. These results provide a new way to gauge college student understanding of how a vaccine works and enrich our understanding of what college students know about this process.

What Keeps Them Going, and What Gets Them Back? Older Adults' Beliefs About Physical Activity Maintenance.

The overall purpose of this article was to investigate beliefs related to physical activity maintenance among adults aged 60 years or older. Study 1 identified modal, salient behavioral, normative, and control beliefs using a free-response format. Study 2 was designed to gain a deeper understanding about these beliefs through in-depth semistructured interviews. Findings indicate that perceived physical and emotional benefits, scheduling and having a physical activity routine, social support, and features of indoor and outdoor locations are facilitating of maintenance. Some beliefs appear more relevant to sustained engagement in physical activity, while others may be more helpful for reengagement after 1 week of inactivity. This investigation raises new hypotheses for future research and provides insight for the use and adaptation of behavior change strategies that are potentially more acceptable and effective for the promotion of physical activity maintenance for older adults.

Depressed individuals' reasons for and against trying to get better

ObjectiveTo understand reasons individuals with high depressive symptoms offer for trying to improve their state or for not doing so.MethodParticipants (N = 227) in an online depression intervention study were asked, in a free response format, about their reasons for “getting better” (200 responses were collected), and, separately, about their reservations or hesitations about getting better (146 responses were collected). Using “bottom‐up” thematic analysis, themes of responses were developed.ResultsAnalysis identified 15 reasons individuals gave for getting better, as well as nine hesitations regarding getting better. Primary reasons individuals endorsed for getting better include improving one's functioning, social reasons, and the desire to experience enjoyment and positive emotions. Primary hesitations regarding getting better included low expectations for success of any effort to improve as well as resignation to always being depressed or having a depressed identity. Themes were not related to demographic or clinical characteristics.ConclusionsAddressing individuals' attitudes towards treatment and emphasising the importance of overcoming depression for achievement of personal goals may motivate individuals with depression to initiate and remain in treatment. The results underscore the importance of understanding and addressing clients' hesitations about recovery as well as their motivations for improvement. These motivators and hesitations should be assessed in the initial stations of treatment to improve the likelihood of engagement in the treatment process.

The patient generated index and decision regret in adolescent idiopathic scoliosis.

AIS patients and their parents will have distinct perspectives regarding the impact of AIS on patients' lives. Current outcome assessment tools for AIS do not fully assess patient-specific disease impact and fail to distinguish between patient and parent perspectives. Patient Generated Index (PGI) has been used in other disease states to assess individual experiences. This study assesses PGI in operative AIS patients and their parents. Level 1, prospective multi-center study. 44 AIS patient and parent pairs completed the PGI questionnaire comprised of three stages (S1, S2, S3) and decision regret (DR). S1 asks for five areas of the patient's life most affected by AIS and a 6th encompassing all other areas of their lives affected, S2 focuses on the magnitude of effect, S3 identifies desire to improve affected areas and DR if the surgery did not improve the specific area. S1 free responses were organized into 14 domains. Descriptive statistics were reported for stage scores; free-response format of PGI and DR limited ability for paired sample t test analysis. Mean age at surgery was 14.3 years, 84% female, and mean major curve magnitude was 61°. The three most common patient-reported concerns prior to surgery were (in descending order): sports, general function, and general fitness. However, the three most common parent-reported concerns were (in descending order): general function, sports, and appearance. Patients reported self-esteem and parents reported physical appearance as the most affected domain (S2). Patients reported pain and self-esteem and parents reported sleep and self-esteem as main operative aspirations (S3). Decision regret was the highest for uncertainty of future health in patients and sleep in parents. AIS patients and their parents reported different concerns and DR regarding surgical treatment. PGI provides insight into patient and parent views toward the disease as well as treatment aspirations.

Likert, slider, or text? reassurances about response format effects

Few experiments in the domain of addictive behaviors address how response format might impact self-reports of drug use, drug problems, or their correlates. In a preregistered study, participants (N = 1,546) reported on their drinking habits, problematic drinking behaviors, cigarette smoking, Big Five traits, and some additional health behaviors using either a Likert scale, slider, or free-response text entry format. Response format exerted little observable effect on mean values despite the large sample size. Exploratory analyses revealed that the magnitude of the association between frequency of drinking and problematic alcohol use was substantially and reliably greater when participants responded on a slider scale (vs. Likert or text entry), and that responses to items inquiring about longer-term estimates (e.g. number of days per year one exercises) were smaller when participants reported in the text-entry format. Likert-style measures appeared easiest to use and generated few problematic associations with other variables. Although variation in response format therefore does not appear to pose a large threat to the absolute value of many variables (with the possible exception of text entry deflating some types of responses), associations among variables may inflate when participants use sliders instead of Likert-type scales or text entry.

Democratic classification of free-format survey responses with a network-based framework

Social surveys have been widely used as a method of obtaining public opinion. Sometimes it is more ideal to collect opinions by presenting questions in free-response formats than in multiple-choice formats. Despite their advantages, free-response questions are rarely used in practice because they usually require manual analysis. Therefore, classification of free-format texts can present a formidable task in large-scale surveys and can be influenced by the interpretations of analysts. In this study, we propose a network-based survey framework in which responses are automatically classified in a statistically principled manner. This can be achieved because in addition to the texts, similarities among responses are also assessed by each respondent. We demonstrate our approach using a poll on the 2016 US presidential election and a survey taken by graduates of a particular university. The proposed approach helps analysts interpret the underlying semantics of responses in large-scale surveys.

What laypeople think the Big Five trait labels mean

We asked what laypeople think the commonly used Big Five trait labels mean, and how well their beliefs match the content of standard Big Five scales. Study 1 established participants’ familiarity with the Big Five trait labels. In Studies 2 and 3, participants described persons high on the traits using a free response format. Responses were sorted into categories (facets), each of which earned a centrality index defined as the proportion of responses for the given trait that fell into that category. Studies 2 and 3 converged well. Comparisons with four standard Big Five inventories revealed substantial commonality but also notable areas of non-overlap consisting of content identified by laypeople that was not represented in the standard scales, as well as content in the standard scales that was not mentioned by laypeople.

Mental health apps in a college setting: openness, usage, and attitudes.

The ubiquity of smartphones and the development of mental health apps (MHAs) calls for evaluation of consumers' attitudes towards and usage of MHAs. Due to the increasing demand for mental health services on college campuses, research is especially needed to evaluate MHAs as a potentially viable treatment modality in that setting. The study team developed survey questions related to MHAs, added these to the Healthy Minds Study, and used Qualtrics as the platform. The participants were 741 students, age 18 and older, from a large Midwest public university. Students could answer a varying number of multiple choice questions based on embedded display logic, and the survey required 20-25 minutes for most participants to complete. Based on embedded display logic in the survey and how questions were answered, students could receive anywhere from 1-20 questions. Questions were primarily categorical (e.g., "Yes", "Maybe", "No"), with the remaining questions in free response format. The survey was fielded in April, 2016. 26.1% of respondents were open to using an MHA yet only 7.3% had used an MHA. 9.0% of respondents preferred to use an MHA versus seeing a mental health professional. 13.2% of respondents felt that MHAs do have an evidence base. 23.8% of users felt that MHAs helped with their mental health. Those who reported receiving mental health services within the past 12 months were significantly more open to using MHAs than those who had not received services. Convenience, immediate availability, and confidentiality were common reasons for interest in MHAs. There is interest in, but limited usage, of MHAs among university students, providing evidence of MHAs as a potentially untapped treatment modality for this population. Further research could help assess how best to integrate this technology into the university and college mental health system.

Analyzing the Knowing‐Doing Gap of Pedagogy Implementation by Near‐Peer Pre‐Professional Anatomy Lab Teachers

Training pre‐professional Teaching Assistants (TA's) in the art of pedagogy is a first step toward mastery of the ACGME Core Competencies of Patient Care, and Interpersonal and Communication Skills. The Knowing‐Doing Gap (KDG) of implementing training into practice is a common problem in the field of medical education. We wanted to identify the specific factors that contributed to the KDG for near‐peer pre‐professional Gross Anatomy TA's toward implementing new teaching strategies. A 6‐week pedagogy training program was implemented in which Anatomy Lecture TA's instructed peer Lab TA's on a variety of teaching strategies applicable for any of the three different lab classroom formats: Didactic Lab (DL), Open Lab (OL), unsupervised Free Lab (FL). The goal of the program was to improve the teaching skills of the Lab TA's and identify barriers to pedagogy implementation. Following the completion of the training program, we asked lab TA's to complete an IRB approved reflection through Qualtrics that assessed their implementation of teaching strategies. Questions included both Likert and free response formats. Likert data were expressed as percentage of respondents. Free response data were analyzed using a grounded theory approach, beginning with constructing a word cloud to reveal the most frequent words used in responses that informed subsequent detailed thematic qualitative analysis. Of our 63 Lab TA's, 46 responded (73%) to the survey. We analyzed the use of six teaching strategies. Flipped classroom style and facilitating justification reasoning were used most frequently in DL (17.2%, 48.78%). Peer teaching and gamification were used most frequently in OL (24%, 18.4%). Second order questions and case‐study methods were used most frequently in FL (48.75%, 20.73%). Lab TA's reported that gamification was the most difficult to implement. Across pedagogies, inadequate time to implement, student under‐preparation and/or disinterest in the pedagogical technique as a help for learning the material, were the principal factors that contributed to the KDG in the Anatomy Lab. Future studies will examine methods to overcome barriers toward implementing novel pedagogical techniques.This abstract is from the Experimental Biology 2018 Meeting. There is no full text article associated with this abstract published in The FASEB Journal.

How Question Types Reveal Student Thinking: An Experimental Comparison of Multiple-True-False and Free-Response Formats.

Assessments represent an important component of undergraduate courses because they affect how students interact with course content and gauge student achievement of course objectives. To make decisions on assessment design, instructors must understand the affordances and limitations of available question formats. Here, we use a crossover experimental design to identify differences in how multiple-true-false (MTF) and free-response (FR) exam questions reveal student thinking regarding specific conceptions. We report that correct response rates correlate across the two formats but that a higher percentage of students provide correct responses for MTF questions. We find that MTF questions reveal a high prevalence of students with mixed (correct and incorrect) conceptions, while FR questions reveal a high prevalence of students with partial (correct and unclear) conceptions. These results suggest that MTF question prompts can direct students to address specific conceptions but obscure nuances in student thinking and may overestimate the frequency of particular conceptions. Conversely, FR questions provide a more authentic portrait of student thinking but may face limitations in their ability to diagnose specific, particularly incorrect, conceptions. We further discuss an intrinsic tension between question structure and diagnostic capacity and how instructors might use multiple formats or hybrid formats to overcome these obstacles.

Medication disposal: How prepared are pharmacy students?

ObjectiveTo evaluate the confidence and capability of Doctor of Pharmacy students in their ability to communicate appropriate medication disposal methods for various dosage forms. MethodsAn anonymous survey questionnaire approved by the Institutional Review Board (IRB) was created and distributed to all Doctor of Pharmacy students enrolled in Florida pharmacy programs during the 2014–2015 academic year. This tool included both Likert-type and free response format methods to assess student confidence in and capability of explaining how to dispose properly of medications. ResultsAn estimated response rate of 11% of all Doctor of Pharmacy students in Florida programs yielded a total of 286 student responses. Of these, 65% of students reported having exposure to information about medication disposal within the classroom setting. Students reported a median confidence level of 6 out of 10 in their ability to properly counsel on appropriate medication disposal practices. Free response items for medication disposal indicated that 37–46% of students participating in this survey were “unsure” or provided no response to the question of how to dispose of various dosage forms of medications. ConclusionMedication disposal is an important medical, safety, and environmental concern. Pharmacy students reported a low level of confidence and potential weakness in their capability for correctly disposing of medications. More standardized education, in addition to a stronger emphasis on the importance of appropriate medication disposal, may be warranted in pharmacy curricula and training.

Factors that influence nursing and midwifery students' intentions to study abroad: A qualitative study using the theory of planned behaviour

BackgroundFuture health care professionals need to be broadly-educated, adaptable individuals who have significant experience in the world beyond the classroom. Study abroad is an ideal means of developing some of the skills and attitudes that are not only valued among health professionals, but also have global applicability. Although internationalisation through study abroad is widely publicised as a preferred means of developing globally competent third level graduates very little is known about the factors that influence students' predisposition to study abroad, students decision making process and how various factors influence that process. ObjectivesTo explore the motivating factors that influence nursing and midwifery student's intentions to study abroad. DesignQualitative descriptive. SettingA third level institution in Ireland. ParticipantsA purposive sample (n=25) of undergraduate nursing and midwifery students. MethodsData were obtained individually and in a free response format by means of an open ended belief elicitation questionnaire. The theory of planned behaviour was used a theoretical framework to guide both the structure of the questionnaire and the content analysis. ResultsThe study's findings support earlier works in identifying the main behavioural, normative and control factors that influence a student's decision to study abroad and is the first study to recognise enhanced professional identity as a potential benefit of study abroad. Factors such as cultural sensitivity, employability, language and cost emerged as important issues in need of further investigation. ConclusionsThe findings of this study have implications for administrators, academics, and others involved in the development of third level study abroad programmes for nursing and midwifery students. New methods which promote the perceived benefits of study abroad, address the perceived barriers and ultimately increase student participation are needed.

Humanizing Outgroups Through Multiple Categorization: The Roles of Individuation and Threat.

In three studies, we examined the impact of multiple categorization on intergroup dehumanization. Study 1 showed that perceiving members of a rival university along multiple versus simple categorical dimensions enhanced the tendency to attribute human traits to this group. Study 2 showed that multiple versus simple categorization of immigrants increased the attribution of uniquely human emotions to them. This effect was explained by the sequential mediation of increased individuation of the outgroup and reduced outgroup threat. Study 3 replicated this sequential mediation model and introduced a novel way of measuring humanization in which participants generated attributes corresponding to the outgroup in a free response format. Participants generated more uniquely human traits in the multiple versus simple categorization conditions. We discuss the theoretical implications of these findings and consider their role in informing and improving efforts to ameliorate contemporary forms of intergroup discrimination.

Format Effects of Empirically Derived Multiple-Choice Versus Free-Response Instruments When Assessing Graphing Abilities

Prior graphing research has demonstrated that clinical interviews and free-response instruments produce very different results than multiple-choice instruments, indicating potential validity problems when using multiple-choice instruments to assess graphing skills (Berg & Smith in Science Education, 78(6), 527–554, 1994). Extending this inquiry, we studied whether empirically derived, participant-generated graphs used as choices on the multiple-choice graphing instrument produced results that corresponded to participants’ responses on free-response instruments. The 5 – 8 choices on the multiple-choice instrument came from graphs drawn by 770 participants from prior research on graphing (Berg, 1989; Berg & Phillips in Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 31(4), 323–344, 1994; Berg & Smith in Science Education, 78(6), 527–554, 1994). Statistical analysis of the 736 7th – 12th grade participants indicate that the empirically derived multiple-choice format still produced significantly more “picture-of-the-event” responses than did the free-response format for all three graphing questions. For two of the questions, participants who drew graphs on the free-response instruments produced significantly more correct responses than those who answered multiple-choice items. In addition, participants having “low classroom performance” were affected more significantly and negatively by the multiple-choice format than participants having “medium” or “high classroom performance.” In some cases, prior research indicating the prevalence of “picture-of-the-event” and graphing treatment effects may be spurious results, a product of the multiple-choice item format and not a valid measure of graphing abilities. We also examined how including a picture of the scenario on the instrument versus only a written description affected responses and whether asking participants to add marker points to their constructed or chosen graph would overcome the short-circuited thinking that multiple-choice items seem to produce.

Returning Written Assignments Electronically: Adapting Off-the-Shelf Technology To Preserve Privacy and Exam Integrity

The sophomore organic chemistry program at the University of Georgia offers four written exams each semester to approximately 1200 students at multiple exam sites across campus. Exam integrity and security are very real concerns both during administration of the exam and following return of graded exams. Graded exams that were altered by students and subsequently returned for reconsideration presented a significant problem using the free-response format commonly used for organic exams. With the use of commercially available equipment and a locally developed web application, exams are now returned to students electronically as PDF files. A >80% reduction of reconsideration requests has been observed accompanying implementation of the electronic return protocol. In addition, student responses and grading marks are preserved, thus facilitating more precise and careful evaluation of regrade requests.

Fuzzy Rating Scale-Based Questionnaires and Their Statistical Analysis

The fuzzy rating method has been introduced in psychometric studies as a tool, which allows the capture of and accurate reflection of the diversity, subjectivity, and imprecision inherent in human responses to many questionnaires. The lack of statistical techniques for in-depth analysis of these responses has been, for years, the appearance of an important barrier. At present, this barrier is being overcome thanks to new statistical techniques. In this way, the information from fuzzy rating method-based responses can be suitably explored and exploited. This paper aims to formally endorse some of the main statistical benefits of using free-response format fuzzy rating scale-based questionnaires instead of using the closed-response format involving fuzzy linguistic representations.

Coupled multiple-response versus free-response conceptual assessment: An example from upper-division physics

Free-response research-based assessments, like the Colorado Upper-division Electrostatics Diagnostic (CUE), provide rich, fine-grained information about students' reasoning. However, because of the difficulties inherent in scoring these assessments, the majority of the large-scale conceptual assessments in physics are multiple-choice. To increase the scalability and usability of the CUE, we set out to create a new version of the assessment that preserves the insights afforded by a free-response format while exploiting the logistical advantages of a multiple-choice assessment. We used our extensive database of responses to the free-response CUE to construct distractors for a new version where students can select multiple responses and receive partial credit based on the accuracy and consistency of their selections. Here, we describe the development of this modified CUE format, which we call coupled multiple-response (CMR), and present data from direct comparisons of both versions. We find that the two formats have the same average score and perform similarly on multiple measures of validity and reliability, suggesting that the new version is a potentially viable alternative to the original CUE for the purpose of large-scale research-based assessment. We also compare the details of student responses on each of the two versions. While the CMR version does not capture the full scope of potential student responses, nearly three-quarters of our students' responses to the free-response version contained one or more elements that matched options provided on the CMR version.

Classroom Response Systems for Implementing Interactive Inquiry in Large Organic Chemistry Classes

The authors have developed “sequence response applications” for classroom response systems (CRSs) that allow instructors to engage and actively involve students in the learning process, probe for common misconceptions regarding lecture material, and increase interaction between instructors and students. “Guided inquiry” and “discovery-based learning” are based on the premise that the best learning occurs when students are actively engaged in developing hypotheses and arriving at conclusions for themselves, rather than learning in a passive lecture format. In this regard, we use CRSs to actively engage large lectures of 300+ students, where the traditional interaction between students and instructors is commonly limited to the first several rows of the lecture hall. Moreover, series response applications allow a nearly free response format for questioning students, as opposed to the traditional multiple-choice question format commonly used with CRSs. As such, we have observed that students are more engaged and actively involved in answering questions. This paper provides several examples to illustrate how our stepwise technique can be used to demonstrate the depth of insight into student understanding, even of multistep thought processes, afforded through this stepwise analysis.

Can free-response questions be approximated by multiple-choice equivalents?

We discuss a study to evaluate the extent to which free-response questions can be approximated by multiple-choice equivalents. Two carefully designed research-based multiple-choice questions were transformed into a free-response format and administered on the final exam in a calculus-based introductory physics course. The original multiple-choice questions were administered in another, similar introductory physics course on the final exam. Our findings suggest that carefully designed multiple-choice questions can reflect the relative performance on the free-response questions while maintaining the benefits of ease of grading and quantitative analysis, especially if the different choices in the multiple-choice questions are weighted to reflect the different levels of understanding that students display.

Results of the 2012 Survey of the American Association of Academic Chief Residents in Radiology

Every year, the American Association of Academic Chief Residents in Radiology conducts a survey of the chief residents in accredited radiology training programs in North America. The survey serves as a tool for gathering information, sharing ideas, and voicing opinions. An online survey was made available to the chief residents from 187 training programs in North America. Questions were presented in multiple-choice and free response formats, designed to address many issues ranging from program structure to on-call policies, changes for the new board examination format and fellowships, and the effects of health care reform on radiology practices. The results of the survey were tabulated and responses to the repeated questions were compared with those from earlier surveys dating to 2003. Among those surveyed, 185 individual responses representing 135 unique programs were completed, yielding a 73% response rate. Thirty-eight percent of programs responded from the northeast and 17% of programs responded from the southeast. Nineteen percent of responses were from central United States, 14% of responses were from western United States, and 12% of responses were from Canada. There is an increasing number of programs, which cover more hospitals, during the past decade. There are more programs providing ultrasound and magnetic resonance services after hours, with an associated increase in after-hours attending physician coverage. Many changes are being made for the future board examination format. Health care reform is affecting how residents are preparing themselves for their future practices.