Student Self-assessment Research Articles

Developing student social attitude self-assessment instruments: A study in vocational high school

This study aims to develop a self-assessment instrument in the affective domain of students' social attitudes which was modified by the case of the instrument item. The measurement results can be used as a recommendation for the self-assessment of students' social attitudes at school. The sampling technique used is cluster random sampling. The instrument was content validated by five experts using Aiken, and construct validation using Expl0rtory Factor Analysis (EFA) and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA), while the reliability estimation used Cronbach's Alpha coefficient. The results showed that there were seven instrument factors to assess the affective domain of students' social attitudes, namely honest, disciplined, polite, caring, responsible, responsive, and proactive. Content validity using the Aiken index shows 28 valid items. The construct validity of the instrument was carried out using EFA with a KMO value of 0.618, which means it has met the requirements. The fit model based on the CFA results shows the Chi-square value 2df = 258.022x341, p-value = 0.4160.05, RMSEA = 0.01970.08, CFI = 0.91, GFI = 0.86, AGFI = 0.88. In item estimation, the factor loading value is 0.3, which means the items in the instrument are valid. The estimated reliability of the instrument shows the Cronbach Alpha coefficient value of 0.895, which means that all developed instruments are reliable. Valid and reliable instruments are very important to get good information about the affective assessment of students' social attitudes.

Identifying the degree of influence of various factors on students’ academic performance based on their self-assessment, taking into account students’ gender

Introduction. The article examines the influence of various factors on the academic performance of university students. The purpose of the article is to identify the degree of influence of various factors on first-year university students’ academic performance taking into account their gender. The study is based on students’ self-assessment. Materials and Methods. The methodological basis of the research was the articles of Russian and foreign scholars devoted to the factors affecting the academic performance of university students (A. Alhadabi, H. W. Brink, Y. García, H. G. Hidajat, E. V. Krekhovets, F. Moradi, N. S. Nurieva, A. O. Ryazhkin, V. N. Shlyapnikov, D. R. Valeeva, S. D. Vaulin, S. V. Yaroshevskaya, I. Živčić-Bećirević and etc.). The empirical study was carried out at Tyumen State University. The sample consisted of 232 first-year students of various fields of study, including 101 males and 131 females. Results. The analysis of the scholarly literature on the research problem enabled the authors to identify the factors that influence the academic performance of university students and propose a classification of these factors. Based on students’ self-assessment, the degree of influence of each of the selected factors on their academic performance was determined. Significant differences in the assessment of the influence of a few factors on academic performance related to the students’ gender were revealed. According to the self-assessment of students, the competence of academic staff has the strongest influence on their academic performance. Within the framework of the proposed classification of factors, the most important for students was a group of factors related to their personal characteristics. Factors related to randomness and academic fraud were ranked among the least important. Intrinsic motivation as a factor influencing academic performance turned out to be more important than extrinsic positive and extrinsic negative motivation. Conclusions. The experimental data show that women, to a greater extent than men, associate their academic performance with external factors (teachers’ competence, learning environment, study facilities), or with their innate personality traits (intellectual abilities, memory characteristics and attention, emotional balance). For men, a more significant factor in academic performance is relying on their own strengths and expectations of success from their efforts. At the same time, their academic performance is more determined by the social environment at the university.

Student Self-assessment in Regard to the Learning Outcome Achievement Level When Using the CDIO Approach at University of Information Technology - Vietnam National University, Ho Chi Minh City

In 2010, Vietnam National University Ho Chi Minh City implemented the application of the CDIO (Conceiving - Designing - Implementing - Operating) approach, which has improved the quality of training in science and engineering majors. Nearly all of the curricula of Vietnam National University Ho Chi Minh City’s member schools are built completely or partially based on CDIO principles. The CDIO approach is well-suited to the practical context of Vietnamese technology training, which is adapted to the Vietnam National Qualification Framework and domestic as well as international quality accreditation criteria. CDIO-based programs focus on learners' competency upon the completion of a program. A quantitative study was conducted to analyze student self-assessment concerning achievements in their learning outcomes, and to determine the correlation between their performance and how well they fulfilled learning outcomes requirements. The data was collected from a random sample of 502 students at University of Information Technology - Vietnam National University Ho Chi Minh City. The results indicated that student self-assessments of learning outcomes are similar to their assigned grades, which means there was a positive correlation in the evaluation. In addition, results acquired from the Analysis of variance (ANOVA) revealed that there is a significant variation in the assessments of learning outcomes between majors from different faculties (5 items out of 17 items.) The findings are meaningful to lecturers, students and managers in improving learning, teaching and evaluation activities, which in turn help students improve their performance and prepare them for their future careers.

Impact of personality traits on study habits and educational aspirations of arts and science college students

Personality refers to individual differences in thoughts, emotions, behavioural thoughts or imaginary patterns. The study of personality concentrates on two wide areas: One is understanding individual variations in specific personality traits, like friendliness or peevishness. The other is seeing how the differentcharacteristics of an individual meet up overall. Trait psychology lays on the possibility that individualswill differ depending on where they stand on the side of a set of importantattributes that persist over time and conditions. The broadpattern of attributes is known as the Five Factor Model. Study skills, academic skill, or researchmethodologies are the concepts areutilised to learning. Study skills are a variety of abilities which tackle the most common way of taking and organizing in,innovativesource, retaining data, or managingappraisals. In a broader sense, subjects that supportthe ability of those study, retain and reviewuseful and tested informationcan be treated as learning skills, which may include time management and persuasivestrategies. Educational requirements reflect the educational goals that one has set. It is significance as it empowers and energizes the person to accomplish them. The reasons of this essay are to analyse the impact of three sets of indicators: background, parental involvement, and student personal or educational self-assessment.

OPPORTUNITIES TO IMPROVE INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION SKILLS OF HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS WITH INTELLECTUAL DISABILITIES

The paper analyzes the scientific literature data of recent years on the topic of the study. The study involved 8th grade students with mild intellectual disabilities. The purpose of the study: to identify the information and communication competence (ICT) of children with intellectual disabilities and selectively take measures to improve it. The ascertaining experiment included the following research directions: 1) problems and results of teachers' use of digital technologies; 2) definition of the main ICT competencies of students. A survey was conducted among students with mild mental retardation, compiled in accordance with the content of the standard curriculum on the subject "Computer Science" for the 8th grade of updated content. In accordance with the answer options, depending on the total number of points, 4 degrees of self-assessment of students' assimilation of information technology were allocated: "did not master", "mastered only initial skills", "mastered average", "mastered well", "mastered fully". The questions were grouped according to the sections titled "Information Processes", "Computer Systems" and "Health and Safety". The occurrence of the answer "mastered only basic skills" was 27% for the 1st section, 33% for the 2nd section and 52% for the 3rd section. And the answer "not mastered" was equal to 16%, 16% and 18%, respectively. In accordance with the results obtained, a formative experiment was conducted with the students, extracurricular activities were organized: quizzes, excursions, games, physical and eye exercises, thematic educational hours. Such classes were held once a week for 6 months. The effectiveness of the work carried out was noted: indicators for all sections of the curriculum were increased. The frequency of occurrence of the answer "mastered only basic skills" in the 1st part remained at the same level of 27%, but in the 2nd part it decreased to 31%, and in the 3rd part - to 43%. And the answer "not mastered", corresponding to the low level, significantly decreased in all sections and was equal to 6%. Correspondingly, the proportion of responses "mastered well", "mastered fully" increased.

Development of individual educational path technology of foreign language teaching in non-linguistic universities using the student's self-assessment

The article is devoted to the development of the technology of an individual path of teaching a foreign language, considering the student's self-assessment in a technical university. The theoretical and practical lack of elaboration of this problem both at the psychological and pedagogical levels in the domestic educational system makes our research relevant. Currently, the requirements imposed on a university graduate often do not coincide with the requirements that a future specialist imposes on himself. There is an internal contradiction and conflict, both interpersonal and intrapersonal. To minimize this discomfort, the authors of the article propose to build the educational process according to the requirements of the university and the desires of students, using the technology of individual educational path. The authors consider in detail the concept of «self-assessment» from a psychological point of view, the understanding and awareness of their level of knowledge in a foreign language will help in the development of these skills and abilities. In this paper, students independently determined the level of their skills and abilities to read and write in a foreign language according to the proposed test. Then the level of foreign language proficiency of students was analyzed based on the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages, highlighting the features of self-assessment of foreign language proficiency (reading and writing) of students. The paper provides recommendations on the implementation of the technology of individual learning trajectory in the educational process according to the data obtained on self-assessment and assessment of the level of proficiency in reading and writing based on the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages to ensure the effectiveness of teaching foreign languages to students of technical specialties.

Effectiveness of synchronous and asynchronous online learning delivery in developing oral communication competencies

This evaluation study investigates the effectiveness of synchronous (SL) and asynchronous (AL) mode of learning delivery in the development of competencies in Oral Communication among Senior High School students of Engineering (STEM), Business (ABM), and Social Sciences (HUMSS) in a state-run laboratory school. Participants are selected through Stratified Sampling. It compares the extent to which objectives of the course were met, relevance of contents amidst the current context, the effectiveness of instructional delivery, and the difference in the acquisition of competencies among students in SL versus those in AL. It is especially significant as an assessment of distance e-learning is necessary amidst the digital shift in education because of the pandemic. A Course Evaluation Form as well as a Student Self-assessment of Learning were used to gather data. These instruments were validated and checked for reliability, with a Cronbach α of .859 and .871, respectively. The results of data analysis illustrate that at α=0.05: (1) there is no statistically significant difference in the mean evaluation of SL and AL learners as to the extent in which the objectives of the course were met (p=0.109); (2) there is a statistically significant difference in the mean evaluation of the relevance of course content in the current context of the learners (p=0.012); (3) there is a statistically significant difference in the mean evaluation of SL and AL as to the effectiveness of instructional delivery (p=0.013), and; (4) there is no statistically significant difference in mean evaluation of SL and AL learners’ acquisition of competencies in Oral Communication ( p=0.215).

Self-Assessment of Students of Geography Education and Primary Social and Science Teaching towards the Use of Digital (Geo-) Media for Written and Oral Argumentation.

This article discusses possible challenges and potentials in the use of digital geomedia in the context of written and oral argumentation in higher education by examining the perspectives of students and lecturers, especially for the subjects of geography in general and primary school science. To this end, potentials and challenges, as well as competences that have to be promoted among pupils and students in dealing with digital geomedia in the context of written and oral argumentation are first discussed. In the following, we present the results of a mixed methods approach in which we surveyed student teachers with a questionnaire (n = 150) on the one hand and, on the other hand, reflected their view of the issue by analysing qualitative expert interviews (n = 17) with lecturers who teach at the same universities in the corresponding degree programmes. In this way we contextualise the student’s self-assessment in the respective location’s teacher training. Our results show that there is a high degree of commonality between lecturers and students with regard to the importance of argumentation with digital geomedia. At the same time, the assessment of the students’ abilities differs greatly; most students feel capable of dealing with these topics, while lecturers see deficits here.

Domain-specific motivation and self-assessment practice as mechanisms linking perceived need-supportive teaching to student achievement

The self-system model of motivational development was used in this study to examine whether and how student motivation and self-assessment practices—as psychological and behavioural mechanisms, respectively—link need-supportive teaching to students’ objective achievement scores in English language learning. We applied a multilevel mediation analysis on Rasch-calibrated data from 796 students (53% females; mean age = 14.12, SD = 1.51) nested within 30 classes (mean class size = 26.53) in a secondary school in the Philippines. We collected all predictor variables (i.e. need-supportive teaching, motivation, self-assessment practice) in time 1, while achievement scores were collected eight weeks later (time 2). Lower-level mediation results show that students’ perceptions of involved teaching and structured teaching are associated with higher controlled motivation and autonomous motivation. Furthermore, only autonomous motivation was associated with higher achievement in time 2. Self-assessment practice significantly mediated the link between both controlled and autonomous motivation to achievement. These results held while controlling for age, gender, and socioeconomic status. Hence, involved teaching and structured teaching correlated with higher motivation and increased self-assessment practice, which, in turn, leads to higher achievement in English language learning. The findings highlight that motivation and self-assessment practices are psychological and behavioural pathways that can theoretically and empirically explain how need-supportive teaching practices impact student achievement in a specific subject. Implications and directions for future research are discussed.

Susceptibility to Peer Pressure – Self-Assessment of Students of Primary School and Preschool Education

People are known to change their behavior and decisions to conform to others i.e., to be accepted by peers. Peers play a significant role in adolescent growth. This study shows the findings of the research of which the point was to gain insight into students’ – future school and preschool teachers’ – self-assessment of their own relationships with peers i.e. to determine the areas and differences in susceptibility to peer pressure and in relationships with peers. The research was conducted on students of the Faculty of Educational Sciences Pula, Croatia and the Faculty of Education in Jagodina, Serbia (N=411). The results we obtained show that the area of greatest susceptibility to peer pressure on the observed sample of students supports the interpersonal theory. Variability in self-assessment of certain areas of responsiveness to peer pressure and relationships with peers according to place of study of the observed groups of students at the latent and the manifested level were also found. It can be concluded that the observed cities have different degrees of social and also psychological relations. The value of these results is that they enable insight into students’ various areas of susceptibility to peer pressure and differences with respect to different environments or places of study, which opens space for improvements.

Development of upper limb functions and self-assessment in students with cerebral palsy in inclusive education

Upper limb movements are essential from a very early age in children’s learning processes, and play an important role in school tasks such as handwriting. In cerebral palsy (CP), the functions of upper limbs are often impaired, a factor that affects children’s learning success. The aim of this paper is to briefly present the results of research that has been carried out in recent years at the Eötvös Loránd University’s Bárczi Gusztáv Faculty of Special Needs Education, investigating the upper limb movements of students with CP and their self-assessment of function. Standardized hand function tests (MACS, QUEST, JHFT, Abilhand-Kids specific to CP) were used to assess upper limb function, and the International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health core sets for CP (ICF core set for CP) was used to self-assess functioning of students. The results suggest that CP pupils in inclusive education have a high level of upper limb function in general; they do not generally report serious problems with their own function and their environment, but they rate themselves lower than their peers in special education. Changes during the school year were poorly detectable. The ICF-based self-assessment also highlighted problems that other outcome measure methods cannot detect but may affect school life.

Effectiveness of a Three‐Drawing Strategy for Self‐Assessment and Metacognitive Awareness of Anatomical Knowledge

Anatomy is often taken as a pre‐health prerequisite early in students’ undergraduate career. Universities accept students with varying backgrounds and study skills, so it is imperative for students to approach scientific rigorous subjects in an efficient manner. Anatomy is a visual science where drawing may help students with knowledge retention and retrieval. Prior research in active learning shows improved retention by drawing histological tissue (Balemans et al., 2015) and benefits of multiple iterations of drawing anatomical structures (Backhouse et al., 2016). Multiple drawings studies with initial free recall for metacognitive awareness have not been published. In this research, active learning through drawing is explored in a three‐drawing approach with consideration for metacognitive application and self‐assessment. A previous pilot study with a small group of undergraduate anatomy students indicated the effectiveness of this drawing strategy. This current study expands on the pilot, by utilizing the three‐drawing strategy in a large‐enrollment, undergraduate anatomy class.A three‐drawing template was provided to a 5‐credit hour undergraduate Basic Human Anatomy course (ANAT‐A215) during a face‐to‐face active learning session in a flipped classroom (480 students with 1 lecture and 12 lab sections). Lecture content was presented asynchronously via lecture recordings and face‐to‐face lecture instruction provided interactive activities, two of which were dedicated to the drawing activities of this study. Upon completion, students were provided with the opportunity for 2 points extra credit for drawing submissions. Drawing 1, “What you think you know,” was completed by free recall without any references. Drawing 2, “What you see,” had students observe, analyze, and draw the structures into the template based off a Human Anatomy textbook image. Drawing 3, “What you learned,” involved free recall drawing without any resources immediately after drawing 2. A scoring rubric with a range of 0‐15 points was used to compare anatomical accuracies with shape, structure proportion, orientation, and drawing and labelling of both bone/muscle features across drawing 1 and drawing 3. The first author led the interactive drawing sessions and developed both the three‐drawing activity and scoring rubric.Results suggest that students tend to fall into three groups. In the first group, students do not improve (as may be expected) in their drawings. In the second group, students have a strong initial grasp of the anatomical structures capturing appropriate shape, labelling, and features from the initial drawing 1 and demonstrate marginal improvement in drawing 3. The third group show great improvement comparing drawing 1 to drawing 3; drawing 1 might not show recall of the structures nor features labelled and improvement in drawing 3 includes structure shapes, features, and labelling of muscle/bone. In a broad scope, an overall improvement in scores is seen for most students—particularly in structure shape, recall of structures, and labelling of features. These results suggest the use of a three‐drawing learning strategy in anatomy is beneficial to student learning and self‐assessment. Using this approach, students can assess their perceived knowledge vs. learned content ultimately encouraging self‐regulation, content engagement, and self‐assessment for reflection on areas that might need further improvement.

Self-Reflection and Social Reflection: Assessment of Emotional Expressions of Pubescents

An individual’s capacity to understand, think and express about oneself, other people and his/her experiences is often reflected through facial movements, bodily actions and complex non-verbal behaviour. School environment provides a wider platform to connect with variety of people and student’s interactions become more extensive. It is important to know, what they are experiencing, how they are feeling and what they are going through. Assessing the emotional expressions of students is essential in order to provide support and to help them to build a positive outlook towards themselves and society. With the purpose of studying the self-assessment of students in terms of their emotional expressions, the present investigation was carried out on 475 pubescents studying in 7th, 8th, 9th class. Partially standardised questionnaire was prepared to collect the data on two variables i.e., self-reflections and social reflections. Keyword : biomedical waste, primary healthcare, personal protective equipment, hygiene, monitoring.

Determining educational assessment criteria for patellar-tendon-bearing impressions for transtibial prosthetic sockets: A Delphi study.

Validated criteria to guide assessment of student performance in clinical tasks in prosthetics and orthotics education have not been established. Lack of established criteria and assessment methods presents challenges in evaluating student performance on clinical tasks, such as taking impressions for patellar-tendon-bearing (PTB) sockets. To establish assessment criteria for the PTB impression process for use in educational settings. Delphi consensus process. Initial Delphi survey items were based on interviews with prosthetic instructors and focus groups with prosthetic students. Expert prosthetic educators were then identified by purposive sampling to complete multiple-round Internet-based Delphi surveys. The Delphi surveys asked experts to indicate their level of agreement on various assessment methods and criteria in PTB education. Consensus for survey items was reviewed after each survey round and used to determine the content of and need for subsequent rounds. Fourteen experts completed two Delphi survey rounds. Items were categorized into educational materials/strategies, impression stages/materials, measurement tools, measurements taken, assessment during impression, assessment after impression, feedback, student self-assessment, and grading. In two survey rounds, 40 items guiding assessment methods and criteria for PTB impressions achieved 80% consensus. A high level of consensus was achieved in two survey rounds. Lower levels of consensus were reached on specific objective criteria, such as use of measurement thresholds when evaluating student impressions. Standardized assessment of student performance on PTB impression-taking instead relies primarily on qualitative assessments based on instructor expertise.

Online Career Intelligence Test: Self-Assessment for Students’ Career and Abilities

Online Career Intelligence Test: Self-Assessment for Students’ Career and Abilities

Self-Assessment of Therapeutic Decision-Making Skills in Pharmacy Students

Objective. The ability of pharmacy students to self-regulate and reflect on knowledge and skills is important as proficient self-assessment skills guide learning strategies and prompt students to bridge their knowledge gaps. The objectives for this study were to determine how well third-year pharmacy students self-assess, explore the rationales behind their self-assessments and determine whether there is a correlation between self-assessment accuracy and academic performance.Methods. A quasi-experimental one-group pre-/post-test design was conducted with third-year pharmacy students. Examiner grades, student self-assessment grades, comparative reports, and end-of-semester grades were collected. Students were categorized into tertiles based on academic performance for data analysis. Paired t tests, Pearson r and percentage agreements were conducted to investigate self-assessment accuracy. Correlational statistical tests were implemented to examine the relationships between self-assessment accuracy and academic performance.Results. One hundred sixty-two third-year pharmacy students were included. On average, students demonstrated poor self-evaluation skills and underestimated themselves by 4.9%. Lower performing students were generally overconfident in evaluating their performance. There was no significant correlation between students' self-assessment accuracy and academic performance on the subsequent end-of-semester examination questions.Conclusion. Overall, students tended to underestimate their academic performance. Further research on self-assessment is needed to better understand how students think about their performance, which may help to improve education methods, such as inclusion of reflective practices after case-based activities.

Evaluation of the effect of adding a high-fidelity simulation to an existing didactic lecture to teach pharmacy undergraduates the management of sepsis in secondary care

Abstract Introduction Sepsis is potentially life-threatening, requiring rapid identification and treatment. ‘Sepsis Six’ (1) has become the recognised treatment pathway and has traditionally been taught to our undergraduate pharmacy students in didactic fashion. Interactive teaching methods, such as simulation, are the most effective forms of education to improve patient safety (2). Such approaches might be beneficial in the teaching of sepsis management. Aim To evaluate the effect of adding simulation-based teaching to an existing didactic lecture on the management of sepsis. Methods Year 4 students at the University of Bath (n=92) attended a sepsis lecture given by a teacher practitioner with experience in managing sepsis in March 2020. Students completed an online survey that used Likert scales to evaluate understanding of sepsis and confidence in managing it (see table). One week later, small groups of students completed a 30-minute simulation using a SimMan ALS ‘patient’ programmed to show physiological signs of sepsis. Simulations were facilitated by a teacher practitioner with experience of operating SimMan ALS. Each group had a brief outlining the required tasks: reviewing the patient; assessing sepsis risk; summarising a treatment plan and priority actions. After the simulation, students underwent de-brief and completed the same online survey a second time. Changes in students’ responses between surveys were analysed using Wilcoxon signed-rank tests in SPSS, therefore data from students who completed only one survey were not included. Results 26 students completed both surveys (response rate: 28%). Likert scores for questions 1, 2, 4 and 5 were significantly higher following the simulation, indicating improved confidence and knowledge (see table). Conclusion Adding a high-fidelity simulation to an existing didactic lecture increased student confidence in identifying and managing sepsis. Self-reported knowledge of sepsis red flags also increased (indicated by the responses to Statement 1). This study should encourage future sepsis teaching to include a blend of didactic and simulated learning. Limitations include the low response rate, evaluation at only one university and reliance on student self-assessment of knowledge. References (1) Daniels, R, Nutbeam, T. et al (2019) The Sepsis Manual 5th Edition. UK Sepsis Trust. www.sepsistrust.org (2) Yu A, Fontana G, Darzi A (2016). Evaluation of Education and Training Interventions for Patient Safety. A report by the Centre for Health Policy at Imperial College London, an academic partner to Health Education England and the Commission on Education and Training for Patient Safety. London.

Positioning Dispositions in Initial Teacher Education: An Action Research Approach

In spite of debate, ambiguity, and tension around teacher dispositions, in the past over two decades, the place of dispositions in initial teacher education (ITE) has been widely supported among policy makers and researchers. Specifically, debate on whether dispositions are teachable has largely given way to action to foster dispositions. Adopting a two-cycle participatory action research design, this study explored ways to teach the first-year teacher candidates’ dispositions in an early childhood ITE programme in New Zealand. The intervention included eight focus dispositions and corresponding strategies to teach each focus disposition. Data collection methods included student self-assessment surveys, individual and focus group interviews with students and teaching staff, team meetings, and a variety of pedagogical documentation. Ethnographic content analysis generated three themes: legitimacy of the intervention, experiential orientation of the intervention, and effect of the intervention. The study exemplifies how dispositions intervention can be incorporated in ITE programmes.

Online interactive genetics education during internal medicine clinical clerkship

PurposeAdvances in genetics have revolutionized disease surveillance and management. Understanding and integrating genetic principles clinically is becoming increasingly important for physician trainees. We developed an online, interactive, self-learning module/assessment to strengthen student proficiency in genetics. MethodsMedical student knowledge of genetics during Internal Medicine Clerkship was assessed by an online, asynchronous quiz using simulated vignettes that included questions on (1) genetic red flags, (2) differential diagnoses, (3) pedigree drawing, (4) interpretation of inheritance patterns, (5) selection of diagnostic testing modalities, and (6) genetic counseling. Student self-assessment of genetics competencies was elicited with survey questions. ResultsA total of 592 medical students from classes of 2016 to 2020 successfully completed the “Genetics in Internal Medicine” module/assessment. In total, 91% of students correctly recognized genetic red flags in patient histories, 84% could accurately draw pedigrees, and 93% could accurately interpret inheritance patterns. In total, 92% of students felt that genetic proficiency would improve patient rapport and 91% felt that they could apply what they had learned clinically. Student narrative comments about the activity were positive. ConclusionThis online module was easily integrated into the IM Clerkship. Medical students were able to solidify scientific principles and interpret historical details, predict genetic patterns, and provide counseling. They had successful performances, and the module/assessment was well-received.

The influence of OSPE and PBL on competency-based pharmacy student self-assessment

BackgroundIn addition to vocational education and experience, the pharmaceutical profession’s proper pursuit requires acquiring and continuously improving professional competencies. In recent years, the need has been increasingly highlighted for developing a medical education system based on helping students develop their competencies. It is necessary to adapt the tools and methods for assessing competencies during formal education. It will enable students to know the directions of further personal or professional development.ObjectiveThe study aimed to compare pharmacy students’ self-assessment outcomes before and after the Objective Structured Practical Examination (OSPE), which finished the Pharmaceutical Care course (PCc). The study’s purpose was also to compare the outcomes of the self-assessment of competencies between the students of two academic years for whom classes on the PCc were provided by different methods.MethodsThe study was conducted over two academic years (2018/2019 and 2019/2020) among 5th-year students enrolled at the Faculty of Pharmacy of the Jagiellonian University Medical College (JUMC) at the end of the Pharmaceutical Care course. Different teaching methods were used in the delivery of the course in these academic years. The students self-assessed their competencies using a questionnaire consisting of a list of personal and patient care competencies. The students completed the questionnaire before and after the OSPE, which followed the completion of the PCc.ResultsStudents’ professional competencies as self-assessed after the exam were higher than those assessed before the exam. Differences were observed in both personal and patient care competencies. Students taking the course in the 2019/2020 academic year set their pre-OSPE competencies higher than students taking the PCc in 2018/2019.ConclusionThe self-assessment scores increased for most competencies included in the study following the OSPE. This may suggest that taking part in the exam, involvement in patient’s case simulations, and self-assessment of performance at individual stages of the exam contributed to increased subjective assessment of professional competencies.