Summative Feedback Research Articles

Video-Feedback on Assignments:A Case Study From Norway

The background for the study was a desire to strengthen the students’ learning outcomes, and to support their development, preferably to become reflective practitioners. Knowing that the students prefer feedback on assignments and the opportunity to improve based on this feedback, summative feedback may not provide enough feedback in order to know what and how to improve. Also, some students, both younger students and students returning to school, are insecure and uncertain about studying in higher education and need psychological safety to be able to unlock their potential. The aim of the study is to investigate how they perceive personalized video feedback to contribute towards their development and their enhanced learning outcomes. By using video feedback, the students would be spoken to by name and get feedback on their assignment, including both what was adequately presented and why, and points for improvement and clues for improvement. The methods of inquiry have been survey, individual interviews and group interviews. We have treated this study as a case study. The results from the study have been very positive. The students claim that they perceive the feedback to be personal and they understand what and how to improve, in addition to how to prepare for the exam. Although some students still prefer written feedback, the majority of the respondents and informants are positive towards the video feedback, and some would even like to have this in other courses as well. They understand what and how to improve, and they perceive it as personalized and reassuring. The conclusion is that video feedback in general has had a positive impact on the students. The perception of personalization contributes to boosting confidence and supporting learning outcomes.

International Students’ Perspectives on the Use of Summative Feedback in UK Higher Education

Feedback is a crucial element in higher education, essential for academic improvement. It can come from various sources such as teachers, peers, and personal experiences. The main goal of feedback is to correct mistakes, close gaps, and enhance knowledge and skills. The study focuses on international students at UK universities, identifying several factors that hinder their engagement with summative feedback. These include the timing of feedback release, often coinciding with exams or holidays, and the lack of detail in feedback content. The study suggests adjusting the timing and tone of feedback to make it more effective and encouraging.

AI-enabled correction: A professor’s journey

ABSTRACT AI-enabled assessment of student papers has the potential to provide both summative and formative feedback and reduce the time spent on grading. Using auto-ethnography, this study compares AI-enabled and human assessment of business student examination papers in a law module based on previously established rubrics. Examination papers were corrected by the professor and then subjected to a series of tests by Gen-AI tools. While we were impressed with the personalised feedback of Gen-AI tools, the accuracy of grading and the learning capacity of AI tools, we found that Gen-AI tools used are not fully satisfactory to enable fully autonomous correction due to erroneous grading, the hallucination phenomenon and verbose feedback that is not always personalised. The 8C model of challenges of AI-enabled correction is outlined. This paper has implications for professors, HEIs and instructional designers and all those who correct student papers in a third-level institution.

How well do faculty do in providing general surgery EPA feedback?

IntroductionEntrustable Professional Activities (EPAs) provide a framework for competency-based assessment in surgery. EPA descriptions include observable behaviors by trainees at progressive levels of autonomy. The American Board of Surgery (ABS) required all General Surgery (GS) residency programs to implement assessment of 18 EPAs at the beginning of academic year 2023–2024. Microassessments provide formative self-reflection by the resident and feedback by faculty upon completion of the EPA. These frequent assessments culminate in a resident performance profile utilized by the trainee for formative growth and the clinical competency committee for summative feedback. Assessor free text comments are an opportunity to provide meaningful, constructive feedback to residents. Our aim was to analyze comments provided by faculty to residents in terms of their alignment with EPA descriptors and provision of actionable feedback. MethodsA total of 540 ​GS EPA assessments for inguinal hernia, gallbladder disease, appendicitis, trauma, and surgical consultation were evaluated from 6/2021-12/2022. We assessed free text EPA comments from faculty compared to EPA behavior descriptions for alignment with the selected EPA level of entrustment. The comments were judged on a binary scale of “Align” vs “Not Align” by two independent evaluators, with a third evaluator to address discordance. Comments were then evaluated for resident behavioral descriptions, suggestions for improvement, and positive or negative feedback. ResultsApproximately 77 ​% of EPA microassessments had alignment between level of autonomy and free text feedback. A common example of feedback discordant with level of autonomy was rating a trainee at an intraoperative level 4 (independent practice) with comments such as “required some guidance with retrocecal case and upsizing port.” Based on behavior descriptions this would be a level 3 (indirect supervision). Approximately 88 ​% of feedback contained positive comments with minimal negative feedback (e.g., “this did not go well.”). Actionable feedback including “work on optimization of retracting hand” or “continue to work clamp/tie technique and square off each knot” was present in 28.3 ​% of feedback. ConclusionsThe majority of faculty provide feedback that is aligned with the behavioral anchors of the EPAs assessed, but frequently did not provide actionable feedback to the resident regarding how to advance to the next level of entrustment. EPA entrustment behaviors provide a framework for the development of practice-ready behaviors, and if assessors anchor their feedback in the behaviors for a given entrustment level and project how a resident could proceed to the next level, they can provide a clear trajectory for skill development. Faculty development should focus on improving the frequency of actionable free text feedback, outlining how residents can advance in the future.

Identification of core competencies for exercise oncology professionals: A Delphi study of United States and Australian participants.

Integration of exercise into standard oncology care requires a highly skilled workforce of exercise professionals; however, competency requirements have not kept pace with advancements in the field. Therefore, the aim of this study was to obtain consensus on core competencies required for an exercise professional to be qualified to work with adults undergoing active cancer treatment. A three-round modified electronic Delphi process was used. In Round 1, an international group of 64 exercise oncology stakeholders (i.e., exercise oncology professionals (n = 29), clinical referrers (n = 21), and people with lived experience (n = 14)) responded to open-ended prompts eliciting perspectives regarding competencies needed for an exercise oncology professional to work with adults receiving active cancer treatment. Subsequently, only exercise oncology professionals participated, ranking the importance of competencies. In Round 2, professionals received summary feedback, ranked new competencies generated from open-ended responses, and reranked competencies not reaching consensus. In the final round, professionals finalized consensus ranking and rated frequency and mastery level for each. Consensus was reached on 103 core competencies required for exercise professionals to be qualified to deliver care to adults undergoing active cancer treatment. The core competencies represent 10 content areas and reflect the needs of clinical referrers and people with lived experience of receiving cancer treatment. The core competencies identified reflect significant advancements in the field of exercise oncology. Results will underpin the development of education, certification, and employment requirements for exercise oncology professionals, providing a critical step toward achieving routine integration of exercise into standard oncology care.

Closing the loop in minimally supervised human–robot interaction: formative and summative feedback

Human instructors fluidly communicate with hand gestures, head and body movements, and facial expressions, but robots rarely leverage these complementary cues. A minimally supervised social robot with such skills could help people exercise and learn new activities. Thus, we investigated how nonverbal feedback from a humanoid robot affects human behavior. Inspired by the education literature, we evaluated formative feedback (real-time corrections) and summative feedback (post-task scores) for three distinct tasks: positioning in the room, mimicking the robot’s arm pose, and contacting the robot’s hands. Twenty-eight adults completed seventy-five 30-s-long trials with no explicit instructions or experimenter help. Motion-capture data analysis shows that both formative and summative feedback from the robot significantly aided user performance. Additionally, formative feedback improved task understanding. These results show the power of nonverbal cues based on human movement and the utility of viewing feedback through formative and summative lenses.

Global investor responses to the International Sustainability Standards Board draft sustainability and climate-change standards: sites of dissonance or consensus

Purpose This paper aims to examine sites of dissonance or consensus between global investor responses to the draft standards, International Financial Reporting Standards S1 (IFRS) (General Requirements for Disclosure of Sustainability-related Financial Information) and IFRS S2 (Climate-related Disclosures), issued by the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB). Design/methodology/approach A thematic content analysis was used to capture investor views expressed in their comment letters submitted in the consultation period (March to July 2022) in comparison to the ex ante position (issue of draft standards, March 2022) and ex post summary feedback (ISSB staff papers, September 2022) of the ISSB. Findings There was investor consensus in support of the ISSB and the development of the draft standards. However, there were sites of dissonance between investors and the ISSB, notably regarding the basis and focus of reporting (double or single/financial materiality and enterprise value); definitional clarity; emissions reporting; and assurance. Incrementally, the research further highlights that investors display heterogeneity of opinion. Practical and Social implications The ISSB standards will provide a framework for future sustainability reporting. This research highlights the significance of such reporting to investors through their responses to the draft standards. The findings reveal sites of dissonance in the development and alignment of draft standards to user needs. The views of investors, as primary users, should help inform the development of sustainability-related standards by a global standard-setting body apposite to current policy and future reporting requirements, and their usefulness to users in practice. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this paper makes an original contribution to the comment letter literature, hitherto focused on financial reporting with a relative lack of investor engagement. Using thematic analysis, sites of dissonance are examined between the views of investors and the ISSB on their development of sustainability reporting standards.

The Next Era of Assessment: Can Ensuring High-Quality, Equitable Patient Care Be the Defining Characteristic?

Previous eras of assessment in medical education have been defined by how assessment is done, from knowledge exams popularized in the 1960s to the emergence of work-based assessment in the 1990s to current efforts to integrate multiple types and sources of performance data through programmatic assessment. Each of these eras was a response to why assessment was performed (e.g., assessing medical knowledge with exams; assessing communication, professionalism, and systems competencies with work-based assessment). Despite the evolution of assessment eras, current evidence highlights the graduation of trainees with foundational gaps in the ability to provide high-quality care to patients presenting with common problems, and training program leaders report they graduate trainees they would not trust to care for themselves or their loved ones. In this article, the authors argue that the next era of assessment should be defined by why assessment is done: to ensure high-quality, equitable care. Assessment should place focus on demanding graduates possess the knowledge, skills, attitudes, and adaptive expertise to meet the needs of all patients and ensuring that graduates are able to do this in an equitable fashion. The authors explore 2 patient-focused assessment approaches that could help realize the promise of this envisioned era: entrustable professional activities (EPAs) and resident sensitive quality measures (RSQMs)/TRainee Attributable and Automatable Care Evaluations in Real-time (TRACERs). These examples illustrate how the envisioned next era of assessment can leverage existing and new data to provide precision education assessment that focuses on providing formative and summative feedback to trainees in a manner that seeks to ensure their learning outcomes prepare them to ensure high-quality, equitable patient outcomes.

Bridging the gap between the conceptual and the practical – reflections on the opportunities and challenges of meaningful engagement of people with lived experience in the context of integrated community care.

Introduction: Participants will explore the opportunities and challenges of meaningful engagement of people with lived experience in the context of integrated community care (ICC), through a dialogue with up to three innovative ICC practices whose central premise is the co-production of wellbeing. The dialogue will be further nourished through consideration of the recently co-developed World Health Organisation (WHO) Framework for Meaningful Engagement of People with Lived Experience of Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs), Mental Health and Neurological conditions.
 Context: There is ample evidence that integrated care is best suited to support those living with long-term chronic NCDs, mental health conditions and to those with medically complex needs. At the very core of ICC, lies the principle of co-developing health and wellbeing. Despite broad agreement around the benefits, there is a lack of clarity on how this is achieved and few examples of what this looks like in practice.
 The WHO is currently in the process of co-developing a Framework for Meaningful Engagement of People Living with NCDs, Mental Health and Neurological conditions. Complementing this is practical guidance being produced by the Transnational Forum for ICC (TransForm) based on a collection of experiences and reflections of innovative ICC practices around Europe and Canada on the meaningful engagement of people with lived experience.
 Key learning: The Framework will contribute to the advancement of understanding, knowledge and action on meaningful engagement and other related participatory approaches. The evidence base has been and will continue to driven by individuals with lived experience. The TransForm guidance on engaging people with lived experience will further help bridge the gap between the conceptual and the practical.
 
 Audience: All those seeking to better engage and co-produce services with people with lived experience but are not sure how to start and what this looks like in practice.
 Plan:
 
 10 mins – Setting the scene
 
 Joint presentation (WHO/TransForm)
 
 15 mins – Overview of three TransForm changemakers
 
 Brief presentations on each ICC practice, focusing on how they engage people with lived experience.
 
 20 mins – Participants dialogue with the TransForm changemakers
 
 Participants will choose one of the three Changemakers to discuss opportunities and challenges of meaningful engagement of people with lived experience
 
 5 mins – Summary feedback from each table
 
 Each group reports back the main opportunities and challenges identified through discussion
 
 10 mins – Opportunities and challenges in the context of the WHO framework
 
 Jack Fisher will close the session tying back the opportunities and challenges to the WHO Framework
 How are you going to engage with the audience? Each group would have one Changemaker and one facilitator to ensure conversation centres around the question of: How can the WHO Framework and TransForm’s legacy support your practice?
 How are you going to summarize the take home messages? There will be short feedback from each table on main points discussed – the facilitation team will then write up the discussions into a short and accessible summary which will be shared through social media and integrated care networks.

The many roles of people with lived experience and how these can be better supported within integrated care policy and implementation: a world cafe discussion.

Introduction: This workshop will explore the many roles that people with lived experience of health and social care can play in shaping the vision, planning and implementation of integrated care and consider what supports would enable them to fulfil these roles.
 Why are you conducting a workshop? Whilst it is widely accepted that integrated care policy and programmes should be based on the needs and interests of people with lived experience of health and social care and their communities, this is rarely achieved in practice. The workshop team have led two international projects regarding co-production within integrated care ( ‘citizen leader research’ by the Universities of Birmingham, Leiden and Toronto and the Changemakers project within Transform). A common issue identified is that people involved in such activities are asked to take on different roles – for example as a champion, ambassador, advocate, partner, advisor, connector, or leader – with the nature of these roles affecting the expectations of them and the identities that they adopt. We would like to run a workshop to give participants an opportunity to explore what is meant by these roles, how people can be supported to do so effectively, and how organisations and professions can provide a receptive context.
 Who is it for? The workshop is for people with lived experience of health and social care (including family carers) and professionals, policy makers, managers and academics who are committed to co-production as the basis of integrated care.
 What are you going to do?
 8 minutes introduction & overview of the roles that people with lived experience play (as identified in the projects)
 5 minutes response from WHO based on their meaningful engagement framework
 2 minutes explanation of the engagement exercise
 40 minutes (or ideally longer if we are able to have a 90 minute session) world café discussion
 5 minutes summary feedback from each table 
 How are you going to engage with the audience? Participants will have opportunity to move around the world café table – each one will focus on a different role that people take on. A facilitator will remain at each table to encourage discussion on the nature, support, and context for such a role. The discussion will be visually recorded to enable participants to build on what has come before to enable a rich and diverse conversation.
 How are you going to summarize the take home messages?There will be short feedback from each table on main points discussed – the facilitation team will then write up the discussions into a short and accessible summary which will be shared through social media, integrated care networks and relevant WHO routes.

Does instructional intervention reduce the left digit effect in number line estimation?

A robust left digit effect arises in number line estimation, whereby the leftmost digits of numerals have an undue influence on placements such that, for example, numbers like 298 are placed far to the left of numbers like 302. Past efforts to motivate more accurate performance using trial-by-trial and summary feedback have not led to a reduction in the left digit effect. In two experiments, we asked whether it is possible to reduce or eliminate the left digit effect in number line estimation through an instructional intervention in which one is explicitly taught about the left digit effect. In Experiment 1 (N = 134), participants completed two blocks (60 trials per block) of a self-paced 0-1,000 number line estimation task and were randomly assigned to either an instruction or a control condition. In Experiment 2 (N = 143), the procedure was enhanced with a learning check, and with additional measures to assess changes in behaviour as a result of instruction. In both experiments, a left digit effect was found in each block of each condition. Although there was evidence that instruction changed behaviour, these changes did not result in any reduction in the left digit effect relative to the control condition. These findings demonstrate that the left digit effect cannot be easily reduced by making people aware of it.

An interpretive phenomenological analysis of nursing student perceptions of summative assessment feedback using LEGO® Serious Play®

PurposeThe aim of the study is to explore perceptions of the impact of assessment feedback by international undergraduate nursing students. Research to date indicates that summative assessment feedback may impact significantly on student achievement but if it is undertaken sub optimally or does not provide students with the opportunity to engage with the process and reflexively respond, it can also be exceptionally damaging to the learning experience.Design/methodology/approachA scoping exercise of overall student feedback experience was initially collated via the adoption of an Interpretive Phenomenological Approach (IPA). Participants were recruited via purposive sampling and the LEGO® Serious Play® method was used to collect data. Analysis with Quirkos software was used to examine the salience as well as commonality of findings as an integral part of a recognised five-step thematic analytical approach.FindingsFeedback was perceived, by students, as significantly impacting factor in relation to their overall progression, attainment and retention rates. Themes generated from the findings evidenced student perceptions that summative feedback is a positive driver and source of motivation for academic success and progression. It was perceived that levels of attainment were related to the clarity, quality and individualised nature of feedback that students received and that this was perceived to be evident in their final grades. These were accompanied by perceptions that feedback clarity also determined the potential of breaking down perceived student barriers to learning, their perceived capacity for effective assignment planning and preparation and the likelihood of them having any positive collective or individual interpersonal relationships with their tutors. Summarised, students perceived that feedback ought to lead to student empowerment in managing their studies and as such it ought to be clear, straightforward and non-ambiguous.Research limitations/implicationsThe methodological design of the study means that generalisability from its findings was never intended or possible. However, there may be the potential transferability of findings to similar institutions and contexts of nurse education with students who have similar demographic profiling. The study was also a means of providing an insight into the lived experience of students which could be used in the prospective adaptation of feedback mechanisms for staff at a local level within Higher Education.Practical implicationsThe study reveals the perceived impact of gamification as a mechanism of summative assessment as conveyed by a designated group of students. Whilst specific recommendations for change can only be made within the context specificity of the research, there may be aspects of the findings which are potentially transferable to other similar contexts of Higher Education delivery whose pedagogical approaches mirror those in operation at the institution where the research was undertaken. It became apparent that the standardisation of feedback approaches offered many opportunities to improve existing systems. The issue of monitoring workloads is also of significance in terms of the level and degree of summative assessment and feedback that academic staff can undertake.Originality/valueThe study revealed the perceived magnitude of assessment feedback on progression, attainment and retention rates, alongside the perceived need for a universal feedback template and the opportunity to provide audio-video feedback. This study adds to existing knowledge in the field of pedagogic practice about both the execution of LEGO® Serious Play® as a research methodology and why the perceptions of feedback as articulated and illuminated by a group of contemporary nursing students ought to matter in the context of Higher Education.

Assessment for learning of paediatric cardiology trainees in 41 centres from 19 European countries.

Limited data exist on how trainees in paediatric cardiology are assessed among countries affiliated with the Association of European Paediatric and Congenital Cardiology. A structured and approved questionnaire was circulated to educationalists/trainers in 95 Association for European Paediatric and Congenital Cardiology training centres. Trainers from 46 centres responded with complete data in 41 centres. Instructional design included bedside teaching (41/41), didactic teaching (38/41), problem-based learning (28/41), cardiac catheterisation calculations (34/41), journal club (31/41), fellows presenting in the multidisciplinary meeting (41/41), fellows reporting on echocardiograms (34/41), clinical simulation (17/41), echocardiography simulation (10/41), and catheterisation simulation (3/41). Assessment included case-based discussion (n = 27), mini-clinical evaluation exercise (mini-CEX) (n = 12), directly observed procedures (n = 12), oral examination (n = 16), long cases (n = 11), written essay questions (n = 6), multiple choice questions (n = 5), and objective structured clinical examination (n = 2). Entrustable professional activities were utilised in 10 (24%) centres. Feedback was summative only in 17/41 (41%) centres, formative only in 12/41 (29%) centres and a combination of formative and summative feedback in 10/41 (24%) centres. Written feedback was provided in 10/41 (24%) centres. Verbal feedback was most common in 37/41 (90 %) centres. There is a marked variation in instructional design and assessment across European paediatric cardiac centres. A wide mix of assessment tools are used. Feedback is provided by the majority of centres, mostly verbal summative feedback. Adopting a programmatic assessment focusing on competency/capability using multiple assessment tools with regular formative multisource feedback may promote assessment for learning of paediatric cardiology trainees.

Automated grading software tool with feedback process to support learning of hardware description languages

Hardware Description Languages (HDL) have gained popularity in the field of digital electronics design, driven by the increasing complexity of modern electronic circuits. Consequently, supporting students in their learning of these languages is crucial. This work aims to address this need by developing an automated assessment software tool with feedback process to support the learning of HDL and making an educational intervention to support the learning process of students. The tool’s features were selected based on similar developments, and a prototype was designed and implemented. Additionally, an educational intervention was conducted over a five-week period in a Digital Electronics course at the National University of Colombia. Through analyzing students’ interactions with the tool and their perceptions of its usage, the study examined their learning experiences. Among the features highlighted by students as most beneficial for their HDL learning process were the online availability of the tool, the feedback system that helped them identify and correct errors in their code, the provision of immediate feedback, the online editor with syntax highlighting, and the graphical user interface. This work makes two significant contributions to the field of HDL teaching in engineering. Firstly, a publicly accessible HDL grading tool has been developed, offering students immediate formative and summative feedback through an automated grader. Secondly, empirical evidence has been provided regarding the benefits of using such a tool in enhancing students’ learning process.

Remote Synchronous Laceration Repair Instruction With Summary Feedback.

Social distancing and quarantine requirements imposed during the COVID-19 pandemic necessitated remote training in many learning situations that formerly focused on traditional in-person training. In this context, we developed an adaptive approach to teaching laceration repair remotely while allowing for synchronous instruction and feedback. In April 2020, 35 family medicine residents from 4 programs in the Midwest United States participated in a real-time, remotely-delivered, 2-hour virtual procedure workshop of instruction in suture techniques for laceration repair. Paired-sample t tests compared scores of learner self-confidence obtained during pre- and posttests. We interpreted short-answer responses with a mixed-methods analysis. Residents submitted photos and videos of suture techniques and received formative feedback based on a predefined rubric. All residents completed the pre- and posttests. The posttest scores for self-confidence across the participants showed significant improvement for all suture techniques. Of the 67 short-answer responses, 38 responses (56.7%) were positive; 9 (13.4%) negative; 8 (11.9%) neutral; and 12 (17.9%) a combination of positive and negative. The workshop was rated by 34 residents (97.1%) as either "about the same as prior training experiences," "better than prior training experiences," or "much better than prior training experiences." Learners reported that a remotely-delivered, real-time, synchronous suture technique workshop was a valuable experience. Further research is needed to establish the efficacy of this platform to promote procedural competence.

An Evaluation of STFM's National Addiction Curriculum.

Family physicians are well positioned to treat patients with substance use disorders (SUDs), expand access to care, destigmatize addiction, and provide a biopsychosocial treatment approach. There is a great need to train residents and faculty to competency in SUD treatment. Through the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine (STFM) Addiction Collaborative, we created and evaluated the first national family medicine (FM) addiction curriculum using evidence-based content and teaching principles. After launching the curriculum with 25 FM residency programs, we collected formative feedback through monthly faculty development sessions and summative feedback through 8 focus groups with 33 faculty members and 21 residents. We used qualitative thematic analysis to assess the value of the curriculum. The curriculum enriched resident and faculty knowledge across all SUD topics. It changed their attitudes in viewing addiction as a chronic disease within the scope of FM practice, increased confidence, and decreased stigma. It nurtured behavior change, enhancing communication and assessment skills and encouraging collaboration across disciplines. Participants valued the flipped-classroom approach, videos, cases, role plays, ready-made teacher's guides, and one-page summaries. Having protected time to complete the modules and temporally coupling the modules with the live, faculty-led sessions enhanced learning. The curriculum provides a comprehensive, ready-made, evidenced-based platform for training residents and faculty in SUDs. It can be implemented by faculty with all levels of prior expertise, cotaught by physicians and behavioral health providers, tailored to each program's didactic schedule, and modified based on the local culture and resource availability.

Case-based learning interventions for undergraduate nursing students in a theoretical course: A review of design, implementation, and outcomes.

Case-based learning (CBL) is a contextualized learning and teaching method that can facilitate active and reflective learning to develop critical thinking and problem-solving skills. However, nursing educators have some difficulty in creating a CBL environment that matches the diverse professional nursing curriculum and students' needs, including developing relevant cases and appropriate CBL implementation processes. To summarize the case design, implementation process, and their relationship with CBL effectiveness. Electronic databases of PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, CINAHL, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) and Wanfang Data (a Chinese database) were searched from inception until January 2022. Study quality was assessed using the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool. A qualitative synthesis was then conducted to summarize the study findings. The systematic mixed studies review included twenty-one quantitative studies, five qualitative studies and two mixed methods studies. The case design and implementation process were indispensable parts of each study, but the application process of CBL in each study was slightly different, basically including case design, preparation, small-group interaction and exploration, collaborative efforts, teacher summary, assignment and teacher feedback. There were three themes in this review that indicate the effect of CBL on students, namely, knowledge, competence and attitude. The present review analyzes the available literature and suggests that there is no common format for the case design and CBL implementation process, but demonstrates that they are an indispensable part of each study. This review provides conceptual procedures for nurse educators to design and implement CBL in nursing theoretical courses to improve the effectiveness of CBL.

Post-Secondary Student Evaluations of Teachers: The Debate of Usefulness Continues

Student evaluations of teachers (SETs) are collected by colleges and universities across the country. Having only been introduced in the early part of the twentieth century, these evaluations are a fairly new tool for higher education administrators to receive feedback and assess the effectiveness of curriculum and instructors. Although implemented as a tool to provide students a medium to share their perspectives, with the goal to improve academic processes, there are concerns regarding their effectiveness, reliability, purpose, and necessity. Further, the literature reflects that students are not well versed by college administrations or faculty members regarding the desired impacts and purpose of SETs, so they are often not completed in a manner that includes cognitive engagement, accurate recall, or the genuine desire to provide constructive feedback and assessment. Even with these limitations, college and university administrators have grown to rely upon SETs to provide constructive insights for instructors to help them improve their teaching effectiveness and summative feedback for committees to use when making promotion, tenure, and compensation decisions. The disconnect between SET objectives and the actual outcomes, however, is problematic. Students often don’t view SETs as impactful, so their level of cognitive engagement is lacking, which can result in skewed, or even false assessments. In fact, since most SETs are completed with the promise of anonymity, they have been used as a weapon by disgruntled students against instructors, regardless of whether the negative feedback is deserved. Finally, SETs have been directly correlated to grade inflation, which has numerous negative implications. The following literature review illustrates the myriad shortcomings of SETs, with the hope that further research will help to discover how they can be re-structured to foster academic excellence in a productive and reliable manner.

Embracing our responsibility to ensure trainee competency.

Embracing our responsibility to ensure trainee competency.

Improvement of a highly sensitive and specific whole-cell biosensor by adding a positive feedback amplifier

In this study, we designed a Cd2+ whole-cell biosensor with both positive and negative feedback cascade amplifiers in Pseudomonas putida KT2440 (LTCM) based on our previous design with only a negative feedback amplifier (TCM). The results showed that the newly developed biosensor LTCM was greatly improved compared to TCM. Firstly, the linear response range of LTCM was expanded while the maximum linear response range was raised from 0.05 to 0.1 μM. Meanwhile, adding a positive feedback amplifier further increased the fluorescence output signal of LTCM 1.11–2.64 times under the same culture conditions. Moreover, the response time of LTCM for detection of practical samples was reduced from 6 to 4 h. At the same time, LTCM still retained very high sensitivity and specificity, while its lowest detection limit was 0.1 nM Cd2+ and the specificity was 23.29 (compared to 0.1 nM and 17.55 in TCM, respectively). In summary, the positive and negative feedback cascade amplifiers effectively improved the performance of the biosensor LTCM, resulting in a greater linear response range, higher output signal intensity, and shorter response time than TCM while retaining comparable sensitivity and specificity, indicating better potential for practical applications.