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A Call for Programmatic Assessment of Undergraduate Students' Conceptual Understanding and Higher-Order Cognitive Skills.

ABSTRACT: In response to empirical evidence and calls for change, individual undergraduate biology instructors are reforming their pedagogical practices. To assess the effectiveness of these reforms, many instructors use course-specific or skill-specific assessments (e.g., concept inventories). We commend our colleagues' noble efforts, yet we contend that this is only a starting point. In this Perspectives article, we argue that departments need to engage in reform and programmatic assessment to produce graduates who have both subject-matter knowledge and higher-order cognitive skills. We encourage biology education researchers to work collaboratively with content specialists to develop program-level assessments aimed at measuring students' conceptual understanding and higher-order cognitive skills, and we encourage departments to develop longitudinal plans for monitoring their students' development of these skills.

SUBMITTER: Cleveland LM

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5969447 | biostudies-literature | 2018

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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A Call for Programmatic Assessment of Undergraduate Students' Conceptual Understanding and Higher-Order Cognitive Skills.

Cleveland Lacy M LM McCabe Thomas M TM Olimpo Jeffrey T JT

Journal of microbiology & biology education 20170427 1

In response to empirical evidence and calls for change, individual undergraduate biology instructors are reforming their pedagogical practices. To assess the effectiveness of these reforms, many instructors use course-specific or skill-specific assessments (e.g., concept inventories). We commend our colleagues' noble efforts, yet we contend that this is only a starting point. In this Perspectives article, we argue that departments need to engage in reform and programmatic assessment to produce g ...[more]

PMID: 29904561

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Project description:IntroductionEffective learning of physical examination skills (PES) requires suitable teaching and learning techniques and assessment methods. The Tribhuvan University (Nepal) curriculum recommends involving the departments of Medicine and Surgery in PES training (PEST) for second year students as a part of early clinical exposure. The project was developed to make teaching/learning of PES structured, involving eight clinical sciences departments and using appropriate methods for teaching and assessment in KIST Medical College, Nepal.MethodsIrby's three stages of clinical teaching model (Preparation, Teaching, Reflection), was applied for teaching. Skill acquisition was based on Millers' learning pyramid at "show how level" and Dreyfus' competency model at "competent level". Teaching/learning was conducted in small groups. A tutorial, demonstration and practice (TDS) model was developed for teaching/learning techniques based on a simple five-step method for teaching clinical skills. Assessment of effectiveness of training was done at "reaction level" as per Kirkpatrick's model based on students' feedback, "shows how level" as per Miller's pyramid of learning by OSCE and "competent level" as per Dreyfus' model using retro-pre questionnaire.ResultsThe analysis of retro-pre questionnaire based on the Dreyfus model found the average skill score (max score 184), before the introduction of the project module as 15.9 (median = 13.5) and after as 116.5 (median = 116). A paired t-test showed the difference to be statistically significant (100.5±23 and 95% CI 95.45 - 105.59). The average overall feedback score for the students on PES training based on seven items on a five point Likert scale was found to be 4.30. The mean total objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) score was 3.77 (SD+/- 0.33) out of 5; 80% of students scored more than 70%.ConclusionStudents learned most of the skills with the implementation of the structured PES module and did well in the OSCE. Students and faculty were satisfied with the training and assessment.

Project description:BackgroundPatient-clinician communication training is a core component of the undergraduate medical program. As with all areas of medicine, the best available evidence for teaching these skills should be incorporated into training programs. Examining the volume, type and design-quality of publications in this field can help to determine whether research is following a natural scientific progression to inform interactional skills training. This study aimed to review: (i) whether the proportion of publications examining teaching interactional skills to undergraduate medical students by study type, across three time-periods (2007-2008, 2011-2012, 2015-2016), changed over time (i.e. measurement, descriptive or interventions studies); and (ii) the proportion of intervention studies meeting Cochrane Effective Practice and Organisation of Care (EPOC) research design criteria.MethodsMedline, PubMed, PsycInfo and the Cochrane Database were searched for studies published in English from 2007 to 2016. Title and abstract reviews were performed for the included years. Articles were examined against the inclusion/exclusion criteria and those included were coded into descriptive, measurement or intervention categories.ResultsA total of 243 relevant publications were identified. Fifty-two were published from 2007 to 2008, 75 from 2011 to 2012 and 116 from 2015 to 2016. Most identified studies were descriptive (63%), followed by measurement studies (22%) and intervention studies (15%). The proportion of descriptive studies increased significantly over time. However, the proportion of intervention studies did not change and the proportion of measures studies significantly decreased. Of the 37 intervention studies identified within the three time-periods, only 16 (43%) met EPOC study design criteria.ConclusionsThe largest proportion of identified studies were descriptive, however, descriptive research is not sufficient to ensure communication skills training can effectively improve interactions between clinicians and patients. A more rigorous approach to research in this area is needed to inform education strategies.

Dataset Information

A Call for Programmatic Assessment of Undergraduate Students' Conceptual Understanding and Higher-Order Cognitive Skills.

Publications

A Call for Programmatic Assessment of Undergraduate Students' Conceptual Understanding and Higher-Order Cognitive Skills.

Similar Datasets

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