Post-exam feedback with question rationales improves re-test performance of medical students on a multiple-choice exam

Students' perceptions of post-exam feedback in oral radiology-A comparative study from two dental hygienist educational settings

INTRODUCTION

The aim of this study was to investigate how students perceive the benefit of participating in a teacher-organised session providing feedback on exams, termed post-exam feedback, in two dental hygienist programmes.

METHODS

The study was based on interviews with 22 participants, including 18 students and 4 faculty teachers. The data were approached on the basis of thematic analysis, allowing us to generate insights on how the participants reflected on their participation in the post-exam feedback sessions and how they perceived this arrangement as learners.

RESULTS

The findings from the study suggest that motivated students consider post-exam feedback to be beneficial in clearing up uncertainties and deepening their understanding of issues not fully understood during the exam, as well as supporting their further learning. Less motivated students mainly consider post-exam feedback to be relevant for students who do not pass the exams.

CONCLUSIONS

Organised in a student-centred way and with attentiveness to student learning preferences, the results suggest that post-exam feedback can be valuable for enhancing assessment and supporting student learning related to exams.

Web-Based Medical Examinations During the COVID-19 Era: Reconsidering Learning as the Main Goal of Examination

Like other aspects of the health care system, medical education has been greatly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. To follow the requirements of lockdown and virtual education, the performance of students has been evaluated via web-based examinations. Although this shift to web-based examinations was inevitable, other mental, educational, and technical aspects should be considered to ensure the efficiency and accuracy of this type of evaluation in this era. The easiest way to address the new challenges is to administer traditional questions via a web-based platform. However, more factors should be accounted for when designing web-based examinations during the COVID-19 era. This article presents an approach in which the opportunity created by the pandemic is used as a basis to reconsider learning as the main goal of web-based examinations. The approach suggests using open-book examinations, using questions that require high cognitive domains, using real clinical scenarios, developing more comprehensive examination blueprints, using advanced platforms for web-based questions, and providing feedback in web-based examinations to ensure that the examinees have acquired the minimum competency levels defined in the course objectives.