FORMATIVE ELECTRONIC ASSESSMENTS DURING COVID-19 LOCKDOWN IN SECOND PHASE MEDICAL UNDERGRADUATES

Objective: Electronic learning and assessment was embraced in medical education worldwide following the COVID-19 pandemic. This study was done to determine the perceptions of medical undergraduates on formative electronic assessments conducted during COVID-19 lockdown and to estimate the mean marks scored in these assessments. Methods: This was a descriptive study done for a period of 3 months on online platform. Six online formative assessments were conducted on Google Forms or Kahoot. A questionnaire was administered as Google Form to collect the perceptions of the participants on perceived ease of use of platform, attitude, and practice adopted in online assessments. Data were analyzed using SPSS 16. Results: The response rate was 97.7%. Kahoot was perceived to be easier with lesser technical glitches and privacy concerns as compared to Google, while it was equivocal in terms of access assessment links, output storage, display clarity, overall user interface, network issues, need for computer literacy, and eyestrain caused. The participants had a positive attitude regarding the usefulness of online assessments however majority liked the traditional assessments more than the online assessments. While less than one-third (22%) had copy pasted some answers, more than half (54.4%) had referred to internet and more than three quarter (79.6%) had referred to textbooks/power points/notes while attending online assessments. Conclusion: The participants felt that Google Forms and Kahoot were comparable online assessment tools except for difficulty in filling, privacy concerns, and technical issues on Google Forms. The usefulness of online assessments was embraced by the participants but they felt that the traditional assessments were to be continued, while attending online assessments some students had referred to the internet or study materials

Formative and Summative Assessment in Online Education

Assessment is an integral part of both traditional and online education, especially when determining student learning outcomes. In the online learning environment, both formative and summative assessment practices require an understanding of the features and tools inherent to the electronic medium. Creating assessments for online education, either formative or summative, also requires application of constructivist learning principles to our collective understanding of the educational process and related goals. In this paper, we offer an overview of formative and summative assessment approaches suited to the online education environment

Improving Nurses’ Attitudes, Beliefs, and Practices in Screening for Suicide Risk in Hospitalized Patients

Purpose: Forty-seven thousand Americans died from suicide in 2018. Providing nurses with facts about suicide, intervention methods, structured screening tools, and referral resources has been shown to change attitudes and increase screening rates. This quality improvement project provided nurses with education in order to improve rates of suicide screenings on in-patient units at a 550-bed academic medical center. Methods: Attitudes to Suicide Prevention (ASP) surveys were administered on two medical units to determine current attitudes about suicide. An online tutorial providing information about suicide, the Columbia Suicide Severity Rating Scale (CSSRS) used by the institution, personal stories of suicide, and referral resources was used to deliver education. Education efficacy on attitude change was evaluated with pre and post surveys. Rates of risk assessments screens were reviewed in the electronic health records one month before and after the intervention. Results: 155 nurses received surveys and intervention with 29 pre-surveys and 15 post surveys returned. No statistically significant changes in attitude, but a desire for education was found. Review of screening rates for one month before and after the intervention indicate a 7% increase in completion on the units receiving education compared to a 2% decrease on an aggregation of medical-surgical units not receiving education. Conclusions: Providing education on suicide, screening tools, referral resources, and preparation for difficult conversations was demonstrated to increase screening rates. Providing an online learning module is an easy way to deliver education. Screening provided by trained and competent nurses ensures patients gain access to necessary mental health

Rethinking assessment in response to generative artificial intelligence

The use of decision-making support tools during assessments, such as electronic differential diagnosis in examinations, is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to how technology is currently changing assessment practice. We have reached a transformative stage in the development of artificial intelligence (AI). We can no longer rely on non-invigilated assessments and submitted ‘artefacts’ to demonstrate student learning and competence. This is bringing many long-term demands on educators, course coordinators and curriculum designers, forcing us to rethink assessment approaches. Going forward, we see an important distinction between ‘assisted’ assessments and ‘unassisted’ assessments. With the recent increase and facilitation of virtual assessment through convenient online platforms, and the new challenge to non-invigilated assessment formats posed by AI, we think the time has come for the ‘rehabilitation’ and re-acceptance of the oral format as a highly valuable and unique form of assessment in medical education. Nevertheless, generative AI need not threaten the validity or trustworthiness of our assessments in either formative or summative contexts. Rather, it can add fidelity and nuance to assisted assessment while facilitating a greater focus and purposefulness to unassisted assessment

Blogs in Higher Education : encouraging self-reflective learning in group assessments for Business Students

This article analyses and assesses the inclusion of blogs in higher education learning and teaching, and its use as an enabler for reflective learning, particularly in the context of group work. The research reports on findings from existing literature and from an isolated ob-servation of a class of 130 business students at undergraduate level. Two main areas for discussion have been defined: the impact of blogs on group work and the impact of blogs on student engagement. It has been found that the use of blogs in teaching and assessment deepens students’ individual learning experience and increases group performance through the application of Kolb’s Learning Cycle. Kolb’s theory has been used as guidance in tailoring blog tasks and activities. Overall, blog activities have minimised issues between group members and allowed for a more flexible and positive learning experience throughout the duration of group work; it was also found that students engaged in blog writing were able to motivate their peers to write on their own blogs too. Moreover, a relation between blog writing and better overall achievement in learning has been found.Peer reviewe

Good-bye Christopher Columbus Langdell?

The call of this Article was to take A Prospective Look at Environmental and Natural Resources Law for the next 40 years with a special focus on law school teaching. Daunted by the hubris involved in prognosticating so far into the future, this piece more modestly explores three areas in which law school teaching is currently changing: I. Methods of Presentation; II. Use of Skills Exercises; and III. Influence of Digital Technologies and the Internet. To add an empirical component, the author canvassed AALS members about pedagogies they used both in class and outside of classroom time, as well as teaching tools they have employed, ranging from traditional exams or writing assessments to electronic devices, online teaching tools, and social networking. The Article summarizes the results of the survey as well as relevant research on effective teaching to provide glimpses into the law school classroom of the future

Computer assisted formative assessment: supporting students to become more reflective learners

e-Assessment is being advocated in the UK as our way of introducing a more personalised learning agenda throughout the Higher Education sector. This paper discusses the findings from two projects where formative e-assessment has contributed to students taking more control of their own learning. One study set out to provide further insights into the role of electronic formative assessment and to point the way forward to new assessment practices, capitalising on a range of open source tools. The guiding vision was to pilot a series of formative assessments which have the potential to help shape learners as independent thinkers, making their own judgements and decisions about their learning in partnership with their peers and tutors. Other work consisted of evaluating a series of formative assessments given to Philosophy students. Lessons have been learned about the type of feedback that instructors and students think will be most useful and how using theis type of application promotes self reflection. The research reported here starts to illustrate how technology can be adapted to become more 'fit for pedagogical purpose?. The feedback offered by these systems encourages learner metacognition and aims to empower students to reflect and become independent thinkers. This approach sits well within a constructivist paradigm which has often been less well served in the past through formal summative assessment which is not an integral part of the knowledge construction process

Use of Standardized Assessments and Online Resources in Stroke Rehabilitation

Background: The extent to which movement-related standardized assessments and online resources are used in stroke rehabilitation is unclear in the United States. Method: The researchers used a cross-sectional descriptive survey that examined (a) therapists use of movement-related standardized assessments, (b) factors influencing learning of new assessments, and (c) use of frequency of online resources by occupational therapists and physical therapists in the United States. Results: Of 151 respondents (46.4% occupational therapists, 53.6% physical therapists), the most frequently used movement-related assessments by occupational and physical therapists were the Berg and Fugl-Meyer Assessment, respectively. More physical therapists use motor-related standardized assessments regularly than occupational therapists, and physical therapists showed more consensus among standardized assessments. Both professions cited quality of patient care for motivating them to integrate outcome measures into practice. Most therapists in stroke rehabilitation used online resources to access movement-related standardized assessment content at least 25% of the time. The Rehabilitation Measures Database was the most frequently used website. Conclusion: Both occupational and physical therapists use online resources for movement-related standardized assessments on a regular basis. However, occupational therapists do not use standardized assessments as frequently as physical therapists. A systematic study of factors that impact the integration of standardized assessments is needed to further identify barriers and inform clinical practice change

Adopting a blended approach to learning: experiences from radiography at Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh

The perspective of the radiography teaching team at Queen Margaret University (QMU) was that a transmission mode of programme delivery was sub-optimal in helping students to learn and make links between theory and practice. Programme redesign adopted a blended learning approach with both face-to-face and online learning aimed at enhancing the students’ control over their own learning. Online tasks within Web Classroom Tools (WebCT) were used as an integral part of careful programme design, which resulted in a programme enabling synthesis of the skills, knowledge and competencies acquired in the academic and clinical environments. With the move towards a more learner-centred, blended educational experience for the students the lecturers’ role shifted to that of facilitator with WebCT providing the tutor with a more transparent view of student learning. Lecturers plan learning activities that build upon the skills students have developed through learning in groups, online and in class. The explicit connections that now exist between the academic programme and the opportunities for applying knowledge in practice allow students to engage more deeply in their learning

Student-Centered Learning: Functional Requirements for Integrated Systems to Optimize Learning

The realities of the 21st-century learner require that schools and educators fundamentally change their practice. "Educators must produce college- and career-ready graduates that reflect the future these students will face. And, they must facilitate learning through means that align with the defining attributes of this generation of learners."Today, we know more than ever about how students learn, acknowledging that the process isn't the same for every student and doesn't remain the same for each individual, depending upon maturation and the content being learned. We know that students want to progress at a pace that allows them to master new concepts and skills, to access a variety of resources, to receive timely feedback on their progress, to demonstrate their knowledge in multiple ways and to get direction, support and feedback from—as well as collaborate with—experts, teachers, tutors and other students.The result is a growing demand for student-centered, transformative digital learning using competency education as an underpinning.iNACOL released this paper to illustrate the technical requirements and functionalities that learning management systems need to shift toward student-centered instructional models. This comprehensive framework will help districts and schools determine what systems to use and integrate as they being their journey toward student-centered learning, as well as how systems integration aligns with their organizational vision, educational goals and strategic plans.Educators can use this report to optimize student learning and promote innovation in their own student-centered learning environments. The report will help school leaders understand the complex technologies needed to optimize personalized learning and how to use data and analytics to improve practices, and can assist technology leaders in re-engineering systems to support the key nuances of student-centered learning