Response to: 'Twelve tips for introducing very short answer questions (VSAQs) into your medical curriculum'

Medical Education Researc

Use of very short answer questions compared to multiple choice questions in undergraduate medical students: an external validation study

Multiple choice questions (MCQs) offer high reliability and easy machine-marking, but allow for cueing and stimulate recognition-based learning. Very short answer questions (VSAQs), which are open-ended questions requiring a very short answer, may circumvent these limitations. Although VSAQ use in medical assessment increases, almost all research on reliability and validity of VSAQs in medical education has been performed by a single research group with extensive experience in the development of VSAQs. Therefore, we aimed to validate previous findings about VSAQ reliability, discrimination, and acceptability in undergraduate medical students and teachers with limited experience in VSAQs development. To validate the results presented in previous studies, we partially replicated a previous study and extended results on student experiences. Dutch undergraduate medical students (n = 375) were randomized to VSAQs first and MCQs second or vice versa in a formative exam in two courses, to determine reliability, discrimination, and cueing. Acceptability for teachers (i.e., VSAQ review time) was determined in the summative exam. Reliability (Cronbach's & alpha;) was 0.74 for VSAQs and 0.57 for MCQs in one course. In the other course, Cronbach's & alpha; was 0.87 for VSAQs and 0.83 for MCQs. Discrimination (average R-ir) was 0.27 vs. 0.17 and 0.43 vs. 0.39 for VSAQs vs. MCQs, respectively. Reviewing time of one VSAQ for the entire student cohort was & PLUSMN;2 minutes on average. Positive cueing occurred more in MCQs than in VSAQs (20% vs. 4% and 20.8% vs. 8.3% of questions per person in both courses). This study validates the positive results regarding VSAQs reliability, discrimination, and acceptability in undergraduate medical students. Furthermore, we demonstrate that VSAQ use is reliable among teachers with limited experience in writing and marking VSAQs. The short learning curve for teachers, favourable marking time and applicability regardless of the topic suggest that VSAQs might also be valuable beyond medical assessment.Cellular mechanisms in basic and clinical gastroenterology and hepatolog

The ANTARES Optical Beacon System

ANTARES is a neutrino telescope being deployed in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of a three dimensional array of photomultiplier tubes that can detect the Cherenkov light induced by charged particles produced in the interactions of neutrinos with the surrounding medium. High angular resolution can be achieved, in particular when a muon is produced, provided that the Cherenkov photons are detected with sufficient timing precision. Considerations of the intrinsic time uncertainties stemming from the transit time spread in the photomultiplier tubes and the mechanism of transmission of light in sea water lead to the conclusion that a relative time accuracy of the order of 0.5 ns is desirable. Accordingly, different time calibration systems have been developed for the ANTARES telescope. In this article, a system based on Optical Beacons, a set of external and well-controlled pulsed light sources located throughout the detector, is described. This calibration system takes into account the optical properties of sea water, which is used as the detection volume of the ANTARES telescope. The design, tests, construction and first results of the two types of beacons, LED and laser-based, are presented.Comment: 21 pages, 18 figures, submitted to Nucl. Instr. and Meth. Phys. Res.

First results of the Instrumentation Line for the deep-sea ANTARES neutrino telescope

In 2005, the ANTARES Collaboration deployed and operated at a depth of 2500 m a so-called Mini Instrumentation Line equipped with Optical Modules (MILOM) at the ANTARES site. The various data acquired during the continuous operation from April to December 2005 of the MILOM confirm the satisfactory performance of the Optical Modules, their front-end electronics and readout system. as well as the calibration devices of the detector. The in situ measurement of the Optical Module time response yields a resolution better than 0.5 ns. The performance of the acoustic positioning system, which enables the spatial reconstruction of the ANTARES detector with a precision of about 10 cm, is verified. These results demonstrate that with the full ANTARES neutrino telescope the design angular resolution of better than 0.3 degrees can be realistically achieved

The data acquisition system for the ANTARES neutrino telescope

The ANTARES neutrino telescope is being constructed in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of a large three-dimensional array of photo-multiplier tubes. The data acquisition system of the detector takes care of the digitisation of the photo-multiplier tube signals, data transport, data filtering, and data storage. The detector is operated using a control program interfaced with all elements. The design and the implementation of the data acquisition system are described.Comment: 20 pages, 6 figures, accepted for publication in Nucl. Instrum. Meth.

Response to: 'Twelve tips for introducing very short answer questions (VSAQs) into your medical curriculum'

Medical Education Researc

Understanding students' feedback use in medical progress testing: A qualitative interview study

BackgroundActive engagement with feedback is crucial for feedback to be effective and improve students' learning and achievement. Medical students are provided feedback on their development in the progress test (PT), which has been implemented in various medical curricula, although its format, integration and feedback differ across institutions. Existing research on engagement with feedback in the context of PT is not sufficient to make a definitive judgement on what works and which barriers exist. Therefore, we conducted an interview study to explore students' feedback use in medical progress testing.MethodsAll Dutch medical students participate in a national, curriculum-independent PT four times a year. This mandatory test, composed of multiple-choice questions, provides students with written feedback on their scores. Furthermore, an answer key is available to review their answers. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 21 preclinical and clinical medical students who participated in the PT. Template analysis was performed on the qualitative data using a priori themes based on previous research on feedback use.ResultsTemplate analysis revealed that students faced challenges in crucial internal psychological processes that impact feedback use, including 'awareness', 'cognizance', 'agency' and 'volition'. Factors such as stakes, available time, feedback timing and feedback presentation contributed to these difficulties, ultimately hindering feedback use. Notably, feedback engagement was higher during clinical rotations, and students were interested in the feedback when seeking insights into their performance level and career perspectives.ConclusionOur study enhanced the understanding of students' feedback utilisation in medical progress testing by identifying key processes and factors that impact feedback use. By recognising and addressing barriers in feedback use, we can improve both student and teacher feedback literacy, thereby transforming the PT into a more valuable learning tool