INTEGRATION AND APPLICATION OF BASIC SCIENCE MEDICINE KNOWLEDGE
Bierer, S., Beth, Dannefer, Elaine F., Taylor, Christine, Hull, Alan L. Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH 44195 U.S.A.
Purpose
Our faculty developed two weekly
approaches to assessing student acquisition and application of knowledge.
Students apply basic science concepts in open-book essay questions (CAPPS) to
solve focused problems. Students demonstrate breadth of knowledge by completing
30 multiple-choice self-assessment questions (SAQs). This study will present
results of evaluating this process.
Methods
Students use the SAQs to assess
their knowledge of the content; individual scores are not reported to faculty.
Summary statistics are used to assess acquisition of major concepts; students
provide weekly feedback. Faculty assessors evaluate CAPPS using a checklist to
judge CAPPS quality and assess student performance. Faculty assessments are
summarized to evaluate student knowledge application. Student feedback from
course evaluations is used to determine if CAPPS meet expectations.
Results
The results of the study will report
the faculty assessments of 135 CAPPS, identifying the number requiring revision,
the disciplines addressed by each CAPPS, and number of concepts addressed by
students in CAPPS. The SAQs analysis will provide data on student performance
and evaluation of the SAQs. Preliminary analysis of 21 CAPPS indicate that
students mastered most major concepts, provided logical responses, and
integrated basic science concepts. Most students agreed that CAPPS contributed
to their learning and emphasized concept integration rather than rote
memorization. Student assessment of SAQ’s varies in measures of helpfulness and
item quality.
Conclusion/Future Directions: The study will report the feasibility of this method for student assessment and provide evidence supporting the hypothesis that CAPPS and SAQs assess depth and breadth of basic science knowledge.