Journal article
Pharmacy students' perceptions of assessment and its impact on learning
Currents in Pharmacy Teaching and Learning, Vol.11(6), pp.571-579
2019
PMID: 31213312
Abstract
Introduction:
Outcomes-based education requires active student learning with assessment strategies that foster deep approaches to learning, which are often influenced by students' perceptions of assessment. We aimed to investigate the perceptions of pharmacy students at an Australian university about their experiences of assessment and its impact on their learning.
Methods:
A mixed-methods study was conducted involving a self-administered questionnaire and semi-structured focus groups. Descriptive statistics were used to rate the perceived value of different assessment tools and confirmed by themes arising from the focus groups. Examination results over a five-year period were also collated to assess congruence between perceptions and academic performance.
Results:
From the 123 questionnaire and nine focus group participants, short-answer questions were the most positively-received form of assessment due to students being able to demonstrate and receive marks for partial knowledge. Multiple-choice questions received mixed response as they were cited as being useful in assessing student knowledge but potentially difficult to interpret/answer correctly. Reflective pieces received the lowest ratings and were considered the least beneficial. Key identified themes were ensuring quality assurance of assessment processes, use of authentic assessment, timely feedback, and appropriate match between workload and assessment weightings. Overall, there was congruence between students' exam scores and their perceptions of the different assessment types.
Conclusions:
Strategic planning and delivery of correctly-weighted authentic assessments with the provision of constructive feedback are key elements for active engagement of students and achievement of life-long learning outcomes.
Details
- Title
- Pharmacy students' perceptions of assessment and its impact on learning
- Authors
- Bunmi S. Malau-Aduli (Corresponding Author) - James Cook UniversityRobyn Preston (Author) - James Cook UniversityMary Adu (Author) - James Cook UniversityFaith Alele (Author) - James Cook UniversityMonica Gratani (Author) - James Cook UniversityAaron Drovandi (Author) - James Cook UniversityIan Heslop (Author) - James Cook University
- Publication details
- Currents in Pharmacy Teaching and Learning, Vol.11(6), pp.571-579
- Publisher
- Elsevier Inc.
- DOI
- 10.1016/j.cptl.2019.02.020
- ISSN
- 1877-1300
- PMID
- 31213312
- Data Availability
- Supplementary data to this article can be found online at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cptl.2019.02.020
- Organisation Unit
- School of Health - Public Health
- Language
- English
- Record Identifier
- 99967696502621
- Output Type
- Journal article
Metrics
5 Record Views
InCites Highlights
These are selected metrics from InCites Benchmarking & Analytics tool, related to this output
- Web Of Science research areas
- Education, Scientific Disciplines
UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
This output has contributed to the advancement of the following goals:
Source: InCites