Innovative learning: employing medical students to write formative assessments

Abstract

Peninsula Medical School, UK, employed six students to write MCQ items for a formative applied medical knowledge item bank. The students successfully generated 260 quality MCQs in their six-week contracted period. Informal feedback from students and two staff mentors suggests that the exercise provided a very effective learning environment and that students felt they were ‘being paid to learn’. Further research is under way to track the progress of the students involved in the exercise, and to formally evaluate the impact on learning.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Suzanne Chamberlain

SUZANNE CHAMBERLAIN is a former Assessment Analyst at Peninsula Medical School. She now works as a Senior Researcher for the Assessment & Qualifications Alliance, Manchester.

Adrian Freeman

ADRIAN FREEMAN is the Lead for Applied Medical Knowledge Assessments and works part time as a GP.

James Oldham

JAMES OLDHAM is a teaching fellow in human structure, and a practising osteopath.

David Sanders

DAVID SANDERS is a Surgical Senior House Officer at Derriford Hospital working for six months full time as an Honorary University Fellow at the PMS, teaching life sciences.

Nicky Hudson

NICKY HUDSON, is a former Senior Lecturer at the Peninsula Medical School. She is currently a Clinical Senior Lecturer at the University of Adelaide in South Australia.

Chris Ricketts

CHRIS RICKETTS is Director of Assessment and has been involved with educational research for over 15 years with a particular interest in computer-aided assessment.