Students’ opinions on summative team assessments in a three-year concentrated pharmacy curriculum

Abstract

Objective. To investigate student opinions of team assessment. Methods. University of Maryland Eastern Shore School of Pharmacy first-year (P1) to third-year (P3) students (n5125) completed an online survey regarding team assessments. Students rated their opinions on a Likert scale. Responses were examined using Mann-Whitney U test with respect to academic performance and class. Results. One hundred twenty-five students (75%) completed the survey. A majority of students agreed that team assessment was beneficial (90%). In contrast, 78% of the students perceived that the discussion helped clarify misconceptions. Students were not in agreement on occurrence of free riders (51%) and the use of peer evaluation (38%). Overall, students ranked the benefits of team assessment as improving individual score, then promoting collaboration, followed by enhancing understanding of material. Conclusion. Students had favorable opinions regarding team assessment. Educational benefits of team assessments include enhanced understanding of the material, being a meaningful activity for promoting collaboration, and developing communication skills.