'Written formative assessments with peer-Assisted learning' an innovative teaching program for postgraduate students in community medicine

Abstract

Introduction: There is a paucity of research on conducting written formative assessment with constructive feedback for theory paper writing for postgraduates of Community Medicine in India. The concept of 'Written Formative assessments with Peer-Assisted Learning Program' was implemented to improve the first 2 levels of Miller's Pyramid and assess its impact on the summative assessment. Materials and Methods: The program was conducted for 2 batches of postgraduate students in the Community Medicine enrolled for the academic session of 2016-2019 and 2017-2020. The written formative assessment was conducted every Saturday for 1 h from August to March month in 2018 and 2019. After each test, answer papers were evaluated by the peer and faculty from the department. Written and oral feedback was given by the peer. After IEC approval, we planned to assess the program's effect on level 1 and level 2 Kirkpatrick's framework. The data were analyzed using SPSS statistical package version 24 (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA). P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: Total 23 formative written assessments were conducted per year. The proportions of knowledge, comprehension, and analytical type of questions asked were 47%, 32%, and 21%, respectively. The mean attendance rate was 76.28% ±16.4%. There was no statistically significant difference in the average percentage of marks in formative (weekly test) and summative assessment (university final examination). There was a statistically significant positive co-relation of projected mean marks and summative assessment marks with the co-efficient of the determination being 22.6%. There was overall positive feedback of the formative and peer-Assisted learning (PAL) from post graduate students. Conclusions: Written Formative Assessment with PAL program is one of the effective programs for postgraduate students to gain confidence in writing and presentation skills and to score higher in theory examination.