Workshops and process evaluations: Tools that improve performance in integrated subjects

Abstract

Introduction: A current trend in higher education is to merge subjects together to create one integrated or joint subject. However, an important effect of this integration has been reduced student performance and an increase in subject failures. A possible way to combat this issue may be through a favorable relationship that has been described between the application of process evaluations as teaching and learning instruments in health sciences, especially for the subjects that have a large volume of content. The objective of this study was to assess the effect that this evaluation may have on students’ performance in the integrated subject of anatomy and physiology in Health Sciences. Materials and methods: This was an experimental study consisting of 144 students from the School of Health Sciences who were studying the subject of Structure and Function and were distributed amongst two groups: control and experimental. A methodological intervention was designed and implemented to assess its effect on academic performance. Results: The intervention of this process in the experimental control group showed an improvement in students’ performance compared to that of the control group both in the average and in the partial evaluations of each unit (t-test < 0.05). In the experimental group, there was an increase in performance between 59% and 83% of the total number of students. Additionally, the progressive improvement modified the condition of disapproval to that of approval in 27% of the students after the intervention, Anova p < 0.05. Conclusion: The incorporation of process evaluations seems to be a favorable tool to decompress subjects taught in schools, to apply what students have initially learned, to follow up on the study methodologies, and improve overall student performance.