Does the Use of Formative Peer Assessment Through Facebook Influence Summative Marks in an Undergraduate Practical Unit? A Pilot Study Jacqueline Rix (DC) AECC University College, Bournemouth BH5 2DF
e-mail:
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Introduction:
Methods:
In healthcare, students are required to learn a number of practical diagnostic and treatment tasks. These tasks are psychomotor-rich skills, each with a theoretical and cognitive component.
The study was a mixed method study. All students enrolled onto year one of the integrated undergraduate MChiro at the AECC University College in 2016 were invited to participate in the study. The first 13 students (10% of the cohort) to email their interest were enrolled onto this pilot study. Pedagogical support for participants was given and a Facebook invitation to the private Clinical Management One Facebook Group was sent. Participants were encouraged to post videos of themselves performing psychomotor tasks to gain feedback from their peers, as well as to post research articles, pictures or questions regarding pathologies appropriate to a first year level. In semester one, the researcher was an equal partner in Facebook participation. In semester two, the researcher withdrew from participating, but remained as an observer. At the end of each semester, participants were given a questionnaire to complete and a follow up semi-structured interview was done. These aimed to answer the following questions:
In chiropractic, the tasks are complex and the student needs to think about patient positioning, doctor positioning, the task being applied to the patient as well as interpret what the doctor is ‘feeling’ under their hand (haptic perception), all the while communicating with the patient. This too requires a lot of conscious thought, attention to detail and repetition in order for the task to become habitual (1). In order for students to learn a psychomotor task, tutorfeedback and peer-feedback are useful tools which produce learning gains (2). It is not sufficient for the student to only learn the mechanics of how to perform the task. The student also needs to know and understand the base knowledge, such as anatomy and physiology, as well as apply clinical reasoning skills in order to be able to interpret the finding of the task. As students in the early years practice on each other and are therefore seeing ‘normal’, supplementary material (pictures, videos and journal articles) and discussions about abnormal findings can be useful for students. In a lecture theatre, discussions are not always possible due to the size of the class and the speed of the lecture, and as such exploration of pathologies does not always occur. This study aimed to investigate a different method of supplying the student with feedback through the use of Facebook as a platform for peer-feedback and discussion.
1. Did participants enrolled on to the Clinical Management One unit use the Clinical Management One FB Group, and what was the reason for the use or lack thereof? a) Did participants post a video for peer formative assessment on the Clinical Management One FB Group, and what was the reason for the use or lack thereof? b) Did participants provide feedback for students who posted a video on the Clinical Management One FB Group? If not, why not? If so, was it useful? c) Did participants post subject area specific material in the form of journal articles, videos and pictures onto the Clinical Management One FB Group? If not, why not? If so, was it useful? d) Did participants find the Clinical Management One FB Group useful? If not, why not? If so, what was useful about it? 2. Did the use of the FB group influence summative end of year results, and in what way? Data Analysis: Quantitative data was analysed using IBM SPSS version 24. Qualitative data was analysed using NVivo 11 Pro. Thematic analysis and coding of interviews were carried out.
Results:
Eleven participants completed the study. The average age was 26.5 (9.7) which was significantly different to the remaining cohort. The ratio of male to female was 5:6. In semester 1, 55% of participants posted videos; 100% of participants received feedback. In semester 2, 45% of participants posted videos; 100% of participants received feedback. Qualitative interviews indicated students confidence in themselves and their knowledge played a large role in the lack of participation. 45% (five participants) posted other material such as journal articles, pictures or YouTube videos. 100% of students found the Facebook page useful. Although participation may have been low, qualitative interviews suggested that participation is not linked to usefulness. Students who did not participate learned from what others were posting and therefore found the Facebook page useful. Participants had significantly better summative marks in reflective essay writing, however were equal with the remaining cohort in the theory assessment. Participants who participated in the Facebook page significantly outperformed participants who did not participate in the Facebook page in the semester two practical assessment.
Conclusion:
Students did use the Facebook Group and found it useful, participation was low and it was seen by some students as an additional chore, rather than the learning environment it was intended to be. That being said, students may not have used it in the way the researcher envisioned, but students reported that they did learn from the FB group and would use it again in future. Acknowledgements:
Dr Paul Denley University of Bath, Department of Education.
References:
1. Ker, J., Bradley, P., 2014. Simulation in Medical Education. In: Swanwick, T., ed. Understanding Medical Education: Evidence, Theory and Practice. Chichester: Wiley Blackwell. 2. Yoo, M.S., Yoo, I.Y., Lee, H., 2010. Nursing Students’ Self-Evaluation Using a Video Recording of Foley Catheterization: Effects on Students’ Competence, Communication Skills, and Learning Motivation. Journal of Nursing Education, 49(7), pp. 402 – 405.
