Undergraduate medical students: who seeks formative feedback?
Hazel K Sinclair1, Jennifer A Cleland
1Department of General Practice and Primary Care, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, UK. h.sinclair@abdn.ac.uk
Medical Education
|May 24, 2007
Summary
Female and higher-achieving medical students are more likely to seek formative feedback on essays. Many students, especially males and lower achievers, do not utilize this feedback for learning, indicating a need for improved engagement strategies.
Area of Science:
- Medical Education
- Student Feedback Analysis
- Academic Performance Research
Background:
- Formative feedback is crucial for student learning and academic development.
- Understanding student engagement with feedback mechanisms is essential for improving educational strategies.
- Previous research has explored feedback utilization, but specific demographic correlations require further investigation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To determine the proportion of undergraduate medical students who collect formative feedback on degree essays.
- To investigate potential correlations between student gender and the seeking of formative feedback.
- To examine the relationship between academic achievement (summative mark) and the utilization of formative feedback.
Main Methods:
- A study was conducted with 360 Year 3 medical students at the University of Aberdeen across 2004 and 2005 cohorts.
- Data on student gender and summative essay marks were collected during degree assessment.
- Student collection of formative feedback was recorded via signed receipts.
Main Results:
- Less than half (46%) of the students accessed their formative feedback across both cohorts.
- Female students were significantly more likely than male students to seek formative feedback (P = 0.004).
- Higher-achieving students demonstrated a significantly greater tendency to seek formative feedback compared to lower achievers (P = 0.020).
Conclusions:
- Medical students, particularly males and lower-performing individuals, may not be leveraging formative feedback as a learning opportunity.
- Female students and those with higher academic standing appear more proactive in seeking feedback for continued success.
- Further research is needed to understand the barriers to formative feedback access and to develop effective strategies for increasing student engagement.
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