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Assessment drives learning: an unavoidable truth?
Benjamin W Wormald1, Scarpa Schoeman, Arnold Somasunderam
1Centre for Medical and Healthcare Education, St George's, University of London, London, SW17 0RE, United Kingdom.
Anatomical Sciences Education
|September 11, 2009
Summary
Medical school assessment weighting significantly impacts student motivation. Increasing the importance of Anatomy in exams dramatically boosted students
Area of Science:
- Medical Education
- Anatomy
- Student Motivation
Background:
- Factors influencing medical students' learning are debated.
- The impact of assessment weighting on study motivation is not fully understood.
- A London medical school's changing Anatomy assessment weights provide a unique research opportunity.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the influence of assessment weighting on medical students' motivation to study Anatomy.
- To compare the effects of different Anatomy assessment weightings on student motivation.
Main Methods:
- A questionnaire survey using a five-point Likert scale was administered to medical students.
- The survey included a section evaluating the perceived weighting of Anatomy in the assessment structure and its effect on motivation.
Main Results:
- Increasing the weighting of Anatomy in the assessment scheme led to a significant increase in student motivation to learn the subject.
- A direct correlation was observed between Anatomy's assessment weighting and students' self-reported drive to study it.
Conclusions:
- Assessment weighting has a profound effect on medical students' motivation to learn a subject.
- While student motivation is complex and multifactorial, it is directly influenced by the weight assigned to a subject in the overall assessment structure.
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