Putting post-decision wagering to the test: a measure of self-perceived knowledge in basic sciences?

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Cognitive Science
• Educational Psychology

Background:

• Metacognitive awareness, or insight into one's own knowledge, is crucial for effective learning.
• Misalignment between actual and perceived knowledge hinders the learning process.
• The optimal method for measuring students' self-perceived knowledge remains debated.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the efficacy of post-decision wagering as a tool for mapping students' self-perceived knowledge in medical physiology.
• To compare post-decision wagering with traditional Likert scales for measuring self-perceived knowledge.

Main Methods:

• 71 medical students completed a pre-test and post-test on medical physiology.
• Students rated their self-perceived knowledge using either post-decision wagering or a 5-point Likert scale.
• Instruction involved a teacher-moderated discussion between the tests.

Main Results:

• Post-decision wagering yielded higher self-perceived knowledge scores than Likert scales, despite similar actual knowledge.
• Likert scale ratings showed a near-normal distribution, while wagers were concentrated at scale extremes.
• Low correlations were found between actual and self-perceived knowledge in both groups, with 8.5% of responses being confident misconceptions.

Conclusions:

• Likert scales are recommended as a more balanced measure for self-perceived knowledge in medical education.
• Instruction did not reduce the prevalence of misconceptions, highlighting the need for improved conceptual understanding strategies in basic sciences.