Beyond right or wrong: More effective feedback for formative multiple-choice tests
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Perspect Med Educ https://doi.org/10.1007/s40037-020-00606-z
Beyond right or wrong: More effective feedback for formative multiple-choice tests Anna Ryan · Terry Judd Kulamakan Kulasegaram
· David Swanson
· Douglas P. Larsen
· Simone Elliott
· Katina Tzanetos ·
© The Author(s) 2020
Abstract Introduction The role of feedback in test-enhanced learning is an understudied area that has the potential to improve student learning. This study investigates the influence of different forms of post-test feedback on retention and transfer of biomedical knowledge within a test-enhanced learning framework. Methods 64 participants from a Canadian and an Australian medical school sat two single-best-answer formative multiple choice tests one week apart. We compared the effects of conceptually focused, response-oriented, and simple right/wrong feedback on a learner’s ability to correctly answer new (transfer) questions. On the first test occasion, participants received parent items with feedback, and then attempted items closely related (near transfer) to and more distant (far transfer) from parent items. In a repeat test at 1 week, participants were given different near and far transfer versions of parent items.
A. Ryan () · T. Judd · D. Swanson · S. Elliott Department of Medical Education, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia [email protected] D. Swanson American Board of Medical Specialties, Chicago, Illinois, USA D. P. Larsen Department of Neurology, Washington University in St. Louis School of Medicine, St. Louis, USA K. Tzanetos Department of Medicine & MD Program, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada K. Kulasegaram Department of Family & Community Medicine & The Wilson Centre, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Feedback type, and near and far transfer items were randomized within and across participants. Results Analysis demonstrated that response-oriented and conceptually focused feedback were superior to traditional right/wrong feedback for both types of transfer tasks and in both immediate and final retention test performance. However, there was no statistically significant difference between responseorientated and conceptually focused groups on near or far transfer problems, nor any differences in performance between our initial test occasion and the retention test 1 week later. As with most studies of transfer, participants’ far transfer scores were lower than for near transfer. Discussion Right/wrong feedback appears to have limited potential to augment test-enhanced learning. Our work suggests that item-level feedback and feedback that identifies and elaborates on key conceptual knowledge are two important areas for future research on learning, retention and transfer. Keywords Feedback · Test enhanced learning · Multiple choice questions · Practice tests · Retention · Transfer · Medical education
Introduction Medical students are expected to learn, understand, retain and transfer a huge volume of information over the course of their studies. After graduation an
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