Common Final Cumulative Exam in Anatomy and Physiology: A Decade of Summative Assessment Reveals Most Challenging Concepts and Prompts Various Interventions

Authors

  • Abass Abdullahi Bronx Community College of the City University of New York

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.55420/2693.9193.v10.n1.297

Keywords:

curriculum, evaluation, health science curriculums

Abstract

A decade long study was conducted on the assessment of 25 cumulative common final multiple-choice questions at the end of every semester from Spring 2008 to 2018 for both courses in the two semester Anatomy and Physiology (A&P) curriculum. The assessment design heavily involved faculty from the beginning; faculty were asked to contribute to the question pools on which the finals were based. There were slight modifications over time based on feedback from the previous semester’s assessment data, but generally the same concepts were maintained for consistency. Overall, the study revealed that A&P I students averaged 67% when all 25 questions were combined and approached the 70% benchmark that was set as a marker for student success in 17 out of the 25 concepts. This was not the case for A&P II, where the overall average was 62%, and individually students were closer to the benchmark in only 13 concepts. For both courses, we identified the 7 most difficult concepts that need better pedagogical approaches. Some of these concepts were consistently performed at or below 50%, even at their most basic difficulty level, and may thus be considered as concepts that most students couldn’t grasp at all. These later concepts included cellular metabolism, action potential and QL-protein synthesis (A&P I), as well as blood osmolarity, acid base and reproductive questions (A&P II). The information revealed by the current study is very useful in curricular redesign and challenges faculty to think of the best innovative strategies to improve student outcomes.

Metrics

Metrics Loading ...

References

Abdullahi, A.S. (2011). Student Exam Participation and Performances in a Web-Enhanced Traditional and Hybrid Allied Health Biology Course. Journal of Online Learning and Teaching. 7(4):426-438. Available online at http://jolt.merlot.org/vol7no4/abdullahi_1211.pdf

Abdullahi, A.S & Gannon, M.N. (2012). Improving college students’ success in gateway science courses: lessons learned from an anatomy and physiology workshop. American Journal of Health Sciences, 3(3):159-168.

Abdullahi, A.S. & Gannon, M. (2015). Assessment of Student Learning and Retention of Chemical and Cellular Concepts in Human Anatomy and Physiology. In vivo 36(3):109-122.

Atamturktur, S., Khan, S., & LaManna, R. (2016). The Growth of an Assessment Culture in a Biology Department. In vivo 37(3):101-114.

Bloom, B. S. (1974). An introduction to mastery learning theory. In J. H. Block (Ed.), Schools, society, and mastery learning. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.

Chronical of Higher Education. Colleges with the highest student-mobility rates. (2017). https://www.chronicle.com/article/Colleges-With-the-Highest/241450

Dean, J.H., & Fischer, S. E. (1992). Nursing predictors study, phase one. Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC), EDRS # 349-036. HAPS comprehensive exam. Available online at http://www.hapsweb.org/?page=ComprehensiveExam

Harris, D.E., Hannun, L., & Gupta, S. (2004). Contributing factors to student success in Anatomy and Physiology: Lower outside workload and better preparation. American Biology Teacher, 66(3), 168-175. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/4451650?uid=3739832&uid=2129&uid=2&uid=70&uid=4&uid=3739256&sid=21102312993667

Hull, K., Wilson, S., Hopp, R., Schaefer, A., & Jackson, J. (2016). Determinants of Student Success in Anatomy and Physiology: Do Prerequisite Courses Matter? A Task Force Review. HAPS Educator. 20(2): 38-45. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/301540266_Determinants_of_Student_Success_in_Anatomy_and_Physiology_Do_Prerequisite_Courses_Matter

Jensen, P.A., & Moore, R. (2008). Students' Behaviors, Grades & Perceptions in an Introductory Biology Course. American Biology Teacher, 70(8), 483-487.

https://doi.org/10.1662/0002-7685(2008)70[483:SBGPIA]2.0.CO;2

Kusurkar, R.A., Croiset, G., & Ten Cate, T.J. (2011). Twelve tips to stimulate intrinsic motivation in students through autonomy-supportive classroom teaching derived from self-determination theory. Med Teach 33: 978–982.

Liachovitzky, Carlos, "Human Anatomy and Physiology Preparatory Course" (2015). CUNY Academic Works. https://academicworks.cuny.edu/bx_oers/1

Lieu, R., Wong, A., Aseflrad, A., & Shaffer, J.F. (2017). Improving Exam Performance in Introductory Biology through the Use of Preclass Reading Guides. CBE—Life Sciences Education.16(3), 1–10.

McKee, G. (2002). Why is biological science difficult for the first-year nursing students? Nurse Ed. Today, 22, 251-257. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12027607

McQueen H.A., Shields C., Finnegan D.J., Higham J., Simmen M.W. (2014). PeerWise provides significant academic benefits to biological science students across diverse learning tasks, but with minimal instructor intervention. Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Education. 42:371–381. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Neuman, L.H. (1991). The relationship between admission/academic achievement variables and pass/fail performance on the National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses (NCLEX-RN) in an LPN-RN program. Ph.D. diss., University of Maryland, College Park.

Sturges, D., Maurer, T.W., Allen, D., Gatch, D.B., & Shankar, P. (2016). Academic performance in human anatomy and physiology classes: a 2-yr study of academic motivation and grade expectation. Adv Physiol Educ40: 26–31. https://doi.org/10.1152/advan.00091.2015

Sujitparapitaya, S. (2014). Achieving faculty buy-in: Motivation performance in learning outcome assessment. Journal of Case Studies in Accreditation and Assessment, 3, 1- 22.

Szpunar, K.K., McDermott, K.B., & Roediger III, H.L. (2007). Expectation of a final cumulative test enhances long-term retention. Memory & Cognition 2007, 35 (5), 1007-1013.

Downloads

Published

2019-11-30

How to Cite

Abdullahi, A. (2019). Common Final Cumulative Exam in Anatomy and Physiology: A Decade of Summative Assessment Reveals Most Challenging Concepts and Prompts Various Interventions. HETS Online Journal, 10(1), 8-39. https://doi.org/10.55420/2693.9193.v10.n1.297

Issue

Section

Articles