Theme: 7AA eLearning: Games, resources and platforms
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Student-centred learning and engagement in undergraduate medical education using Peerwise.
Authors: CAROL DITCHFIELD
GENEVIEVE STAPLETON
JOANNE BURKE
Institutions: UNIVERSITY OF GLASGOW - MEDICAL SCHOOL - United Kingdom
 
Background

Peerwise is a free online learning tool that allows students to create, answer and critique their own multiple choice questions1. The active and collaborative nature of engagement with the tool encourages motivation and deep learning.

Single best-answer multiple choice questions were introduced to the written summative assessments in the medical undergraduate course starting in 2011-12 and by 2014-2015 this was rolled out across all 5 years. Peerwise was introduced in tandem with this new MCQ exam content, starting in 2011-2012 with selected year groups and now available to all students.

Previous research data has reported that students particularly value both authoring and answering MCQ questions for their learning and revision2.

The screenshot below (Figure 1) shows how students can navigate and choose which questions to answer. The top box shows all the topic tags and students can select any group to answer. They can also sort and select questions using any filter in the table.

Figure 1: Screenshot showing unanswered question screen in Peerwise

Summary of Work

Peerwise use is voluntary. Students are given an introductory lecture and it is then left to the students to use as they want. Engagement of students was analysed both within specific year groups and longitudinally across a cohort. The cohort data collected so far is for Years 1-3 of the curriculum.  Data analysis included the number of questions written as well as the number of attempts to answer questions. Peak usage timelines were also monitored.

Summary of Results

Variable trends were observed following initial introduction of Peerwise however the data collected from the two most recent cohorts of students have shown an increasing engagement with the online tool. Figure 2 shows the number of answer attempts that students have made. This has increased year-on-year within a cohort. Subsequent cohorts have also shown increasing use. At peak usage in Year 3 of Cohort 1, 12706 answer attempts were made in one day. This trend is also mirrored in the number of questions that were authored by students (Figure 3). On average, around 23% of the class contribute questions. At peak usage in Year 3, 37 questions were submitted in one day. Timeline data is shown in the attached section. The student usage mirrors the timings of the summative examinations.

 

 

 

 

 

Conclusion

Single best-answer questions were introduced to all the preclinical summative assessments in the Glasgow undergraduate curriculum in 2013-2014 (and in 2014-2015 this was introduced across all 5 years). Students' usage of Peerwise now closely mirrors their preparation for summative examinations demonstrating that they perceive it to be a useful tool. Early engagement with Peerwise in Year 1 results in high rates of student usage in that year and subsequent years. Both the question submission and question answering modalities are both heavily used by students.

Take-home Messages

Peerwise is perceived by students to be an effective learning tool in which they actively engage in a collaborative manner. Early strategies to promote the use of Peerwise in Year 1 may help to ensure continued use throughout the undergraduate course.

References

1. Denny, P., et al. (2008). The PeerWise system of student contributed assessment questions. Proceedings of the tenth conference on Australasian computing education - Volume 78. Wollongong, NSW, Australia, Australian Computer Society, Inc.: 69-74.

2. Grosset, A., et al. (2013) Engaging students in Peerwise: an innovative online learning approach  6th Annual Teaching and Learning Conference, University of Glasgow

 

Acknowledgement

We would like to thank Dr Amanda Sykes for introducing Peerwise to the Medical School and for support and guidance.

Background

 

For more information on how to use Peerwise see -   http://peerwise.cs.auckland.ac.nz/docs/students/

 

Summary of Work
Summary of Results

Usage data for Year 3 (summative exams in February)

Usage data for Year 2 (summative exams in December and May)

Conclusion
Take-home Messages
References
Acknowledgement
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