Student experiences of assessment in two problem‐based dental curricula: Adelaide and Dublin

Dental students in third (n?=?35) and fifth years (n?=?50) at Adelaide and Trinity College Dental Schools were surveyed about their experiences of assessment and their perceptions of the importance of particular aspects of assessment. Students reported on their assessment experience within their programmes by describing a critical assessment incident and their response to it, and also rated assessment purposes and features using a 5‐point Likert scale of relative importance. The students described a range of assessment methods, including group assignments, vivas, laboratory assessment, and problem‐based learning tutorials, but written examinations/tests and clinical assessment were discussed most frequently. Negative assessment experiences were commonly noted. The two most frequently raised issues were lack of congruence between student and staff perceptions of performance, and not receiving adequate feedback. There were no significant differences between years or schools in students’ ratings of the importance of assessment purposes. Overall, the students rated the provision of feedback on learning and motivation for learning as the most important purposes (>?80%). Patient‐based scenarios were rated as the most important method for judging students’ learning (>?90%), whilst group‐work tasks were rated of little importance. Overall, students rated clear requirements and feedback as the most important characteristics for positive assessment outcomes. Students’ ratings of assessment purposes, characteristics and methods closely matched the features of good assessment practice found in the literature. However, their assessment experiences indicate the need for review of assessment in both schools, particularly related to student–staff expectations of performance levels, and the provision of feedback.     

Attitudes of introductory college biology students toward evolution

Introductory college biology students were surveyed to investigate their attitudes toward evolution. Thurstone's Scale No. 30, Form A, Attitudes Toward Evolution was used to survey the sample. Results indicate that the majority of introductory biology students believe in the theory of evolution. Two demographic variables, sex and influence of the church, produced a significant correlation with the attitude scores. There were significant interactions between sex and influence of high school biology teacher and between sex and major. Self rating by the individual students and attitude scores also produced a significant correlation. Construct validity of the attitude scale was supported by the significant correlation between student self rating and scale scores. ANOVA produced a F value significant at the 0.01 probability level, and Spearman's correlation coefficient between the two measures was 0.73. Although the Thurstone Scale No. 30, Form A, is over 45 years old, the results of this study suggest that it is a reliable instrument for use today with modifications in item construction, scaling or adaptation to other scoring methods.