Effectiveness of online multi-level assessment of research methodology in integrated curriculum - Students’ performance in Year 3 of undergraduate Medical Education.

Abstract

Objectives: To evaluate the effectiveness of the integrated method of teaching and learning for research methodology taught from year 1 to 3 in a private medical college assessed online through multiple assessments during COVID-19 lockdown. The secondary objective was to explore students’ feedback regarding the online assessment of research methodology. Study Design: Non-randomized Interventional study. Setting: Private Medical College in Islamabad. Period: January 2021 to May 2021. Material & Methods: Research methodology has been incorporated longitudinally in the academic curriculum from year 1 to 3 for the last five years.  Students’ knowledge was assessed online through 3- pronged approach using MCQs, SAQ’s and Viva. The total marks of these assessments were 100. An online questionnaire was designed on Google form to get students’ feedback regarding online assessment using the Likert scale. Data was entered and analyzed using SPSS version 23. Results: A total of 111 students participated in this study. The mean ± SD score of students in all the three assessments were 6.7±1.6, 19.5 ± 6.5, 26.2 ± 17.6 in the viva, MCQs, SAQ’s respectively. Conclusion: The integrated curriculum of teaching and learning for research methodology is useful in terms of achieving learning outcomes. However, students’ performance in SAQ’s was just average which needs to be addressed. Majority of the participants found online assessments to be very useful.