Academic Medicine Open Forum

As time passes, I have been reflecting on the side effects of standardized [MCQ] testing on our students. We are pushing for an agenda focused on engaged learning, self-directed learning, problem solving, and deep learning instead of swallow learning. But the question is, Does the students really want to be part of such community? when they have a tsunami of information and needs to be highly competitive  to assure their residency of choice, they need to focus on good grades. Good grades don't mean that they have mastered the material, but rather crammed into their brains for regurgitation. They stay in the surface and never go deep. So why not just give them what they want? this is, what is coming in the exam in a straight forward way.  Does anybody in this community have encounter such resistance to deep learning methodologies? any comment or discussion will be highly appreciated.

------------------------------
Hector Lopez
Associate Professor
USF Health Morsani College of Medicine
------------------------------

hi Hector,
It is indeed a careful balance of ensuring our students are prepared to be good doctors (which requires more than rote memorization) while helping them to remain competitive for residency training.  I have a couple of thoughts that touch on the continuum of the medical education training process:

• Admissions is a critical point when we communicate our values and expectations for joining our class.  It should be very clear to students as they interview that you have expectations for deep learning to become a good doctor.
• It's important that students see the connection between your deep learning/assessment methodologies and their success on tests or getting good grades.  Sharing data from papers (see attached paper) as well as from your own data as a school that shows how learners who engage deeply may be doing better on multiple metrics can be helpful.
• At the end of the day, it's really about change management.  Once your students get used to a new model (if it's applied consistently across the curriculum), they will start to adapt and future classes will see it as the norm.

Thanks for bringing this up, it's very important!
Andrea

------------------------------
Andrea Berry
Executive Director, Faculty Life
University of Central Florida College of Medicine
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 09-13-2022 09:50
From: Hector Lopez
Subject: The Side Effects of Standardized Exams: Just give them what they want...

As time passes, I have been reflecting on the side effects of standardized [MCQ] testing on our students. We are pushing for an agenda focused on engaged learning, self-directed learning, problem solving, and deep learning instead of swallow learning. But the question is, Does the students really want to be part of such community? when they have a tsunami of information and needs to be highly competitive  to assure their residency of choice, they need to focus on good grades. Good grades don't mean that they have mastered the material, but rather crammed into their brains for regurgitation. They stay in the surface and never go deep. So why not just give them what they want? this is, what is coming in the exam in a straight forward way.  Does anybody in this community have encounter such resistance to deep learning methodologies? any comment or discussion will be highly appreciated.

------------------------------
Hector Lopez
Associate Professor
USF Health Morsani College of Medicine
------------------------------