PERIODIC EVALUATION OF TEACHING, BASED ON STUDENTS FEEDBACK IMPROVES EFFECTIVENESS OF TEACHING BY POST-GRADUATE STUDENTS

Abstract : During their training, medical post-graduates are frequently required to teachundergraduate students. The aim of this study was to determine whether periodic evaluation ofteaching, based on students feedback, can improve effectiveness of such teaching. The study wasconducted among first year BSc nursing students, who had lectures taken by an MD student inBiochemistry, over a period of 16 weeks. An evaluation form was used to obtain feedback from thestudents, evaluating the quality of the lectures. Two evaluations were done. Mean scores werecalculated from the data. The marks obtained by students in the tests conducted prior to the first andsecond evaluations were tabulated. Data were analyzed by the unpaired t test. A p value of less than0.05 was considered to be statistically significant. Feedback obtained from the first evaluation wasused to take corrective action for subsequent lectures. The results of the first evaluation showed anaverage score of more than 3 (out of a maximum of 4) for three items in the evaluation form. On all the other items, the average score varied between 2.18 to 2.94. The average overall score was 2.75(SD 0.38). The second evaluation showed an average score above 3 for four items in the evaluationform. For all other items, the average score varied between 2.41 and 3.39. The average overall scorewas 2.9 (SD 0.36). Scores given by students for several of the items were significantly higher in thsecond evaluation, when compared to the first evaluation. The average marks obtained in the firsttest was 44 (SD20.38) and in the second test was 62 (SD20.17). The mean mark in the second testwas significantly higher than in the first test (p 0.001), showing significant improvement in studentsperformances in the second test. The results suggest that evaluation of lectures and taking actionbased on the results obtained can be powerful tools to improve teaching by medical postgraduates.