TY - JOUR
T1 - Red, yellow and green
T2 - What does it mean? How the progress test informs and supports student progress
AU - Given, Karen
AU - Hannigan, Ailish
AU - McGrath, Deirdre
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2016 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
PY - 2016/10/2
Y1 - 2016/10/2
N2 - Objectives: Most medical schools using progress tests (PTs) provide feedback by utilizing a traffic-light system of green (satisfactory), yellow (borderline) and red (unsatisfactory) categories. There is little research assessing students’ perceptions or usage of this feedback. Therefore this study proposed to determine the effectiveness of formative PTs at informing and supporting student progress. Methods: A mixed methods study was performed, involving a retrospective analysis of a results database to establish the predictive validity of PT categories and 11 semi-structured interviews to explore students’ perceptions of PT feedback in a graduate entry medical programme. Results: Quantitative analysis revealed that students who always scored green performed better in their summative exams and graduated with a higher final degree than those who received a yellow or red category at least once. Qualitative analysis revealed that just over half of the interviewed students perceived the PT as having informed their progress. Most participants agreed that the current feedback is insufficient and doesn’t guide their on-going learning. Conclusion: While this study demonstrated that the PT is a useful predictive tool for informing student progress, in its current format it’s not fulfilling a truly formative role and supporting student progress sufficiently.
AB - Objectives: Most medical schools using progress tests (PTs) provide feedback by utilizing a traffic-light system of green (satisfactory), yellow (borderline) and red (unsatisfactory) categories. There is little research assessing students’ perceptions or usage of this feedback. Therefore this study proposed to determine the effectiveness of formative PTs at informing and supporting student progress. Methods: A mixed methods study was performed, involving a retrospective analysis of a results database to establish the predictive validity of PT categories and 11 semi-structured interviews to explore students’ perceptions of PT feedback in a graduate entry medical programme. Results: Quantitative analysis revealed that students who always scored green performed better in their summative exams and graduated with a higher final degree than those who received a yellow or red category at least once. Qualitative analysis revealed that just over half of the interviewed students perceived the PT as having informed their progress. Most participants agreed that the current feedback is insufficient and doesn’t guide their on-going learning. Conclusion: While this study demonstrated that the PT is a useful predictive tool for informing student progress, in its current format it’s not fulfilling a truly formative role and supporting student progress sufficiently.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84961390575&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3109/0142159X.2016.1147533
DO - 10.3109/0142159X.2016.1147533
M3 - Article
C2 - 27007618
AN - SCOPUS:84961390575
SN - 0142-159X
VL - 38
SP - 1025
EP - 1032
JO - Medical Teacher
JF - Medical Teacher
IS - 10
ER -