1. A Structured Peer Assessment Method with Regular Reinforcement Promotes Longitudinal Self-Perceived Development of Medical Students' Feedback Skills.
- Author
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Tzeng A, Bruno B, Cooperrider J, Dinardo PB, Baird R, Swetlik C, Goldstein BN, Rastogi R, Roth AJ, Gilligan TD, and Rish JM
- Abstract
Background: Given that training is integral to providing constructive peer feedback, we examined the impact of a regularly reinforced, structured peer assessment method on student-reported feedback abilities throughout a two-year preclinical Communication Skills course., Methods: Three consecutive 32-student medical school classes were introduced to the Observation-Reaction-Feedback method for providing verbal assessment during Year 1 Communication Skills orientation. In biweekly small-group sessions, students received worksheets reiterating the method and practiced giving verbal feedback to peers. Periodic questionnaires evaluated student perceptions of feedback delivery and the Observation-Reaction-Feedback method., Results: Biweekly reinforcement of the Observation-Reaction-Feedback method encouraged its uptake, which correlated with reports of more constructive, specific feedback. Compared to non-users, students who used the method noted greater improvement in comfort with assessing peers in Year 1 and continued growth of feedback abilities in Year 2. Comfort with providing modifying feedback and verbal feedback increased over the two-year course, while comfort with providing reinforcing feedback and written feedback remained similarly high. Concurrently, student preference for feedback anonymity decreased., Conclusions: Regular reinforcement of a peer assessment framework can increase student usage of the method, which promotes the expansion of self-reported peer feedback skills over time. These findings support investigation of analogous strategies in other medical education settings., Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s40670-021-01242-w., Competing Interests: Conflicts of interestOn behalf of all authors, the corresponding author states that there is no conflict of interest., (© International Association of Medical Science Educators 2021.)
- Published
- 2021
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