Pilot studies of in-course assessment for a revised medical curriculum: I. Paper-based, whole class.

Purpose: To test a paper-based method of in-course assessment for a modular, systems-oriented medical curriculum at the University of Otago Medical School.
Method: In 1996, 193 students took paper-based quizzes on the first four topics of a course in clinical biochemistry. A score of 75% was required for passing, but students could retake quizzes. The subsequent test on these four topics was constructed from questions used in previous years. The next four topics were taught without quizzes. The test on these topics was again constructed from questions used in past years. The authors examined the performances on the quizzes and tests and sought the students' opinions about the program.
Results: 72.0-95.3% of the students passed the quizzes the first time and 94.8-99.5% passed by the second version. Performance on the subsequent test items was higher than [corrected] when the items had been used previously; so was performance on three of the four questions for the next four topics, none of which had been accompanied by quizzes. Students valued the quizzes as a stimulus to study and as feedback. They preferred the segment of the course with the quizzes to the segment without them.
Conclusion: This method of in-course assessment was easy to administer and highly acceptable to the students. Performance on the quizzes was more than satisfactory and a passing score of 75% was reasonable. Such quizzes appeared to be able to replace a test that required explanation of answers while increasing the numbers of questions that could be asked and decreasing the marking time.