The Retrospective Pre-Post: A Practical Method to Evaluate Learning from an Educational Program

ACADEMIC EMERGENCY MEDICINE 2012; 19:189–194 © 2012 by the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine Abstract Objectives: Program evaluation remains a critical but underutilized step in medical education. This study compared traditional and retrospective pre–post self-assessment methods to objective learning measures to assess which correlated better to actual learning. Methods: Forty-seven medical students participated in a 4-hour pediatric resuscitation course. They completed pre and post self-assessments on pediatric resuscitation and two distracter topics. Postcourse, students also retrospectively rated their understanding as it was precourse (the “retrospective pre” instrument). Changes in traditional and retrospective pre- to postcourse self-assessment measures were compared to an objectives-based multiple-choice exam. Results: The traditional pre to post self-assessment means showed an increase from 1.9 of 5 to 3.7 of 5 (p