Integrated online formative assessments in the biomedical sciences for medical students: benefits for learning

BMC Medical Education

Table 4 Analysis of effect of participation in online formative assessments in 2006 and 2007 by year commenced in program

				End of Course Examination Marks
Course	Year students commenced in program	≥ 1 attempt	N	Mean	Mean difference (95% CI)	T-Score	P value
1	2005	No	63	63.8	6.9 (3.6, 10.2)	4.2	< .001
		Yes	170	70.7
	2006	No	34	56.6	6.9 (2.1, 11.6)	2.9	.006
		Yes	200	63.4
2	2005	No	41	65.3	3.0 (-.7, 6.7)	1.6	0.114
		Yes	188	68.3
	2006	No	21	57.8	6.3 (1.4, 11.1)	2.5	.011
		Yes	210	64.0
3	2005	No	44	67.0	4.5 (1.4, 7.5)	2.9	0.004
		Yes	185	71.5
	2006	No	25	64.9	2.9 (-.7, 6.4)	1.6	.110
		Yes	206	67.8
4	2005	No	34	56.7	9.0 (5.6, 12.4)	5.1	< .001
		Yes	194	65.7
	2006	No	55	60.6	2.5 (-.9, 5.9)	1.5	.148
		Yes	173	63.1
5	2006	No	23	68.4	2.1 (-1.5, 5.7)	1.2	.242
		Yes	205	70.6
	2007	No	21	49.5	12.3 (7.6, 17.0)	5.1	< .001
		Yes	248	61.9
6	2006	No	35	60.6	7.5 (3.5, 11.4)	3.7	< .001
		Yes	194	68.1
	2007	No	35	59.4	3.4 (-.7, 7.5)	1.6	.107
		Yes	228	62.8
7	2006	No	56	65.1	2.1 (-.4, 4.6)	1.6	.102
		Yes	172	67.2
	2007	No	64	59.0	4.5 (2.1, 7.0)	3.7	< .001
		Yes	199	63.5

Statistical comparisons of End of Course examination marks between students who had attempted the online formative assessment in each course and those who had not were performed by Student's t-tests. NB: All courses in Phase 1 of the Medicine program are vertically integrated. Because courses are presented in alternating cycles, students commencing in 2007 had not completed courses 1–4 at the time of data collection, and students who commenced in 2005 completed courses 5–7 in their first year, prior to the period of data collection.

ISSN: 1472-6920