PROBLEM-BASED WRITING WITH PEER REVIEW IMPROVES ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE IN PHYSIOLOGY

2002 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
pp. 174-184 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nancy J. Pelaez

The aim of this study was to determine whether problem-based writing with peer review (PW-PR) improves undergraduate student performance on physiology exams. Didactic lectures were replaced with assignments to give students practice explaining their reasoning while solving qualitative problems, thus transferring the responsibility for abstraction and generalization to the students. Performance on exam items about concepts taught using PW-PR was compared with performance on concepts taught using didactic lectures followed by group work. Calibrated Peer Review™, a Web-delivered program, was used to collect student essays and to manage anonymous peer review after students “passed” three calibration peer reviews. Results show that the students had difficulty relating concepts. Relationship errors were categorized as 1) problems recognizing levels of organization, 2) problems with cause/effect, and 3) overgeneralizations. For example, some described cells as molecules; others thought that vesicles transport materials through the extracellular fluid. With PW-PR, class discussion was used to confront and resolve such difficulties. Both multiple-choice and essay exam results were better with PW-PR instead of lecture.

2017 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 23-38 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sweety Law ◽  
Amy Baer

This article reports an initiative to improve student writing by incorporating technology-based structured peer review in the revision process. Although the most important step of writing, the revision step, is overlooked by students for several reasons. We describe a successful 10-week long intervention with students from upper-level undergraduate courses. Effectiveness was assessed by means of a pre- and post-test design, student feedback, and student performance scores. Areas where the intervention was found to have most significant impact were the following: students’ overall ability to make revisions, overall English writing, and feedback skills. Educators would find technology-based peer review helpful by having students learn and apply revision efforts in their written assignments. Benefits and trade-offs of the innovative pedagogy are discussed and directions for future study indicated.


10.28945/2632 ◽  
2003 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guttorm Sindre ◽  
Daniel Moody ◽  
Terje Brasethvik ◽  
Arne Solvberg

This paper reports on the 2002 experiences with students’ peer-review of modeling exercises in a third year Information Systems course. While the peer-reviews did yield some positive and promising results, there were also some problems, and the goals set when introducing peer reviews were not fully achieved. Based on an analysis of student performance and perceptions, main causes for the problems were found to be lacking student motivation combined with unclear demands from teaching staff. For the 2003 offering of the course, the peer review process has been changed to remedy these problems, and this seems to have improved the learning experience for the students.


2011 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 65
Author(s):  
Kay E. Strong

Calibrated Peer Review (CPR) is a web-based instructional tool that encourages writing gain for students without adding grading pain for the instructor! The use of CPR provides students frequent opportunities to hone both writing as well as peer review skills in a guided environment. And once an assignment is authored, instructors have little to do beside monitor progress and arbitrate possible grading complaints! The four phase process of the Calibrated Peer Review reinforces learning of the content material and provides immediate assessment feedback. Students access the assignment by logging into CPR. Phase one involves the preparation and submission of the students text response to the writing assignment. During phase two the student evaluates three instructor written calibrations (high quality, mid quality and low quality) of the same assignment using pre-specified rubrics assessing content and style. An unsuccessful outcome prompts a return to the calibrations and a retry. A successful outcome moves the student forward into phase three. The software randomly selects three anonymous peer assignments. Using the same evaluation criteria the student assesses each assignment. At phase four, the student is presented his/her own assignment for self-review. Time limits at each phase insure timely completion of the assignment in full. The CPR tool provides immediate feedback on student performance at each phase. At the conclusion the CPR tool produces a complete set of results corresponding to performance at each phase; a score for the text entry, a score for the three calibrations, a score for the three peer reviews, a self-assessment score and concluding overall score. To bypass problems commonly associated with students reviewing student work, CPR has built in a set of weighting factors based on standard deviations which are reflected in the students own scores. Given its discipline-independent nature, Calibrated Peer Review makes an excellent instructional management tool to encourage students to read for content, master the content, write-to-learn, as well as, critically review writing.


2010 ◽  
Vol 96 (1) ◽  
pp. 20-29
Author(s):  
Jerry C. Calvanese

ABSTRACT Study Objective: The purpose of this study was to obtain data on various characteristics of peer reviews. These reviews were performed for the Nevada State Board of Medical Examiners (NSBME) to assess physician licensees' negligence and/or incompetence. It was hoped that this data could help identify and define certain characteristics of peer reviews. Methods: This study examined two years of data collected on peer reviews. The complaints were initially screened by a medical reviewer and/or a committee composed of Board members to assess the need for a peer review. Data was then collected from the peer reviews performed. The data included costs, specialty of the peer reviewer, location of the peer reviewer, and timeliness of the peer reviews. Results: During the two-year study, 102 peer reviews were evaluated. Sixty-nine percent of the peer-reviewed complaints originated from civil malpractice cases and 15% originated from complaints made by patients. Eighty percent of the complaint physicians were located in Clark County and 12% were located in Washoe County. Sixty-one percent of the physicians who performed the peer reviews were located in Washoe County and 24% were located in Clark County. Twelve percent of the complaint physicians were in practice in the state for 5 years or less, 40% from 6 to 10 years, 20% from 11 to 15 years, 16% from 16 to 20 years, and 13% were in practice 21 years or more. Forty-seven percent of the complaint physicians had three or less total complaints filed with the Board, 10% had four to six complaints, 17% had 7 to 10 complaints, and 26% had 11 or more complaints. The overall quality of peer reviews was judged to be good or excellent in 96% of the reviews. A finding of malpractice was found in 42% of the reviews ordered by the medical reviewer and in 15% ordered by the Investigative Committees. There was a finding of malpractice in 38% of the overall total of peer reviews. The total average cost of a peer review was $791. In 47% of the peer reviews requested, materials were sent from the Board to the peer reviewer within 60 days of the original request and 33% took more than 120 days for the request to be sent. In 48% of the reviews, the total time for the peer review to be performed by the peer reviewer was less than 60 days. Twenty seven percent of the peer reviews took more than 120 days to be returned. Conclusion: Further data is needed to draw meaningful conclusions from certain peer review characteristics reported in this study. However, useful data was obtained regarding timeliness in sending out peer review materials, total times for the peer reviews, and costs.


2017 ◽  
Vol 32 (4) ◽  
pp. 1-17 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dianne Massoudi ◽  
SzeKee Koh ◽  
Phillip J. Hancock ◽  
Lucia Fung

ABSTRACT In this paper we investigate the effectiveness of an online learning resource for introductory financial accounting students using a suite of online multiple choice questions (MCQ) for summative and formative purposes. We found that the availability and use of an online resource resulted in improved examination performance for those students who actively used the online learning resource. Further, we found a positive relationship between formative MCQ and unit content related to challenging financial accounting concepts. However, better examination performance was also linked to other factors, such as prior academic performance, tutorial participation, and demographics, including gender and attending university as an international student. JEL Classifications: I20; M41.


2020 ◽  
pp. 009862832097989
Author(s):  
Roni M. Crumb ◽  
Ryan Hildebrandt ◽  
Tina M. Sutton

Background: Many students use laptops in the classroom to take notes; however, even when laptops are used for the sole purpose of taking notes they can negatively impact academic performance. Objective: The current study examined state-dependent effects, and the potential for a match in note taking and quiz taking methods to improve quiz performance. Method: Participants were placed into a congruent (take notes by hand and complete the quiz by hand or take notes using a laptop and complete an online quiz) or an incongruent condition (take notes by hand and take an online quiz or take notes using a laptop and complete the quiz by hand). Results: The results revealed that participants who took notes by hand performed better on the quiz overall, and better on conceptual questions, then students who took notes using a laptop. We failed to find evidence for state-dependent effects. Conclusions: The current study suggests that taking notes by hand may improve how students encode material, and result in higher quality external storage used by students when studying for quizzes. Teaching Implications: Reinforcing the notion that taking notes by hand may benefit quiz performance for lecture-style information and could improve student performance in class.


2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas C. Kwee ◽  
Hugo J. A. Adams ◽  
Robert M. Kwee

Abstract Objective To investigate peer review practices by medical imaging journals. Methods Journals in the category "radiology, nuclear medicine and medical imaging" of the 2018 Journal Citation Reports were included. Results Of 119 included journals, 62 (52.1%) used single-blinded peer review, 49 (41.2%) used double-blinded peer review, two (1.7%) used open peer review and one (0.8%) used both single-blinded and double-blinded peer reviews, while the peer review model of five journals (4.2%) remained unclear. The use of single-blinded peer review was significantly associated with a journal’s impact factor (correlation coefficient of 0.218, P = 0.022). On subgroup analysis, only subspecialty medical imaging journals had a significant association between the use of single-blinded peer review and a journal’s impact factor (correlation coefficient of 0.354, P = 0.025). Forty-eight journals (40.3%) had a reviewer preference option, 48 journals (40.3%) did not have a reviewer recommendation option, and 23 journals (19.3%) obliged authors to indicate reviewers on their manuscript submission systems. Sixty-four journals (53.8%) did not provide an explicit option on their manuscript submission Web site to indicate nonpreferred reviewers, whereas 55 (46.2%) did. There were no significant associations between the option or obligation to indicate preferred or nonpreferred reviewers and a journal’s impact factor. Conclusion Single-blinded peer review and the option or obligation to indicate preferred or nonpreferred reviewers are frequently employed by medical imaging journals. Single-blinded review is (weakly) associated with a higher impact factor, also for subspecialty journals. The option or obligation to indicate preferred or nonpreferred reviewers is evenly distributed among journals, regardless of impact factor.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (14) ◽  
pp. 7673
Author(s):  
Tarquino Sánchez-Almeida ◽  
David Naranjo ◽  
Raquel Gilar-Corbi ◽  
Jessica Reina

In Ecuador, affirmative action policies enable students from vulnerable groups to preferentially enter universities. However, these policies are limited to admission and do not include academic or socio-economic support mechanisms that, according to the literature, promote student insertion in the higher education system. In this study, the effects of socio-academic intervention on the academic performance of vulnerable students are presented. For this, 41 students were selected among 164 vulnerable students entering the Escuela Politécnica Nacional in the second term of 2019. The 41 students attended a socio-academic intervention course for one term, while the remaining 123 attended the Escuela Politécnica Nacional levelling course directly. Once both groups of students finished the levelling course, their performance in each of the course subjects was compared. The results showed that the academic performance of the students in the intervention was significantly higher in mathematics and geometry compared to the students who had no intervention. These results show that the socio-academic intervention promotes the real insertion of vulnerable students in the university system.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (6) ◽  
pp. 3341
Author(s):  
Jesús Maya ◽  
Juan F. Luesia ◽  
Javier Pérez-Padilla

Universities strive to ensure quality education focused on the diversity of the student body. According to experiential learning theory, students display different learning preferences. This study has a three-fold objective: to compare learning styles based on personal and educational variables, to analyze the association between learning styles, the level of academic performance, and consistency of performance in four assessment methods, and to examine the influence of learning dimensions in students with medium-high performance in the assessment methods. An interdisciplinary approach was designed involving 289 psychology, early childhood education and primary education students at two universities in Spain. The Learning Style Inventory was used to assess learning styles and dimensions. The assessment methods used in the developmental psychology course included the following question formats: multiple-choice, short answer, creation-elaboration and an elaboration question on the relationship between theory and practice. Univariate analysis, multivariate analysis, and binomial logistic models were computed. The results reveal Psychology students to be more assimilative (theoretical and abstract), while early childhood and primary education students were evenly distributed among styles and were more divergent and convergent (practical) in absolute terms. In addition, high scores in perception (abstract conceptualization) were associated with a high level of performance on the multiple-choice tests and the elaboration question on the relationship between theory and practice. Abstract conceptualization was also associated with medium-high performance in all assessment methods and this variable predicted consistent high performance, independent of the assessment method. This study highlights the importance of promoting abstract conceptualization. Recommendations for enhancing this learning dimension are presented.


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