Collaborative Exams in an Undergraduate Anatomy and Physiology Classroom Enhance Students' Perceived Learning and Knowledge Retention
Authors: Stokes Jennifer Ann 
Published: June 2021

Collaborative learning activities in the classroom encourage student interactions, promote peer‐to‐peer teaching, and increase learning and knowledge retention. Summative assessments, such as individual course exams, are necessary to evaluate student knowledge and level of understanding of course content, but they can also be used as a valuable teaching tool. Human anatomy and physiology courses, even at the undergraduate level, require that students retain information throughout the course in order to grasp the integrative nature of human anatomy and physiology in health and disease and its core concepts. This initial report examines the use of collaborative testing in an undergraduate‐level anatomy and physiology course at a primarily undergraduate institution. Nineteen students enrolled in Human Anatomy and Physiology I took part in the initial study. The students first completed the regularly scheduled course exams individually and on the following day the students completed the same exam in pre‐assigned groups of three to four students. Following the final collaborative exam the students completed a survey which asked questions aimed at assessing their perceived learning, knowledge retention, peer‐to‐peer teaching experience, and feelings towards group work. This survey asked the student to evaluate the collaborative exams using a standard Likert scale where 1 indicated “strongly disagree” and 5 indicated “strongly agree”. Mean student performance on the collaborative exams was significantly better when compared to the individual exams (Exam I: 75.9 ± 13.0% vs. 90.4 ± 2.8%, p<0.001; Exam II: 80.3 ± 15.5% vs. 93.3 ± 4.3%, p=0.003). Survey results indicate that the collaborative exams were an overall positive experience that improved perceived student learning and retention. Specifically, 90% or more of the students responded with a score of a 4 (somewhat agree) or 5 (strongly agree) in regards to the following statements: 1) After the collaborative exam, I often better understood the exam material; 2) The collaborative exams reinforced the course material and/or major learning objectives; and, 3) The collaborative exams helped me retain information throughout the course. Additionally, 68% or more of the students responded with a score of a 4 or 5 in regards to the following statements: 1) I enjoyed learning from my peers during the collaborative exams; and, 2) The collaborative exams support the practice of group study and collaborative thinking. Finally, 90% of the students responded with a score of a 4 or 5 to the following statement: I think that the collaborative exams are a valuable learning activity. Based on these results, this student cohort supports the use of collaborative exams as a teaching tool and rates them highly in terms of peer‐to‐peer teaching, learning, and knowledge retention. Future studies will assess student learning and knowledge retention by repeating selected questions, which focus on the core concepts in physiology, on subsequent exams.

This abstract is from the Experimental Biology 2019 Meeting. There is no full text article associated with this abstract published in The FASEB Journal.