Formative Assessment: An Innovative Approach to Enhance Learning in Medical Education

• DOI: https://doi.org/10.22533/at.ed.1595152518032

• Palavras-chave: Teaching, learning, skills, technology, innovation

• Keywords: Teaching, learning, skills, technology, innovation

• Abstract:

  Introduction: Formative assessment is a continuous process throughout education, guided and influenced by the three essential pillars of the educational process: teaching, learning and assessment, establishing an intrinsic relationship between them. It can be particularly challenging to formatively accompany many students simultaneously. In this sense, just as formative assessment is designed to help the student, it can also be useful in enabling teachers, through multiple feedbacks, to guide teaching effectively and flexibly, and to have reference points for the application of specific pedagogical strategies.
  Objectives: The study investigated the impact of innovative strategies for formative assessment of medical students with 100% active methodology and how these practices can contribute to the development of different medical competencies.
  Methodology: The study consists of the application of 4 innovative educational strategies designed according to educational learning objectives: 1- Google Forms, 2- Multiple choice tests on Zip Grade answer sheets, 3- Construction of Mind Maps aided by artificial intelligence, 4- Interactive online game, and subsequent application of an evaluation questionnaire to students for critical analysis.
  Results: 559 students from the second to fifth year of the medical course took part in this study. There was high student satisfaction with the innovative strategies, with unanimous affirmation that they made a significant contribution to their learning and subsequent formative assessment, while 94.7% highlighted their effectiveness in teamwork. Among the strategies used, 8.15% of the students preferred Zip Grade exercises; 18.7% preferred the use of mind maps, with unanimous agreement that the use of artificial intelligence helped to organize the content. Forms were preferred by 21.6% of the students, given the possibility of immediate learning feedback and, remarkably, the majority of students (51.4%) preferred games. Finally, the strategies developed received a final average rating of 9.75 on a scale of 0 to 10, demonstrating their effectiveness in the educational context of the medical course.
  Conclusion: The adoption of innovative educational strategies, including the use of artificial intelligence, games and collaborative methods, has been shown to contribute significantly to student learning and their formative assessments, promoting engagement, teamwork and immediate learning feedback. These findings highlight the importance of investing in innovative and adaptable educational approaches to optimize the training of competent health professionals who are prepared for the challenges of the constantly evolving clinical environment.