Exam wrapper and metacognition for undergraduate surgery students in exam preparation
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.18203/2349-2902.isj20205361Keywords:
Metacognition, Surgery students, Exam preparation, Self directed learningAbstract
Background: An exam wrapper is a structured debriefing questionnaire tailored to help the students understand their performance in the examination and help them to plan and develop improvement strategies. Exam wrappers give students a structured reflection about how they performed in a particular exam and act as a useful tool to perform better in the next exam. This mixed-method study was conducted to assess the impact of exam wrapper on metacognitive skills of surgery students and to assess the perception of students on its application in exam preparation.
Methods: Metacognition was assessed using the metacognitive inventory questionnaire for students learning surgery. Nonparametric Friedman test was used to analyze quantitative data and qualitative data which were collected from four identified focus groups students who completed the exam wrapper sessions.
Results: Students who used the exam wrapper throughout the semester demonstrated appreciable improvement in metacognition (p=0.013). Focus group data showed that students found the exam wrapper useful and effective. The analysis revealed the students' trust that, the faculties can make a change, complementary to conventional teaching-learning methods and reflecting the exam paper helps them to perform better.
Conclusions: Medical students in surgery perceive this tool as useful and their application of exam wrapper as an effective tool in metacognition. This type of metacognitive intervention needs to be adopted across different departments for exam wrapper to be more engaging and direct students towards self-directed learning.
Metrics
References
Achacoso MV. Post-test analysis: A tool for developing students’ metacognitive awareness and self-regulation. In: Achacoso MV, Svinivki MD, eds. New directions for teaching and learning. Alternative strategies for evaluating student learning. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass; 2004:115-9.
Pate A, Laffite EM, Ramachandran S, Cladwell DJ. The use of exam wrappers to promote metacognition. Curr Pharm Teach Learn. 2019;11(5):492-8.
Gezer-Templeton PG, Mayhew EJ, Korte DS, Schmidt SJ. Use of exam wrappers to enhance students' metacognitive skills in large introductory food science and human nutrition class. J Food Sci Edu. 2017;16(1):28-36.
Schuler MS, Chung J. Exam Wrapper Use and Metacognition in a Fundamentals Course: Perceptions and Reality. J Nurs Educ. 2019;58(7): 417-21.
Masui C, Broeckmans J, Doumen S, Groenen A, Molenberghs G. Do diligent students perform better? Complex relations between student and course characteristics, study time, and academic performance in higher education. Stud High Educ. 2014;39(4):621-43.
Nist SL, Sharman SJ, Holschuh JL. The effects of rereading, self-selected strategy use, and rehearsal of the immediate and delayed understanding of the text. Read Psychol. 1996;17(2):137-57.
Josephsen JM. A Qualitative Analysis of Metacognition in Simulation. J Nurs Educ. 2017;56 (11):675-8.
Edlund JE. Exam Wrappers in Psychology: Teach Psychol. 2020;47(2):156-61.
Hills C, Levett-Jones T. Teaching and learning preferences of 'generation Y' occupational therapy students in practice education. Int J Ther Rehabil. 2016;23(8):448-55.
Safronova M, Miller C. When are we ever going to have to use this?. J Polit Sci Educ. 2019;15(4):421-32.
Pai HC, Ko HL, Eng CJ, Yen WJ. The mediating effect of self-reflection and learning effectiveness on clinical nursing performance in nursing students: A follow-up study. J Prof Nurs. 2017;33(4):287-92.
Kuiper RA, Pesut DJ. Promoting cognitive and metacognitive reflective reasoning skills in nursing practice: self-regulated learning theory. J Adv Nurs. 2004;45(4):381-91.
