Abstract:

The University of Barcelona (UB) Pharmaceutical Technology Teaching Innovation Team (GIDTF) initiated in 2017-18 a project to improve the evaluation devices of a subject of 3rd year of the Pharmacy Degree, encouraging the practice of feedback between teachers and students. The results of 3 consecutive academic years show that feedback is an effective tool for knowing how students perceive learning actions and has provided relevant information to redirect them.

Introduction and objectives:
The Pharmaceutical Technology Teaching Innovation Group (GIDTF) detected in 2016-17 that Galenic Pharmacy I (FGI), a subject of the Pharmacy degree, presented a little low performance. After analysing the possible reasons, it was found that the evaluation process had an accrediting nature, but its training potential was not used sufficiently [1]. For this reason, GIDTF started an improvement project with the support of the FGI teaching team and the collaboration of the Teaching Innovation Group in Assessment and Technology with the aim of improving the devices of evaluation of this subject.

Methodology:
The first course was asked to collaborate in writing test questions on each topic in the program, with three answer options. In the second course, the self-assessment questionnaires were activated to be voluntarily carried out before the 2 exams of the continuous assessment. In the last course, the questions with the highest error rate were identified after each exam, to provide students with relevant feedback.

Results:
- Student participation in writing test questions: The initiative was well received by the students: 883 test questions were collected from 142 students (out of a total of 416 students who took the examen).
- Participation in the voluntary self-assessment activity of the students: In 2017-18 academic year, 70-80% of the students carried out the self-evaluation of the 1st thematic block and 50 to 60% of the 2nd thematic block. In the 2018-19 academic year, participation was similar of the previous year and the initiative was well valued.
- Academic performance in the two exams of the continuous assessment: No significant differences were detected in marks obtained in the exams carried out in the 3 academic years studied but a decrease in the percentage of failures was detected when implementing the formative evaluation.
- Feedback after the first examination of the continuous assessment: An in-depth study of the feedback made by the students was carried out.

Conclusions:
It is concluded that feedback is an effective tool to learn from mistakes, in line with the contributions of Nicol et al. [2] and Carless et al. [3] and to know how students perceive teaching actions, providing relevant information to improve or reorient them. But it is also difficult to motivate students, to put their opinions and reflections in writing and even more so if they must do it online.

References:
[1] Halbaut, L. et al. “Participation feedback practices to improve the academic performance”. 1st Global Congress of Pharmacy Faculties, IPAP-18, Salamanca (Spain) 2018.
[2] Nicol, D et al. “Rethinking feedback practices in higher education: a peer review perspective”. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 39(1), 102-122.
[3] Carless, et al. (2018). “The development of student feedback literacy: enabling uptake of feedback”. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, DOI: 10.1080/02602938.2018.1463354

Keywords:

Self-assessment, continuous evaluation, feedback, performance, survey.