Introducing 'Socrative' as a formative assessment tool in undergraduate medical curriculum

Abstract

Objective: This study aims to introduce Socrative (an online audience response system) as a formative assessment tool in undergraduate medical curriculum and to assess the attitude and perceptions of the students regarding the same. Methods: It was a questionnaire based cross sectional study conducted for 6 months in 2019 using a free version of Socrative. Quizzes were prepared and used as formative assessment to assess students’ learning of the physiology content delivered in the modules of Special senses (Year II), Respiratory system (Year I) and Cardiovascular System (Year I) at Shifa College of Medicine. Students’ survey was carried out online, at the end of the quiz to record the perceptions of Socrative as an assessment tool. Data was analysed using SPSS-21. Descriptive statistics were applied, p<0.05 was considered significant. For qualitative variables, frequency and percentage were determined and for quantitative variables, mean and standard deviation were determined. Test of association applied was independent sample t-test (for quantitative variables). Results: Students reported a higher mean scoring preference for Socrative based exam (50%) compared to the traditional paper based exam (37.1%). Majority (83.9%) of the students evaluated Socrative as a user friendly tool, saves time and resources (86.6%) and provides immediate feedback (88.7%). A good number of students suggested conducting more Socrative based assessments in future (75.8%). Conclusion: Using Socrative as a tool for formative assessment helps in providing timely and effective feedback, thereby enabling the students to reflect on their performance and focus on important concepts.

Pak J Physiol 2020;16(2):21?5