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PRINT ISSN : 2319-7692
Online ISSN : 2319-7706 Issues : 12 per year Publisher : Excellent Publishers Email : editorijcmas@gmail.com / submit@ijcmas.com Editor-in-chief: Dr.M.Prakash Index Copernicus ICV 2018: 95.39 NAAS RATING 2020: 5.38 |
“Learning” is a continuous process and assimilation of information takes place over a period of time. Formative assessments in Microbiology with only essay type of questions are often perceived as difficult considering time constraints to the learning processes especially during this assimilatory phase. So, it is worthwhile to include multiple choice questions for formative assessments as a more comprehensive and supportive tool to aid in student directed teaching and learning especially in Microbiology. Sets of 42, 42 and 27 students in the phase 2 of MBBS were administered with 3 sets of essay type and multiple choice type of questions on Microbiology and the performance assessed and compared. A questionnaire based perceptions study about the assessment methods was also carried out using a Likert 5 point scale on a set of 45 students for the feedback process. Performance in MCQ based formative assessment in Microbiology was significantly better than that in essay type of assessment. Mean score overage for MCQs: 32.52%, P<0.05, N=111. The students also indicate remarkable preference for MCQ based formative assessment. Second phase MBBS students found MCQ type of formative assessment more comprehensive and pleasant than the essay type of assessment in Microbiology during the assimilatory phase of their study period.