Citation Information :
Mohideen A, Sheriff M, GS N. Students approaches to learning and perceptions of assessment in a non-summative context. 2016; 4 (2):36-41.
Background: As a deep approach to learning is related to high-quality learning outcomes, assessments need to encourage students to adopt the same.
Aim: This preliminary study was undertaken to determine the first-year dental students' perceptions about a Medal examination in Physiology that invoked use of a deep approach to learning and to infer their approaches to learning.
Materials and Methods: Based on their performance in a first-phase multiple-choice question-based test, 10 students were selected from a batch of 84 students. 7 of the 10 selected students attended the final phase of the examination in which, case-based, structured essay type questions were employed. Open-ended, written feedback on their experience of the final phase was submitted by 5 students.
Results: The perceptions of 5 of the 7 students who attended the final phase were appreciative of an assessment which invoked a deep approach to learning.
Conclusion: The students' appreciation of an assessment that invokes a deep approach to learning in a non-summative context is significant in the context of learning behaviours.
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